Gospel Purification

And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. - Acts 15:8-9

    Every true believer desires to worship God with a pure heart and honour him with a life of purity. According to the apostle John, the believer's hope of eternal life in Christ inspires in him an insatiable desire for purity. 'Every man that hath this hope in him' (the hope of seeing Christ and being like Christ) 'purifieth himself, even as he is pure' (1 John 3:3). But how is this purification accomplished? That is the question I want to answer in this chapter.

    In the Old Testament, under the types and shadows of the Mosaic dispensation, there were many forms of ceremonial purification which the children of Israel were required to obey meticulously. The instruments of service in the tabernacle and later in the temple were ceremonially purified by being washed with water and sprinkled with blood. The priests and their garments were purified by ceremonial washings. Women were required to purify themselves before marriage, after childbirth and following every period of menstruation. And the people were required to purify themselves before observing the appointed feasts and holy ordinances of divine worship. But the first and most important means of legal, ceremonial purification was circumcision. This seal of God's covenant with Abraham symbolically pictured the purification of God's elect by the Holy Spirit in regeneration (Phil. 3:3; Col. 2: 11).

    Those Old Testament ceremonies of purification were all out ward. They did nothing to purify the heart. They only pictured the purification of the heart by the grace of God. However, by the end of the legal dispensation, by the time Christ appeared, the Jews' religion had degenerated into base idolatry, self-righteousness and will-worship. They looked upon the mere observance of outward ceremonies as the actual purifying of their hearts and made their outward religious services the basis of their acceptance with God! They thought God would accept them because they were outwardly, ceremonially clean, even though their hearts were vile (Matt. 23:25-28; Luke 16:15).

    Though those rituals were only temporary symbols and pictures of gospel purification, there were many in the early church who were still Pharisees. They insisted that the Gentile believers be compelled to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses (Acts 15:1,5). It was bad enough to have Pharisees outside the church persecuting it, but when the legalists joined the church and tried to pervert the gospel, subverting men's souls, the evil was intolerable (Acts 15:24; Gal. 1:6-8; 2:4-5; 3:1-3; 5:2,4, 12). Those 'false brethren', as Paul calls them, are still with us today. They are still stirring up strife and endeavouring to bring all believers into legal bondage. They make holiness and purity a matter of outward, legal obedience to the law of Moses, or (even worse) to the religious laws and customs of men. It is the spirit and doctrine of legalism that the early church confronted and denounced at the Jerusalem conference. It is an evil that must not be tolerated. Peter plainly declares that those who preach and teach legalistic doctrine are guilty of tempting God, walking directly contrary to his revealed will (Acts 15:10;Col. 2: 16-23; 1 Tim. 4:1-5).

    In Acts 15:8-9 the apostle reproves the Judaizers and denounces their doctrine by reminding those present at the conference of God's work of grace upon Cornelius and his household, all of whom were uncircumcised Gentiles (Acts 10:43-44). Speaking by the Spirit of God, Peter plainly declared two facts that many today are either ignorant of or fail to appreciate.

    1. In Christ all God's elect are one, and being one in Christ, all believers are equal before the Lord

    'God . . . put no difference between us and them.' There are no second-class citizens in the kingdom of heaven (Eph. 2:11-19; 4: 1-7; Col. 3:11). Our standing and acceptance with God are determined entirely by our relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ, our substitute, not by something we do. We are complete in him (Col. 2:10). Our experiences may vary and our understanding of spiritual things on this earth may differ, but there is 'no difference between us' in the sight of God. In Christ all true believers are loved with the same love (1John 3:1), chosen by the same grace (Eph. 1:4-6), blessed with the same privileges (Eph. 1:3), redeemed by the same blood (1 Peter 1:18-20), quickened by the same Spirit (Eph. 2:1-5), robed in the same righteousness (Jer. 23:6), partakers of the same divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), adopted into the same family (Gal. 4:4-6), built upon the same foundation (Eph. 2:20-22), children of the same Father (Matt. 6:9), servants of the same Master (1 Cor. 7:20-23), possessors of the same hope (Rom. 8:24-25), partakers of the same promises (2 Cor. 1:20), heirs of the same inheritance (Rom. 8:17) and beneficiaries of the same intercessor (John 17:20-26).

    2. God purifies the hearts of his people by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

    'God put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.' By nature our hearts are defiled and filthy (Matt. 15:17-19;Rom. 8:7). As John Gill says, 'This defilement of the heart reaches to all the members of the body, and the faculties of the soul' (cf. Rom. 3:9-19). The total depravity of the human heart is an inescapable fact.

    The work of purifying the heart can be performed by God alone. Peter did not say, 'Cornelius purified his heart,' but 'God purified his heart'! Ceremonial cleansing, moral reformation, sorrowful repentance, baptism and religious services can never purify the heart of man. Only the application of Christ's blood to the heart by God's almighty grace can purify it (Heb. 9:12-14; Titus 3:4-7).

    The means of purification is God-given faith in Christ. 'Faith changes the current of our love, and alters the motive which sways us: this is what is meant by purifying the heart. It makes us love that which is good and right, and moves us with motives free from self and sin. This is a great work indeed!' said C. H. Spurgeon. Faith in Christ purifies the heart by:

    1. Freeing us from the guilt of sin and terror of the law (Heb. 9:14; 1John 3:21);

    2. Its overwhelming realization of the love of Christ for us (2 Cor. 5:14);

    3. Bringing us into intimate communion with Christ (S. of S. 1:2; 2:4,6);

    4. Enabling us to realize, in some measure, the manifold blessings and privileges we enjoy in Christ by the grace of God (Eph. 1:3-14);

    5. Fixing our hearts upon Christ and the heavenly, eternal things promised to us in him (2 Cor. 4:17-5:1; Col. 3:1-3; 1 John 3:1-3).

    This purification of the believer's heart is a continual, daily exercise of divine grace (John 13:6-10). As we make our pilgrimage through this world, we are continually gathering the dirt of sin upon us. Therefore we must continually go to the precious fountain and be washed in the blood of Christ (1 John 1:9).