The ability to have a pure heart comes from God, and he graciously gives us that ability.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:2-3)
I bold faced "everything" to make a point. If we cannot have a pure heart, as some falsely claim, then God has not given us everything we need to be godly. Such a belief defies this passage. Since God has given all we need to be godly, then certainly we are capable.
And we are more than merely capable; we overwhelmingly conquer (Romans 8:37). The power of God's spirit destroyed the old self and gave us a new heart. We are new creatures. The old has passed away (2 Corinthians 5:17). Thanks be to God for His awesome provision for holiness!
This is probably my last post under this topic. I will likely come back to this subject later, but probably under a different heading.
I will finish by providing a link to a tremendous sermon by John Wesley that gives his views on Christian holiness. Click Here
2 comments:
eju,
Thank you for your support. I agree that books for young people should not be so simple that they insult their intelligence. I intentionally made my stories complex and deep so that even spiritually mature adults could find plenty to think about.
I'm glad they are a blessing to your family.
Sally,
We are truly new creatures when we partake of Jesus. It's not merely something that God "sees." God sees that we are new creatures, because we truly are new creatures. The old self is crucified with Christ, and we have been resurrected to new life.
We still have physical bodies, to be sure, but so did Jesus. Now we have the mind of Christ, and it He lives through us. Therefore, we have pure hearts, while living in a physical body.
Certainly we groan, awaiting the redemption of our bodies, the ultimate consummation of the pledge of the inheritance. But that certainly in no way means we can't have pure hearts while we await that day we get to be with Christ.
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