Do Christians have a deceitfully wicked heart?

Last updated on: July 7, 2026 at 8:00 am by Andrew Farley

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Do Christians have a deceitfully wicked heart? 2026-03-12T15:34:01-05:00 Andrew Farley

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DO CHRISTIANS HAVE A DECEITFULLY WICKED HEART?

Quick Answer: Do Christians have a deceitfully wicked heart? Some teach that a believer has a wicked heart (Jeremiah 17:9). However, this is not Scriptural. A Christian has a new, righteous, and obedient heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Hebrews 8:10; Romans 6:17). Jeremiah 17:9 describes an unbeliever before the born-again experience. In contrast, every believer has a new heart, a new spirit, and God’s Spirit.

Diving Deeper: Popular Christian teaching suggests that Christians have wicked hearts. This teaching is based on Jeremiah 17:9. However, those words were spoken before the New Covenant began at Christ’s death (Luke 22:20; Hebrews 9:16). They speak of the condition of humanity before the born-again experience occurs in a person’s life.

Believers enjoy a beautiful, new, and righteous heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Hebrews 8:10). This heart is forever obedient to God (Romans 6:17). It is the place where Christ dwells (Ephesians 3:17).

You can trust your new heart. You can trust your new desires. After all, your true desires are the same as God’s desires for you (2 Peter 1:3-4). This does not mean you won’t experience sinful thoughts or temptations. It does mean, however, that those sinful desires are not from you but from sin operating in you (Romans 6:12; Romans 7:17, 20). You are new at the core, and God is devoted to helping you to realize this reality and to live from it daily through the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:1-2).

Let’s Make It a Conversation!
1. Have you ever believed that you had a wicked heart? What effect did that have in your life?
2. How does understanding the before-and-after-salvation picture help here?
3. React to this statement: At the heart level, you don’t really want to sin anymore.

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