Luke 6:45 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Luke 6:45

Comments

The same words appear in Matthew 12:35, but were probably spoken there on a different occasion. There is no doubt that the Lord used the same illustrations – sometimes expressed slightly differently – on different occasions – see for example Matthew 7:16-20 and 12:33. Clearly Matthew reports these as two different messages. The Lord continues to describe the operation of two quite distinct natures in man: the carnal nature of the unbeliever, and the spiritual nature of the believer. There is no other resource available to a man except his own heart. He cannot take from it what is not there. This is the way we are constructed by God, and the same limitations are true of us even as fallen human beings. Christ speaks of an evil man having treasure, but it is only treasure in his own eyes; it is not what the believer would consider treasure. Each one fill us the storehouse of his heart with what he thinks is precious. This shows that our assessment of life’s experiences is controlled by our nature. All that we see as unbelievers is through the lens of unbelief, and nothing spiritual has any value or attraction to us. We see it and we pass it by and leave it untouched. This is about what we learn from life, and what we want to keep for ourselves out of life’s kaleidoscope of experiences. I admire that; I value that; so I will count it as good, something to be imitated in the future, and brought out again when the occasion demands. And the mouth draws its words out of the heart and not from thin air. Every word we speak comes from within us, and has gone through the thought processes of the heart, and so we are fully responsible for every word we speak. We cannot say, I did not say that; I did not think about that.

Application

‘For of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.’ You cannot go any further. You're stuck. You may even have got this far. You may have decided to pursue God with a spiritual appetite, to take seriously the message of the gospel. You may have been prepared to see your own sin, but beyond that, you cannot go, because the only person who can bring forth fruit to God or get near to God or please God is someone whose heart is right, and yours isn't. You cannot do anything about that. But praise God, you can go further. There is only one way you can do so: by recognizing that God must change your heart. God must take the old nature out and put a new nature in. God himself must work within you. Didn't you know that this is what conversion is about? This is what it's about. This is what Christ’s disciples are preaching, that a man becomes a Christian because God changes him. God brings his soul to life. God takes out the unregenerate heart, the unbelieving, selfish, hard ways and puts a new nature within him. That is what makes a man a Christian. ‘Marvel not that I said unto thee,’ he said to Nicodemus of old, ‘Ye must be born again’ (John 3:7). No man can enter into the kingdom of heaven, he says, unless he is born from above, born again.

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Luke 6:45 Commentary and Bible Study