Proverbs 20:9

9 No one can say, "I have kept my heart pure. I'm clean. I haven't sinned."

Proverbs 20:9 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 20:9

Who can say, I have made my heart clean
The heart of than is naturally unclean, the mind, conscience, understanding, will, and affections; there is no part clean, all are defiled with sin; and though there is such a thing as a pure or clean heart, yet not as made so by men; it is God that has made the heart, that can only make it clean, or create a clean heart in men; it is not to be done by themselves, or by anything that they can do; it is done only by the grace of God, and blood of Christ: God has promised to do it, and he does it; and to him, and to him only, is it to be ascribed; I am pure from my sin?
the sin of nature or of action: such indeed who are washed from their sins in the blood of Christ; whose sins are all pardoned for his sake, and who are justified from all things by his righteousness; they are pure from sin, none is to be seen in them, or found upon them in a legal sense: they are all fair and comely, and without fault in the sight of God; their iniquities are caused to pass from them; and they are clothed with fine linen, clean and white, the righteousness of the saints: but then none are pure from indwelling sin, nor from the commission of sin; no man can say this, any more than the former; if he does, he is an ignorant man, and does not know the plague of his heart; and he is a vain pharisaical man; yea, a man that does not speak the truth, nor is the truth in him, ( 1 John 1:8 ) .

Proverbs 20:9 In-Context

7 Anyone who does what is right lives without blame. Blessed are his children after him.
8 A king sits on his throne to judge. He gets rid of all evil when he sees it.
9 No one can say, "I have kept my heart pure. I'm clean. I haven't sinned."
10 The LORD hates two things. He hates weights that weigh things heavier or lighter than they really are. He also hates measures that measure things larger or smaller than they really are.
11 A child is known by his actions. He is known by whether his conduct is pure and right.
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