Meditation – The Deceitfulness of the Heart
by Martin P. Geluk
Some people simply do not like to hear about the deceitfulness of the human heart. When this subject is brought up in sermons, addresses, or in the Bible study circle, and it is said that man’s heart by nature is morally depraved, corrupt and perverse, then the indifferent expressions on some faces are silently protesting must we hear all that again.”
Occasionally, the mention of the human heart may bring up a spirited discussion whether or not heart transplants are justified before God. But once it has been made clear that the Bible refers to the heart as the centre of man’s personal life, the spring of all his desires, motives, and moral choices, and that the heart as such has nothing to do with the physical organ inside us (which we also call heart), that pumps the blood through the body, then the voices die down once more, and there is a polite, patient waiting for a new topic of discussion.
It has to be admitted of course, that any discussion of the heart that goes no further than to say that It is depraved and bad, is dissatisfying and without purpose. But if we speak about the corruption of the heart and go on to say how great a miracle it is that the Spirit of God can renew that heart, then it becomes extremely interesting and important pioneer farmer, who, while looking over his beautiful green and rich pastures, is reminded of what a terrible and unfruitful bushland it was before he cleared it all. Indeed, for the believer involved, there is no greater miracle than the wondrous fact that God has cleansed his heart from sin through the Blood of Christ, and that the Spirit of Christ has come to live in him.
No greater amazement and joy can be experienced than that of coming to God with one’s burden of guilt, and having it taken away for the sake of Christ. Nothing can match that awareness of being free after having all one’s sins forgiven, and the indwelling Spirit given to hold in check the power of Satan.
Yet, there is the ever-present danger that we begin to see less of the width and the depth of that transformation from the darkness of sin into the light of Christ. And it is right here that the deceitfulness of the heart plays a big role. Salvation in Christ will lose its brilliance and its sparkle when we forget what we were saved from. Even more, the meaning and reality of salvation may not have touched upon the deepest of our being, simply because we have never discovered and seen the corruption and the depravity that is there in the depths of our natural being.
One never ceases to wonder at the profoundness of that statement found in Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?”
There is no person or thing that can outdo the human heart in the art of deceiving. The heart, that is, man by nature, is so desperately corrupt that not even man himself is able to understand the extent of its corruption fully, which in turn shows how deceitful the heart really is. Our depraved heart tells us that we are not so bad after all. Here then is deception at its worst. A corrupt heart tells man that his heart is not really so corrupt. Experience has borne the truth of this fact out. If we, for example, read in the Heidelberg Catechism that we are prone by nature to hate God and our neighbour (Ans. 5), and that we are by nature wholly incapable of doing any good, and inclined to all evil (Quest. and Ans. 8), and that even the holiest men, while in this life, have only a small beginning of this(perfect) obedience (Ans. 114), then we are inclined to baulk at the truth of these statements. It really takes some heart searching to be able to say “yes, the Catechism is right, the Word of God is right, what it says about human nature.”
Our heart is so deceitful that we are inclined to passover our inner corruption and only see the good side of ourselves. We are inclined to tone down the full force of God’s commandments. When Jesus declares in the sermon on the mount that calling another person a fool, and meaning it, is already making murderer out of us, then we practically straight away think that it is not really as bad as all that. We are also inclined to regard the power of sin as a power that operates outside of us and not from within us. This then gives us the excuse that we are not really to blame. Indeed, the heart is deceitful above all things!
However, a long, and honest look at ourselves, and seeing ourselves as God sees us, in the light of His Word, will force us to admit that it is we ourselves who are to blame. “Out of the heart,” says Jesus, “come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matt.15:19). If our tempers explode, then we are to blame. If husband and wife are just living past each other and upsetting family life, then the husband and wife are to blame. If we allow our desires to develop into uncontrollable passions, then we are at fault. The greatest mistake we can make is not to face up to our own faults and mistakes.
Now, what has all this to do with us as believers? At present we see a renewed emphasis upon the necessity of sanctification. This is good. There can never be enough of growing in holiness. Our live sought to be more Christlike every day. The Holy Spirit should be able to freely work in us, so that we live in and through Jesus Christ. But, and this is the whole point, we are not going to see the need for improvement if we do not take a long, hard look at ourselves in the mirror of God’s Word, and learn about the deceitfulness of the human heart. If salvation in Christ is to make an impact upon every aspect of living, then we have got to realise from what deep a corruption Jesus saved us. Stepping into a new car is to be most enjoyed when we have stepped out of a battered, old wreck.
The believer is a new, perfect creature in Christ, but not yet perfect in living. There is, therefore, a battle against sin all his life long. That battle can only be fought victoriously when the believer has a humble and thankful attitude to God. This attitude will be there when he starts to realise a little of the great wonder of how the Holy, Sinless God came to the depraved, corrupt sinner to save him from certain doom.
The verse that follows that text in Jeremiah about the deceitfulness of the heart, says: “I the Lord search the mind and try the heart.” Knowing this about Godwill also open the door to a true knowledge of ourselves, and that in turn will make us truly see the wonder of salvation, and thus deepening our spiritual life.
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Rev. Martin P. Geluk
Trowel and Sword, September 1969