‘Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?’ (Proverbs 20:9)

Solomon’s rhetorical question assumes a negative response. The sinfulness of humanity was an accepted reality in his day. Yet, even this basic wisdom has been thrown into question in our modern time by the tenets of humanism. The philosophy of humanism stresses the idea that humans are born basically good and that their potential for goodness is based on environmental factors. According to their thinking, with sufficient resources and education, all children should turn out well. A generation of this thinking has proven the theory untrue, yet the philosophy remains. However, God’s Word teaches us that our sin problem is more about the human heart than our behavior or the environment in which we live. This is a profound distinction. The real problem with humanity is the human heart. What is needed is heart change. Yet, who can make their “heart pure?” No one. What we need is a Savior. One who would give us new and holy hearts for God. But in order to know this, we must first admit that we are sinners. We must first accept this basic truth about ourselves, that we are sinful and powerless to do anything to change. We need help. We need Jesus. We need Christ to give us new hearts.