Proverbs 20:9

9 Who can say, "I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin"?

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 The righteous walk in integrity— happy are the children who follow them!
8 A king who sits on the throne of judgment winnows all evil with his eyes.
9 Who can say, "I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin"?
10 Diverse weights and diverse measures are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
11 Even children make themselves known by their acts, by whether what they do is pure and right.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.