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"Purifying their hearts by faith." Acts 15:9
True faith purifies the heart from sin. Faith has two hands, one to lay hold on Christ, and another to sweep the heart, which is Christ's house. Faith knows that Christ is of a dove-like nature; He loves to lie clean and sweet. Faith has a neat housewife's hand, as well as an eagle's eye. Faith is as good at purging out sin, as it is at discovering sin. There is a cleansing quality in faith, as well as a healing quality in faith. Sound faith will purge the soul from the love of sin, from a delight in sin, and from the reign and dominion of sin. "Sin shall not have dominion over you; for you are not under the lawbut under grace," Rom. 6:14,21.
Faith purifies the heart from sin, by engaging against sin in Christ's strength, as David engaged against Goliath, not in his own strengthbut in the strength and name of the Lord Almighty. Faith leads the soul directly to God, and engages God against sinso that the combat is changed, and made now rather between God and sin, than between sin and the soul; and so sin comes to fall before the power and glorious presence of God.
Look! as a child who is attacked by one who is stronger than he, cries out to his father to help him, and to fight for him against his enemy; just so, faith, being sensible of its own weakness and inability to get the victory over sin, cries out to Christ, who is stronger than the strong man, and so Christ binds the strong man, and casts him out. Faith tells the soul that all purposes, resolutions, and endeavors, without Christ, will never set the soul above its sins, they will never purify the heart from sin; therefore faith engages Christ, and casts the main of the work upon Christ, and so it purges the soul from sin.
Staupicius acknowledged, before he came to understand the free and powerful grace of Christ, that he vowed and resolved a hundred times against some particular sin, and could never get power over it; he could never get his heart purified from it, until he came to see that he trusted too much to his own resolutions, and too little to Jesus Christ; but when his faith had engaged Christ against his sin, he had the victory.
Faith purifies the heart from sin, by the application of Christ's blood. Faith makes a plaster of Christ's blessed blood, and lays it on upon the soul's sores, and so cures it. Faith makes a heavenly purgative of this blessed blood, and gives it to the soul, and so makes it vomit up that poison which it has drunk in. Faith tells the soul, that it is not all the tears in the world, nor all the water in the sea, which can wash away the uncleanness of the soul; it is only the blood of Christ which can make a blackmoor white; it is only the blood of Christ which can cure a leprous Naaman, which can cure a leprous soul. 'This fountain of blood,' says faith, 'is the only fountain which can wash heart from all uncleanness and filthiness of flesh and spirit.' Zech. 13:1. Those spots which a Christian finds in his own heart, can only be washed out in the blood of the Lamb, by a hand of faith.
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