Another great and difficult question rolled in the other day:
I have a question I’m hoping you can answer for me. In Matthew 22:37 (also, Mark 12:30 and Luke 10:27) it seems that there is an implied distinction between “heart,” “mind,” and “soul”. Is it possible, though, that the writer was using these terms just to emphasize that we must love God with our entire being and that there really is no distinction between these terms? Or, if there is a distinction, what is it?
Tough question. How would you answer it?
I think the Lord is speaking of our entire being. However, that doesn’t mean that there are not distinctions between the heart, soul, and mind.
Heart, soul, and mind can be unique. But they can also be used interchangeably as often happens in the NT.
Heart = inward self where feelings, emotions, and thinking occur.
Soul = the entire inner person.
Mind = the inward part of us where thinking occurs.
As you can see, all three terms overlap in meaning like a Venn diagram. But they are not identical. So when speaking of the place where belief occurs, the NT authors can speak of the heart (Mark 11:23; 16:14; Luke 8:12; Rom 10:9) or the mind (Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 4:4) or even the soul (Acts 14:22 seems to fit in this regard).
I found this very helpful article on what the Biblical word heart means.
I found this misguided article which argues that believing with the mind is not enough to be born again; one must also believe with the heart, that is, with the heart we “trust God,” that is, we “live for God.” The author, Mark Ballenger, makes this Lordship Salvation statement, “Those who truly know God will love God with all of their heart and mind (Matthew 22:37).”
Here is a similar article (anonymous) on heart and mind (discussing Matt 22:37), at the Ligonier.org website, in which the author says, “You can know all the facts about Christ but yet be damned because you do not love Him. Knowing and loving the true Christ are both essential to salvation.”
Because I’ve been immersed in the Gospel of John and Free Grace Theology for so long, I am startled when I see people take Matt 22:37 as a salvation verse. How anyone can reconcile that understanding with John 3:16 is puzzling to me.
There is a grave danger if our theology leads us to say that believing in Jesus Christ for everlasting life is not enough to have everlasting life. If we use the supposed heart and mind distinction to say that one must love God in order to have everlasting life, then we have distorted the message of everlasting life which the Lord of Glory gave us. We must not do that.
Tom Passmore
To put everything in the context of eternal destiny is to distort the central themes of the Bible. Everlasting life starts now and continues forever when we r in fellowship with God. The Greeks differentiate heart souls mind. Whereas the Hebrew means whole self. Eternal destiny is not the goal. Fellowship is God’s objective for us
DEC
Please explain you comment. I am not able to relate your comment to the content of the GEC article or its references..
Alvin
God’s FIRST objective for us is that we believe God’s testimony concerning His Son (John 12:44-50; 1 John 5:9-11).
His SECOND objective is that we be set free from sin by abiding in Him (John 8:30-36).
You can’t put the cart before the horse, or it’s not by grace.
Eternal life begins the moment a believer passes from death into life (John 5:24).
And it continues for eternity even if the believer is not experiencing eternal life by being in fellowship (2 Tim 2:11-13).
But, this does not mean that God doesn’t want all believers to co-reign with Christ, but that is a choice each believer must make (Hebrews 2:10; 5:7-9; John 12:23-28).
Brent Bolin
I wrote, “I found this very helpful article on what the Biblical word heart means,” thanks for the comment. I love your conclusion. I have seen sites that attempt to lay a greater burden on how they define English words such a;: salvation, faith, belief, heart, mind, and soul without any reference to the original language that God chose to use to convey the Holy Scripture. I find it to be unacceptable that some seem to think that God inspired and handed down His Word in the English translation, as English is a living language, always changing and subject to interpretation due to its inconsistency. English presents rules that counter themselves and is not an exact or detailed language. Why do you think we have so many different denominations in America, because everybody uses the translation rather than the original text, no matter which Greek text you use, it is still better than the English does. Yet no matter what, the sadness is that these two articles that you present display individuals attempt to teach, that don’t even go back to the language God chose to convey His Word, which displays to me either laziness, pride, or stupidity. It is so dangerous them adding burdens to how they define salvation, there may not be any “Earthly” accountability, but they will be educated, God does not take well to those that misrepresent Him (see the end of Moses carrier – at least for now). Brent
Kennedy
I like it.