Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 1 Study # 10
January 18, 2005
Lincolnton, N.C.
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• I. The Damping of the Noise Level Will Begin With the Reality of the Heart.
  • A. One aspect of the reality of the heart is that it dominates the actions of the body.
    • 1. We are familiar with at least the bigger picture of the brain's impact upon the muscles.
    • 2. Aside from a malfunction within the brain itself, the body does what the person decides will be done.
    • 3. The decision of the person, however, is not determined by what the person knows.
    • 4. The decision of the person is determined by a combination of what the person wants and what the person believes will get him what he wants.
    • 5. Both of these issues (wanting and believing) have their foundations in what the Bible calls the "heart".
      • a) The "wanting" is rooted in the heart (Matthew 5:28).
      • b) The effective "believing" is rooted in the heart (Romans 10:9).
  • B. A second aspect of the reality of the heart is that it is very much like a tablet.
    • 1. Paul says the law is "written" in the heart.
    • 2. This does two things...
      • a) It makes the "heart" very much like a "tablet" (2 Corinthians 3:3).
      • b) It makes the "heart" a secondary issue to the "writing".
    • 3. This means that it is not the heart, per se, which determines the actions that will be taken, but what is written there.
    • 4. And this means that the writer is the ultimate controller of the actions.
      • a) This is borne out by both Jeremiah 31:33 and 2 Corinthians 3:3.
      • b) This is what is so dangerous about Ephesians 2:1ff.
  • C. A third aspect of the reality of the heart is that its contents are revealed by the actions of the body.
    • 1. Paul says that the "doing" reveals the "writing".
      • a. He is not claiming that there is discernment of motivation in the revelation.
      • b. He is claiming that some mixture of "want" and "belief" have combined in the writing to produce the action...and that the action is clear evidence of the thing written.
    • 2. This is a two-edged sword...
      • a. The "doing" of what is written in the Law reveals the Law's presence in the heart.
      • b. The "doing" of things contrary to the Law also, however, reveals the presence of something else in the heart besides the Law.
      • c. This mixture has made the human heart a hopeless mess that is without remedy [Ezekiel 36:26 at least implies that even God cannot correct the mess; so He has promised to replace it].
  • D. Thus, the first aspect of the damping of the noise will be the examination of the works that came out of the body.
• II. The Damping of the Noise Level Will Increase With the Reality of the Conscience.
  • A. There is, within man, a "conscience" that does two things...
    • 1. First, it monitors everything that proceeds out of the heart [the word "conscience" means "to perceive together with another"].
    • 2. Second, it renders moral judgment upon everything that it observes [the word "bears witness" also includes another "witness"].
  • B. The point of Paul's words is that man has an internal witness to what is coming out of his heart.
  • C. The fact that he already knows what is written in the books of works leads to a further damping of the noise.
• III. The Damping of the Noise Level Will Be Complete by Reason of the Reality of the Reasonings.
  • A. Paul says that a further development in the processes of man's actions is the active element of his "reasonings".
  • B. Man recognizes the decisions of his "conscience" and immediately puts his "reasoning" into the process in order to respond to "accusation" and "excusing".
  • C. The fact that the reasoning will be exposed for what it is (Romans 2:16) will finally bring about a dead silence.