Bad Genes, Bad Behavior,
the 10 Commandments,
and Healing from the Holy Spirit
Grandma Graf died fairly young from a heart attack. Family members were concerned that her heart ailment may have been passed on to others through the gene pool. But, so far, Mom’s doing well, and the grandkids are all “still ticking.”
The Pharisees had their own heart problems. They were often hypercritical detractors of Jesus, probably because He emphasized salvation by God’s grace, through faith in Him, not by works, (John 3:16; Eph. 2:8,9). The Pharisees emphasized — in sort of OCD detail — adhering to the 613 Biblical laws as they had enumerated them… including washing hands. Predictably, these Pharisees complained to Jesus that He didn’t force His disciples to obey these laws. (Matthew 15:2) But Jesus pointed out their hypocrisy: they superseded the Fourth Commandment (Honor your father and mother) by ignoring care for their parents and contributing money and attention elsewhere. (Matthew 15:3-9)
Jesus then emphasized that sin actually is a heart problem, proceeding from within first, and later evident on the outside through the way a person lives. Internal sin shows its bad seed by something as simple as speech – “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.” (Mt. 15:18)
A careful reading of the verse reveals that Jesus is speaking about the defiling effect of both Original Sin – what Martin Luther called “natural sin” because it was part of man’s nature – and actual sin. Both sins are included in the word “those” in the verse, and both are defiling to a person.
Consider people with a genetic predisposition to heart disease. They are not responsible for the genes they have received, [yet this is another indication of a fallen world], but they are responsible for their lifestyle. Jesus’ verse above about speech is clear: sinful things we say come from a sinful heart, but those words also defile. (Hence we have several commandments about speech.) People with suspect heart genes can blame their genes while they consume cheeseburgers, smoke and drink excessively, and lead a sedentary lifestyle. Yet I think everyone would understand that the irresponsible lifestyle probably played a more substantial role than their genes in their cardiac defilement.
Although we are born natural sinners, God also gave us the 10 Commandments – written in our hearts (Romans 2:14, 15). This interior barrier serves as somewhat of a shield to the pandemic of sin (only to the degree that we don’t need to live in continual quarantine). We also have the 10 Commandments on the outside – written in the Bible, preached from the pulpit, taught by parents. But the 10 Commandments, brought from the inside or outside, never changed a soul.
In a work-oriented world, Jesus changes souls through a redemptive, restful “received” relationship with Him. These epic words of Christ really talk about something on the inside – being yoked to Him by faith: “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.” (Mt. 11: 28, 29). Jesus’ word for “yoke” originates from the term for pairing 2 beasts of burden together. We use the same stem word “zygote” to describe new life in the womb, formed by 2 cells becoming one. New life in Christ is “born from above” by water and the Spirit. Zygotes, I’m guessing, do more living and growing than they do working. This “yoking” with Christ creates new life. Born from forgiveness – freely given by the miracle of the gift of faith – we live in that vital relationship with Christ (“I am the Vine; you are the branches… Jn. 15) which then naturally produces fruit. We do not need to perpetually think about instructing our heart to beat. It beats because it is alive.
On occasion we do need to be told to limit our cheeseburgers, which are not so good for the heart. Bearing false witness against our neighbor is the same sort of thing. It defiles our soul and others. But Paul reminds us of the Life giving spiritual “zygote” conceived in us: “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day”. II Corinthians 4:16
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, we cannot change our heart. But You can. Thank You. Help us understand the good news of the Gospel, receive the gift of faith, and have new life. We are “created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Thank you for the astonishing Sabbath rest only You can provide. May we find our rest in You each day. And from that hopeful yoked Rest, may we find the joy of bearing good fruit. In Your Name we pray. Amen.
