Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary
Inner Cleansing from Sin is by Faithfulness
"9 And he makes no discrimination between us and them, but by the faithfulness cleanses their hearts. (DLT: torahtimes.org, Acts 15:9).
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The aorist participle καθαρισας, "cleanses" is perfective in aspect, remote in a spatial sense, but gnomic/iterative in Aktionsart. This means that the action is viewed remotely as far off. Temporally, it is just a timeless statement of truth. For this reason it would be a mistake to think that there is a teaching of present perfectionism of the heart in the text.
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In this case "the faithfulness", τη πιστει, refers first to "the commitment" made by the Gentiles to God. It is an active commitment, i.e. "firmation" in the Hebraic sense.
hen their obedience of faithfulness, which cleanses their hearts. Their faithfulness is taken from Messiah's faithfulness as the source of sanctification. The idea behind cleansing here is the removal of sinful desires and thoughts from the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary: (http://www.torahtimes.org/translation/act1509.html)
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