This word, “purify,” means “to make clean; to free from defilement or guilt of sin; to purify from wickedness.”

This is THE most important question in Christianity. There isn’t a more important question to answer for your life. Every other question you have about the kingdom of God pales in comparison with the implications of how you answer the question about the purification of your heart.

But there was massive disagreement about this issue in the early church. And although they settled the answer, there is still massive disagreement about this issue in the modern church.

I meet many Christians who struggle with guilt and condemnation, thinking that God is angry with them. Why do they have this struggle?

Because they have not properly answered the question about how to get their heart purified by God!

Everyone in the early church agreed that the only way you could initially come into the kingdom of God was to accept Jesus by faith.

But then, how do you MAINTAIN this relationship? THAT was where the disagreement began. Now I am here to report that the same disagreement that existed in the early church is still in existence today in the modern church.

Peter, who is the person speaking in our passage, reported that God purified hearts BY FAITH. The verb tense that he used was a one-time action and not a continuous action.

This is very important to see because the disagreement about this issue really boils down to how often God is involved in the action of purifying a person’s heart.

Peter is very clear that God only does this once in a person’s life. It is not something that is repeated over and over.

Why is this so critically important to understand? Because there are some people out there who are teaching that in order to maintain the status of having a pure heart, they must now start performing good works.

This is a false teaching! The early church debated this issue here in this chapter, and determined that it is false doctrine to teach that your personal performance has anything to do with your status of maintaining a pure heart.

And yet, so many modern churches are still teaching that you must perform well in order to maintain your good status with God.

This is a lie that is responsible for keeping myriads of Christians stuck with feelings of guilt, feelings that God is not pleased with them and is probably angry at them. Stuck in the expectation that God is not prone to answer their prayers because their personal performance is inadequate and their hearts are no longer pure.

It was false teaching back then. It is still false teaching today.

God purifies, one time forever, any heart that believes in Jesus as their Savior.

And whether or not you are able to successfully live a good life (as defined by your denomination or personal opinion) has absolutely NOTHING to do with whether or not you have a heart that is pure.

If Jesus is your Savior, then your heart is pure. Period! And if you have guilty feelings and feel like God is displeased with you, then you have completely missed this point.

Dear Christian, when you screw up and sin, your action does not change the status of your pure, guilt-free heart.

KNOWING this will set you free from all that condemnation you are struggling with.