And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)

Ezekiel ministered to a people who lost their land and their temple. Israel was in exile because of persistent rebellion and idolatry, and this was God’s judgment for rejecting his word. The visible judgment exposed the unseen condition of spiritual death.

God described their condition as a heart of stone, insensible to his word and incapable of repentance. Yet he promised to resolve this corruption by the regeneration of their spirit. He declared he would remove the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh. This heart of flesh would be alive and responsive to God’s word. It would turn to him with love and reverence. The promise of a new heart would bring spiritual life, creating a people who would know and obey God from within.

Regeneration would be unilateral. God alone would initiate and accomplish this renewal. He would sovereignly act: “I will give,” “I will remove,” “I will put.” Israel would contribute nothing to this change. The new heart would be the grace that would bring them into obedience. God would cause his people to walk in his statutes and to keep his judgments. Obedience would be the inevitable result of God’s work of regeneration. 

This promise was not fulfilled in Ezekiel’s day, but it pointed forward to the work of Christ. In the new covenant, God creates new hearts through regeneration and then gives his Spirit to them. Faith and holiness are gifts from God, secured by his promise and accomplished by his Spirit.