A NEW HEART

"Circumcise then the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer" (Deuteronomy 10:16; cf. Acts 7:51).

This new heart that signifies spiritual renewal applies to all the  followers of the lord Messiah Jesus - Yeshua who have been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel [Romans 11:17-24; Ephesians 2:13-21:

The prophet Jeremiah said, "The days are surely coming, says Yehovah, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ... I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God - Elohim, and they shall be my people" (Jeremiah 31:31, 33).

The prophet Ezekiel likewise said on God's – Yehovah’s behalf, "I WILL SPRINKLE CLEAN WATER UPON YOU, AND YOU SHALL BE CLEAN FROM ALL YOUR UNCLEANNESS. ... A NEW HEART I WILL GIVE YOU, AND A NEW SPIRIT I WILL PUT WITHIN YOU; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone AND GIVE YOU A HEART OF FLESH. I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU, AND MAKE YOU FOLLOW MY STATUES ... and YOU SHALL BE MY PEOPLE, and I will be your God - Elohim. I WILL SAVE YOU FROM ALL YOUR UNCLEANNESS" (Ezekiel 36:25-29).

So, God - Yehovah giving Israel a new heart is the same as being born again [from above]. We know from the New Testament that God -  Yehovah is going to give believing Israelites but also believing Gentiles a new heart.

Like Moses, Jesus - Yeshua said this change of heart should begin spiritually in this life.

Jesus - Yeshua told Nicodemus exactly how to be born again [from above] in this life. He said, referring to himself as the Son of Man, "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14).

When Jesus - Yeshua told Nicodemus, "So must the Son of Man be lifted up," he referred to his impending crucifixion and its meaning. That is, just as Moses lifted the serpent on a pole, and snake-bitten Israelites who looked at it were healed, when Jesus would be lifted onto a cross to die for the sins of others, people who believe this about him will be saved and inherit eternal life. The Johannine Jesus later explained, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (John 12:32).

The Johannine Jesus - Yeshua says this as a major faith requirement for salvation. He said, "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and does not come under judgment but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24). And he said, "This is the work of God - Yehohvah, that you believe in him whom He has sent" (John 6:29).

John informs us no less than forty times that the Father - Yehovah "sent" Jesus or did "send" Him as His agent.

Jesus -- Yeshua claimed that he "came" or did "come" from the Father. J.A.T. Robinson explains concerning this abundant data, "The picture which John presents is of Jesus - Yeshua acting as the Father's agent."

The Gospel of John is unique in presenting Jesus - Yeshua as God's – Yehovah’s agent par excellence.

The Jewish Law of Agency:

known in Hebrew as "Shlichut" (שליחות)—is a legal principle in Halacha (Jewish law) whereby a person (the principal, or meshale'ach) can appoint another person (the agent, or shaliach) to perform legal or religious acts on their behalf. When the agent acts, he does so as how the principal who appointed him would act.

"Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing" (John 5:19, cf. 30).

Notice: The Johannine literature of the New Testament has an important theme, often ignored, about obeying Jesus as a major requirement to be saved. It emerges in the Fourth Gospel in two episodes in which Jesus was accused by the Pharisees of claiming to be God - Yehovah (John 5:18-47; 10:30-38).

The author of 1 John teaches similarly. He says of Jesus - Yeshua, "We may be sure that we know him, IF WE OBEY his commandments. Whoever says, 'I have come to know him,' but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist" (1 John 2:3-4).

The author adds: "Everyone who does right has been born of him" (1 John 2:29), resulting in them being "children of God - Yehovah" (John 3:1).

Jesus - Yeshua often taught about living righteously as evidence of being born again [from above] - starting with his Sermon on the Mount. Its beatitudes reveal that people will be blessed for being penitent, mournful, meek, merciful, pure in heart, peaceful, and living righteously (Matthew 5:3-10).

"A person is justified [declared righteous] by works and not by faith alone. ... faith without works is dead" (James 2:24, 26). Real faith produces righteous works.

Notice: John 20:30-31 reads as follows: "Now Jesus - Yeshua did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus - Yeshua is the Messiah, the Son of God - Yehovah, and that through believing you may have life in his name." To have "life in his name" refers to the promise of eternal life, which is what the gospel is about.

Now, we should not think the Johannine literature only requires faith in Jesus - Yeshua as Messiah, the Son of God - Yehovah, without also necessitating faith in his sin-offering sacrificial death for our sins as Savior. For 1 John twice says: "Jesus - Yeshua the Messiah" is "the atoning sacrifice [sin-offering sacrifice] for our sins" (1 John 2:2; 4:10).

Notice: Jesus' - Yeshua's message from the beginning of his ministry until his death was preaching about the kingdom of God - Yehovah and how to enter into that kingdom:

His command to his followers is: The lord Jesus - Yeshua said, “Seek you first the kingdom of God - Yehovah, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) Amen.