A Regenerated Heart Can Be Trusted

For many years, I sat under preaching that emphasized the deceitfulness and wickedness of the human heart. I would hear Jeremiah 17:9 quoted: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” I also heard preachers refer to Jesus’ words in Mark 7:21–23, where He listed all kinds of sins—adultery, theft, murder, pride—flowing out of the heart. The conclusion seemed obvious: “You cannot trust your heart.”

That message left me with a lingering suspicion of myself. Even when I wanted to follow the Lord, I felt like my own heart was always lying to me, always dragging me back into sin. I lived with what I now understand was a sin-consciousness—a focus on my failures, on temptation, on the belief that deep down, I was still corrupt.

But after much study, prayer, and personal experience with God, I have come to a different conclusion. Yes, the unregenerate heart is wicked. Yes, the old nature cannot be trusted. But the heart that Christ has touched, the heart made new by the Holy Spirit, is not wicked. It is trustworthy, because it is the very dwelling place of Christ.

The turning point for me came when I began to take seriously what God promised through the prophets. Ezekiel 36:26 says:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

Notice—God does not say He will patch up the old heart. He doesn’t say He will improve it. He says He will replace it. The deceitful, stone-cold heart is taken away, and in its place comes a new, tender, living heart.

This promise was not just for Israel in the Old Testament. It is fulfilled in Christ. Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:17:

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

When I believed in Christ, I did not just receive forgiveness for my sins; I became a new creation. Part of that new creation was receiving this new heart. The old heart that was deceitful and wicked truly did pass away.

Another revelation that reshaped my thinking was Ephesians 3:17:

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”

Think about that. If my heart is still desperately wicked, how could Christ dwell there? Would the Holy Son of God make His home in a cesspool of deceit? No. The very fact that Christ dwells in my heart means that my heart has been transformed.

Galatians 4:6 takes it further:

“Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’”

The Spirit of Jesus Himself cries out from my heart. My heart is no longer the source of wickedness but the seat of sonship.

This is where I began to see the difference between sin-consciousness and righteousness-consciousness.

Sin-consciousness is what dominated my life when I believed my heart was still wicked. I was always second-guessing myself, always looking for hidden corruption, always expecting failure. My focus was on sin, and so sin had more power over me.

But righteousness-consciousness shifts everything. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says:

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

I am not merely forgiven—I am the righteousness of God in Christ. That is the reality that now defines my heart. When I walk in righteousness-consciousness, I trust the new desires God has placed within me. I no longer fear my heart but recognize it as the place where Christ’s Spirit leads me.

In my own journey, I can testify to this: I know when my heart tries to tempt me toward sin. I recognize it. There are moments when thoughts or desires rise up that I know do not align with the Spirit of Christ in me. In the past, I would panic, thinking, “See? My heart is still wicked.”

But now I see those moments differently. They are not evidence of a still-deceitful heart. They are echoes of the old man, the residue of the flesh. They are like old habits trying to reassert themselves. And because I now live righteousness-conscious, I can say, “That’s not who I am anymore.”

I have found incredible freedom in this. Instead of living in fear of my own heart, I live in trust that God has truly done what He promised. He has given me a new heart. He works in me “both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

Romans 10:9–10 highlights the role of the heart in salvation:

“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

If the heart were still desperately wicked, how could it be trusted to believe unto righteousness? This verse proves that the regenerated heart is trustworthy. Salvation itself springs from a believing heart, a heart made new by the Spirit.

Jesus said in John 10:27:

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

I now understand that His voice is not something external I am straining to hear—it resounds from within my heart where His Spirit dwells. The regenerated heart is not the enemy of God’s voice but the very seat of it.

This is why Proverbs 4:23 tells me to guard my heart:

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”

I guard it not because it is wicked, but because it is precious. It is the wellspring of life, the place where Christ dwells and speaks.

Living with a righteousness-conscious heart has changed my daily walk. I no longer live in suspicion of myself, always waiting for deceit to surface. Instead, I live in partnership with the Spirit within me.

When temptations come, I recognize them, but I don’t identify with them. I say, “That’s not my heart. That’s not my nature. My heart is where Christ dwells.” This has brought me greater freedom from sin than all my years of sin-conscious striving ever did.

And when I sense the Spirit nudging me, guiding me, speaking to me, I no longer hesitate in fear. I trust my heart, because I trust the One who lives in my heart.

In conclusion, I now boldly affirm what I once would have denied: my heart can be trusted. The deceitful, wicked heart is gone. In Christ, I have been given a new heart. It is the dwelling place of Christ, the seat of sonship, the wellspring of life.

I refuse to live in sin-consciousness, always expecting failure. Instead, I live righteousness-conscious, trusting the Spirit who works in me. And I testify that I know when the old echoes of sin try to rise, but I also know that they are not my true heart. My true heart believes unto righteousness, hears the voice of Christ, and walks in step with His Spirit.

So while the unregenerate heart cannot be trusted, my regenerated heart—transformed by Jesus and filled with His Spirit—can be trusted. It is the place where Christ is seated, where His Spirit speaks, and where righteousness, not sin, defines me.