| Acts 15:9,26:18 9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.2 [Little by little each spoken word from Him that you hear is engrafted into your heart and imparts the life of God to you making you a little more pure.] 18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, release from sin's slavery, and an inheritance among those who are purified by faith in me.'2 [Paul also wrote in the book of Galatians: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed [anathema, sentenced to eternal punishment]. As we said before, so I say again now: if any man preaches any gospel to you other than what you have received, let him be accursed." Gal 1:8-9. And so the preachers and teachers of today's Christianity would be eternally cursed by Paul for preaching an entirely different gospel than the true gospel.] | James 4:8 8 Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts,2 you double minded. [James tells those in the churches who are still sinning to purify their hearts by drawing near to God; which occurs by persistently and patiently waiting on Him, listening and obeying what you hear the Lord command you.] | 1 Peter 1:22 22 Purify your souls by obeying the truth into unfeigned love6 of the brothers, dearly loving one another fervently with a pure heart; [This has been mistranslated as having purified your souls. It is impossible to have purified your soul and still be without salvation; so they have yet to purify their souls. The original Greek Net Bible shows that "purify" in this verse is not past tense, it is present tense; and Footnote 5 in the original Greek Net Bible shows this verse to read "pure heart" in early manuscripts; later manuscripts eliminated the word "pure" to simply read "heart" not "pure heart."] | Titus 2:13-14 13 As we receive the blessed fulfillment of our hope, even the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, [The great God, the Father, and our Savior, Jesus Christ, are revealed as they come and make their home in the hearts of who love and obey Jesus. John 14:23. From the Word of the Lord within: "The second coming is a personal experience. The second coming is in the hearts of purified believers."] 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity [lawless deeds, sin], and purify for himself a people who are his very own, zealous for good works.1 [Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh [the sinful nature] with its passions and desires [lusts and affections], Gal 5:24, to become pure. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27. From the Word of the Lord within: "If you are still sinning, you belong to sin and not to Me."] | Matthew 5:8 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. [Blessed are those whom the Holy Spirit cleanses to purity, for they will see the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus appear in their hearts, in ever increasing glory. When he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And every man who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as He [Jesus] is pure. 1 John 3:2-3. He is revealed not just to be seen, but He then guides you through the rest of your life with what to do and say; then you are working righteousness like He did. Unless you have a pure heart, you will not see God; without a heart purified while on earth, you will see the Lord at your death, which will be a terrifying experience.] | 2 Corinthians 7:1 1 Therefore having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.1 [Richard Claridge, an outstanding early Quaker, profoundly wrote: "The real happiness of man consists in being truly religious, or holy, in our measures, as God is holy; for holiness and happiness are so nearly related, that the one cannot be, or subsist, without the other. Holiness is happiness begun, and happiness is holiness in perfection." From the Word of the Lord within: "There came a view that happiness and holiness are separable."] | ||||