A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them – Ezekiel 36:26

God promised to restore Israel as a physical regathering of the land and a spiritual regathering of Himself. To accomplish this, He would give them a new heart for following Him and put His Spirit within them to transform them and empower them to do His will. The man was created in both the image and likeness of God.  An image is a representation or replica of one person or thing by another. An image may be similar but not necessarily identical to its original. When man fell, he retained an impaired image of God; regaining a likeness of God is one of the accomplishments of salvation.

Our spiritual likeness is restored in justification, and our character likeness is continuously developing in the process of sanctification. God’s purpose in our lives today is to conform us to the image of His Son. Our Adamic nature is to be disobedient to God’s instructions; as soon as we hear something that doesn’t challenge our obedience, we’re willing to learn it and be influenced by it.

This is why it is so easy for many to follow other doctrines and beliefs: there is no commitment or denying of one’s self-will. To live according to the status of God’s principles, we must deny ourselves to submit to God’s written Word.

God chose the Jewish nation from all the other nations to be His people; they were set apart for God. Israel was to be different from the other nations. They were to be holy; they were not to practice sin or serve idols, making themselves idolaters, which was and is an abomination to God. God gave Moses instructions to give the children of Israel how they were supposed to live as the people of God.

God will always have leaders to instruct His people accompanied by His written Word for us to follow, but because many have received salvation by faith but haven’t received His Holy Spirit by faith, it has been a task for them to follow the instructions. The instructions that were given to the Jewish nations still go for the spiritual Jews (But he is a Jew which is one inwardly: and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God (Romans 2:29).

Some will say that once we receive salvation, we also receive the Holy Spirit, which contradicts Scripture. Before Jesus performed any miracles, the Holy Spirit came upon Him as a dove. ( And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him – Matthew 3:16). After Jesus’ resurrection, He instructed the disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise, which was the Holy Spirit (But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth – Acts 1:8). After receiving the Holy Spirit, Peter instructed those that had came from different nations and heard them speak fluently in their language to repent of their sins and receive the Holy Spirit (Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost – Acts 2:38). 

The Holy Spirit’s indwelling assists us in communicating with the Father and producing the Fruit and Gifts of the Spirit. Under the New Covenant, God has given us a special guide, the Holy Spirit, to cause us to know and do the commandments of God. The Holy Spirit directs and guides us. God has placed His Holy Spirit within us to teach us His ways.

Not only do we have the Holy Spirit to teach, lead, and guide us to the promised land, that heavenly city, New Jerusalem, but it is the Holy Spirit working within us that gives us the will and the power to keep the covenant God has made with us, to walk in obedience to Him. The Holy Spirit is a gift from God to the believer, and  He will give the gift to those who ask Him for it (If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto our children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him – Luke 11:13). If we received the Holy Spirit when we received salvation, Jesus wouldn’t have instructed the believer to ask for it.