There is what Jesus alone can do. Only God can take out the heart of stone and give the heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Only God can draw people to the Son (John 6:44, 65). Only God can open the spiritually dead heart, so that, it gives heed to the gospel (Acts 16:14). Only the Good Shepherd knows his sheep and calls them by name with such compelling power that they all follow — and never perish (John 10:3–4, 14).

Acts 16:14 says: “Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.” Unless God opens the heart of a sinner, man cannot do it. This again underscores the importance of the heart in relating with God. Man’s salivation begins from the heart and Only God can open and transform the human heart. God must touch the heart of man for him to be saved.

The heart of man is desperately wicked above all things. Only God understands the state of man’s heart. Otherwise, how can a man like Paul, a persecutor and terrorist be saved, if God did not work on his heart?
The Holy Spirit transforms the heart. He breaks through any impregnable barrier and transforms it to be like Jesus’s heart. He is the barrier breaker! How does he do this astonishing work in the heart of man? Two passages in Acts 24 give the answer.

Luke 24:31 reads: “Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.”
Luke 24:45 states: “And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.”
The Holy Spirit does the opening. In this case, he opened their eyes and their understanding. These are metaphors for the opening of the heart.
We can then see why Paul prayed for the believers in Ephesus for the eyes of their understanding to be opened. (Eph.1:17-18). Unless the Spirit illuminates the heart, man cannot understand let alone believe in God.

How does the Holy Spirit work on the heart to bring it to salvation? The Holy Spirit convicts and moves the heart to believe and accept the gift of salvation. On the day of Pentecost, when Peter preached the word of God, the audience was convicted in their hearts. “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “men and brethren, what shall we do?” 37: Then Peter said to them, “repent, and let every one of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:37-38 NKJV).

When the Ethiopian Eunuch inquired if he could be baptised in water by Philip, the response he got was this, “then Philip said, “if you believe with all your heart, you may.” He answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” 38: So, he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptised him (Acts 8:37-38).

Paul summed up the work of the Holy Spirit in the human heart this way, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
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