“Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?”
Not me. How about you? Even more, this verse is actually asking if we can keep from ever sinning, can guarantee we will avoid it. There is the sin of pride when claiming we alone can avoid ever sinning. Instant failure. I once new a preacher who declared he had not sinned in decades. At that point I dismissed his teaching and moved on. Job declares that we can bring nothing clean out of the unclean. In 1 Kings Solomon reminds us that no one is without sin and Jeremiah reminds us that the heart is deceptively wicked. All theses declarations are meant to bring us to a place of reflection and an understanding of our brokenness and need. As we reflect on our sin we come to terms again with our desperate need for a savior. We become acutely aware of our broken condition. Another translation says who can make their heart clean. The same answer is appropriate: no one. The writer wants us to live in constant awareness of our ability to sin at any moment and our constant need of our saviors redemption. Today live not in guilt but grateful for His cleansing power. #BeTheEdge
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 NIV
