TLIC PROVERBS. AUGUST 19: PURE.

Proverbs 20:9. Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?

Whereas, every other religion seeks to show us how to make our own hearts pure, and how to cleanse ourselves from our own sin, gospel Christianity answers this rhetorical question with a resounding NO ONE! No one can claim to have purified themselves.

King David, Solomon’s father, knew this. He asked God to create a clean heart in him, to cleanse him from secret sins, to forgive his iniquity, and to hide his face from David’s sins. King David knew that even the sacrificial system of Israel was not enough to truly cleanse him. Sacrificing bulls and goat on an altar meant nothing to God if the heart was not humble and repentant.

Isaiah 29:13. The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” (NIV)

There is no self-help in Christ. If we could purify our own hearts and cleanse our own sins, then God should tell us how. But he doesn’t. He says repent. Turn to Jesus. Let him wash away your sins and make your heart brand new. Union with Christ is our only hope.

In what way? In these two ways:

First, our union with Christ cleanses us from all our sin. The erasure of all our sin debt is the first step in the gospel’s two-fold process. As Paul told the Romans, we are dead to sin. Just as Jesus went into the grave carrying the guilt of sin, but arose having been declared dead to sin, we also have no more relationship with sin whatsoever in Christ. There is now no condemnation for any of our transgressions, past, present, or future. Our sin debt has been nailed to the cross and we bear it no more. Praise the Lord!

And that is only the beginning.

Second, our union with Christ makes our heart pure. Forgiveness is great, but it doesn’t keep us from sinning again in the future. But the new heart can, does, and will. Because our hearts are now joined to Christ’s heart, we can choose to not sin. We live from purified desires and affections – Christ’s very own desires and affections. Consider again Paul’s words to the Romans – you must consider yourselves alive unto God. We are no longer alive to sin, we are alive to God. God’s purity, holiness, and righteousness is our destiny and our trajectory. One day we will be forever perfectly purified in his presence. Not just forgiven of our sins, but absolutely free from sin.

“Sins forgiven, hearts set free. Jesus is our Jubilee.” – Michael Card.

You: Would you say that you are pure of heart? Why or why not?

You in Christ: Why does our union with Christ allow us to say that we are pure of heart?

Christ in you: How might your day be different if you fully believed that every sin has been cleansed?

Pray: Father, Jesus dwelling in my heart not only eliminates my sin debt, but also makes me obedient from the heart. Thank you for this great gift. Amen.