Another man with another heart

Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you. You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do." So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. – 1 Samuel 10.6-9

We often think about how different the Old Testament times and the New Testament times are – and they do have a lot of differences. But there are themes, basic Bible truths, that run throughout.

Samuel had taught Saul the word of God. That’’s great, but just knowing God’s word does not qualify us to do God’s work. Knowing God’s word does not even make us people of God.

In order to be a man or a woman of God there must be a new you and me. If anyone is in Christ they are a new creation, old things have passed away and all things are now made new. Once we are gone’s people we are different people. We aren't the same.

And that is what God is doing here. He is remaking Saul into a different person.

God did that just as Samuel had told him God would. When he left Samuel God gave Saul a different heart. He changed him completely. He changed how Saul saw things.

And that is what God does to us at salvation. He gives us a new heart which is a heart after His heart.

But even a different man with a new heart is going to struggle. We know that from places like Romans 7.

Because we have new hearts there is no excuse when we choose to sin.