| 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.] | Titus 2:11-14 11 [Grace, (the Spirit, the Light), is given to every man so that he might heed its gentle and anonymous appearance and call to repent of his evil ways for God would have all men to be saved.] For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, [To access the purifying power of grace, one must wait on God, listen, watch, and obey what you hear. By grace through inward faith the Spirit charges us to deny ungodliness and lusts, teaching us how to live righteously and godly in this world. As we obey, grace then removes the sins from our heart. Salvation is brought to those who heed and obey Him as they persistently and patiently wait on Him. Heb 5:9, 9:28.] 12 Teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and how to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; [Grace is in the heart of every man, waiting for a man to turn inward to be taught and changed to become righteous, pure, and holy. A "believer" who dies still sinning is defiled and banned from heaven; grace is not an excuse to bypass judgment or Hell for him; every man is judged by his words and works.] 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."] | 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."] | |||||||