We want to see how we have to deal with our heart and our spirit in order to experience the tree of life. The heart and the spirit are referred to many times in both the Old and New Testaments. We need to be clear about the position and function of the heart and about the difference between the heart and the spirit. We need to come back to the pure Word to see the difference between the heart and the spirit.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 shows us that the heart is different from the spirit. Heart and spirit are not synonyms but are two different things. These verses say, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you...and I will put my Spirit within you.” The new spirit mentioned here is not the Holy Spirit because in verse 27 there is another Spirit which will be put into us, into our spirit. The human heart is different from the human spirit. Both of these organs of our human being have to be renewed.
Matthew 5:3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” The spirit referred to here is our human spirit, not the Holy Spirit. To be poor in spirit does not mean that one has a poor spirit. To be poor in spirit is to have the best spirit. It is not only to have a humble spirit, but also to be emptied in our spirit, in the depth of our being, not holding on to the old things of the old dispensation, but unloaded to receive the new things, the things of the kingdom of the heavens. Our spirit has to be emptied of many things. Human beings are filled with many things in their spirit. Now that we have turned to the Lord, we have to evacuate our spirit to be poor in spirit. Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” If the heart were synonymous with the human spirit, there would have been no need for the Lord to give these two different blessings in Matthew 5. Our heart has to be pure and our spirit has to be emptied. A pure heart and an empty spirit are the two main conditions for the nine blessings spoken by the Lord in Matthew 5.
Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The soul and the spirit are two different entities just as the joints and marrow are. The heart is also another item. With the heart are the thoughts and intents. Again we see that there is a distinction between the heart and the spirit. Our spirit is the organ for us to contact God (John 4:24), while our heart is the organ for us to love God (Mark 12:30). Our spirit contacts, receives, contains, and experiences God. However, it requires our heart to love God first. In our heart is the mind with the thoughts and the will with the intents.
Romans 1:9 says, “For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son.” Romans 7:6 tells us that “we should serve as slaves in newness of spirit.” To serve the Lord is something in the spirit. To love the Lord is something in the heart. The heart is for loving, and the spirit is for serving. We need to serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter.
First Peter 3:4 says, “But the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is costly.” In our heart there is a hidden man. The hidden man of the heart is the meek and quiet spirit. If a man is hidden in a house, it is obvious that the man and the house are distinct entities. The spirit is hidden in the heart and is the hidden man of the heart. The wives’ adornment before God should be their inner being—the hidden man of their heart, which is their spirit, in meekness and quietness. This is the incorruptible adornment in contrast with the corruptible hair, gold, and garments (3:3). This spiritual adornment is costly in the sight of God. A person may dress in nice clothing which is the adornment of the outward man, yet this person may have a proud spirit. Outwardly this person is adorned, but inwardly there is no spiritual adornment. Peter charged the sisters not to pay much attention to their outward adornment but to take care of the hidden man of the heart, which is a meek and quiet spirit. Our spirit should be adorned with meekness and with quietness.
Mark 12:30 says, “And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart, and from your whole soul, and from your whole mind, and from your whole strength.” The function of the heart is to love. The heart is a loving organ and we are told to love the Lord our God with all our heart.