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Begin wherever your curiosity leads. The studies will be here when you’re ready. When I shared my first Matthew study on Facebook today, I mentioned that I planned to post daily, though I might not share every post on Facebook. As I continue setting up this blog, I’ve realized that what matters most to me is making my past studies available for anyone who wants to explore them. For now, I’ll be adding posts to my heart’s content as I work through those studies. Some days that may mean one post; other days it may mean several. I’ll continue reading through and preparing each one before sharing it. There is no need to keep up with everything as it appears. This blog is becoming a place you can browse at your own pace—begin with a book, a question, or a study that interests you, and follow from there. The Bible Books page gathers studies by book, while Study Threads helps connect topics that travel through more than one book. The labels on individual posts also bring related material to...
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8. God’s Image: A New Heart and the Work of the Spirit

As I continue examining God’s image, I want to return to the heart.

Knowing the words of Scripture and receiving the life those words describe are questions that belong together. I can become familiar with a passage while still needing to examine what is taking place within me.

Who brings about the change? And how does that change affect the way I live?

God Gives the New Heart

In Ezekiel 36:22–27, YHWH (יהוה) addresses the house of Israel concerning His name, their conduct, and the cleansing He will bring.

He promises to remove the stony heart and give a heart of flesh.

Then He says:

“And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them.”

—Ezekiel 36:27, ASV

The source of the change remains visible: God cleanses, gives, and places the Spirit within.

The passage also connects that inward work with conduct. Receiving the Spirit and walking according to God’s instruction appear together.

That connection is central to my understanding of God’s image.

Written in Hearts

2 Corinthians 3:3 brings the heart into another comparison.

Paul describes the people as an epistle of Christ, written with the Spirit of the living God in hearts of flesh.

Their lives are part of what is being read.

For me, that raises a question that reaches beyond how well I can explain my understanding: what do my actions communicate?

Do others encounter patience, honesty, and care? Am I willing to listen? Does my response to disagreement preserve love?

These questions belong in the study because the relationship concerns the person living it.

The Spirit Gives Life

Paul continues by discussing the ministry of the new covenant, contrasting the letter that kills with the Spirit that gives life.

The surrounding passage speaks of what was engraved on stone, condemnation, righteousness, and the Spirit. That covenant setting matters.

As I compare this with Ezekiel, I keep returning to the difference between an instruction recognized outwardly and a change God brings within.

My concern is not how much religious language I possess. It is whether I am receiving and responding to the life God gives.

The Veil and the Image

The chapter then discusses a veil upon the heart, its removal upon turning to the Lord, and transformation into the same image.

Here, heart, veil, Spirit, Glory, and image belong within one passage.

Those connections deserve careful attention. In my study, what is hidden and what becomes recognizable cannot be separated from the relationship through which understanding develops.

Nor should understanding be separated from how I live.

The new heart is God’s gift. The life received must reach into my conduct. As this study continues, I want both the inward relationship and its outward expression to remain visible.

Threads to Follow

  • Cleansing and the new heart.

  • The Spirit within and walking in God’s instruction.

  • Lives described as an epistle of Christ.

  • The letter, the covenant ministry, and the Spirit giving life.

  • The veil, Glory, and transformation into the image.

  • Love as part of the life being expressed.

The books were opened…

🌿 By Maria Emilia

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