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A Pure Heart..Yours for the Taking.
You will see in this article the first Christians accepted purity of heart as a part of Christs’ salvation. They took it for granted when you received Jesus as saviour and accepted the fullness of the Holy Spirit the result would be purity of heart. They believed when the word said Jesus was the lamb of God who has taken away the sin of the world - that he put away sin by the sacrifice of himself (John - Hebrews) that is exactly what happened. For them sin was no longer an issue for the genuine believer. They believed when Jesus said, ‘it is finished’ God had done a complete work and it was their responsibility to believe that in all of its’ fullness.
Astonishingly we have largely lost that in this modern era. The fullness of Christs salvation from sin is often misunderstood. Many confess they are still sinners saved by grace. It is commonly taught we should be daily confessing our sins to stay in fellowship with God. There is a preoccupation with so called sin and very little preoccupation with Christs deliverance from sin. Many clear parts of God's word are ignored.
Another idea that seems to be wide spread is that the Holy Spirit spends all His time convicting Christians of their sins for change and becoming more like Christ. The only convicting the Holy Spirit does, according to the New Testament, is to convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment to come, so that the world may turn and save themselves through Christ. Jesus said the Holy Spirit convicts the world, of sin because they believe not on me. .John? The New Testament also says, for as He is so are we in this world. (1 John) No progressive Christ likeness there just a statement of completeness. We have accepted teachings and opinions not found in the word of God and have not used our own Bible reading to check on the truth. Admittedly it is not easy to differ with the beliefs of your entire denomination, but what choice do we have when faced with, as we will see, an unmistakable revelation clearly stated by God.
Regarding purity of heart, we read in Acts chapter ten how the apostle Peter was sent by God to preach the Gospel to a Roman Centurion and his household. While Peter is speaking the Holy Spirit falls on the whole company of listeners and they speak in tongues and magnify God. Later in Acts Peter is twice called upon to explain what happened. Both times he tells how the Holy Spirit fell on these Gentile people, the second time, before the apostles and elders, he goes a little further in his explanation: Peter rose up and said to them, ‘men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.’ (Acts15:7-9)
Peter says that the experience of these new converts is the same as he and all the apostles and elders had when the Holy Spirit was given to them. When the Spirit was given to them in the upper room on the day of Pentecost they had the same experience as these Gentiles, namely, their hearts were purified. The listeners by their acceptance of what Peter is saying show they agree what he has said is true. Purity of heart was a normal condition for them from the giving of the Spirit. They accepted purity of heart was a basic experience the Gospel produced in those who believe it.
Today we would describe the new converts experience thus; they were born again, they received the fullness of the Spirit, they spoke in tongues and praised God. There would be no mention of purity of heart because we have lost that teaching. In many years as a Christian I have never heard purity of heart mentioned in relation to the Holy Spirit being given. I warrant your experience is the same. In fact because this is the only result of the Spirit given mentioned here, indicates it was of first importance in their thinking. Holiness was paramount. Christians were first of all holy people.
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...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
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