If you look at Ep. 5:27, you will see that the people that Jesus will snatch up to himself during the rapture must be perfect--perfect obedience. In order to be able to obey God’s commandments perfectly, a person must possess the fullness of the Holy Spirit of God. In order for a person to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, a person must have a pure heart.

Mt. 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Ps. 24:3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?
Ps. 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. [Or swear falsely]

No person living in this world has a pure heart by default. How does a person develop a pure heart?

Creation of a Pure Heart

Ps. 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Ps. 51:11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Ps. 51:10 implies that a pure heart can only be created by God. How do we get God to create a pure heart in us? Is it by praying like David, or what?

Ac. 15:8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.
Ac. 15:9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.

1Pe. 1:22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

Ac. 15:9 says that God purifies a heart by faith. 1Pe. 1:22 says that a person purifies himself/herself by obeying the truth. Note that “obeying the truth” of 1Pe. 1:22 does not necessarily mean “keeping the laws of God”. “Obeying the truth” should have something to do with faith. My conclusion is that God purifies the heart of a person who practices faith.

The Practice of Faith

He. 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Col. 2:12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

Faith is to believe the message that came from God through Jesus Christ. What is this message?

1Co. 15:1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
1Co. 15:2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
1Co. 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
1Co. 15:4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

2Ti. 2:8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel,
2Ti. 2:9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.
2Ti. 2:10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
2Ti. 2:11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him;
2Ti. 2:12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us;
2Ti. 2:13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

The above passages of Scripture help us to capture the message from God through Jesus Christ, or the gospel. The message is that Christ died for our sins, he was buried and he was raised from the dead. The message goes on to say that if we died with Jesus Christ, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. This is the complete gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith is to believe the complete gospel.

The practice of faith is to die with Jesus Christ and live with him. If we endure in our dying and living with him, we will begin to reign with him.

Mk. 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
Mk. 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Ro. 6:3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Ro. 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

A person dies with Jesus Christ through baptism in water into the name of Jesus Christ. It is water baptism that unites us with the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and hence with the blood of Jesus.

Living with Jesus is by word of testimony (Re. 12:11)—baptism into the word of God; cleansing by washing with water through the word (Ep. 5:26). Word of testimony is calling what you do not see as though you are seeing it. It is continuing word of testimony that purifies the heart.

Mk. 16:17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
Mk. 16:18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

If we continue to live with Jesus through word of faith, we will begin to reign with him.

Word of Testimony

Re. 12:11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Only a person who has been baptized into Jesus Christ (water baptism) can overcome by the blood of Jesus. Any other person can speak words.

Word of testimony is living with Jesus Christ by faith. It is by faith because you testify what you are not really experiencing in the flesh. But if you endure in your testimony, surprisingly, you begin to reign with Jesus in reality.

He. 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Ge. 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Ge. 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

God formed the universe by giving a command. However, before God gave the command, He first of all released His Spirit to be able to reach the limits of the universe. (See Pr. 8:22-30.) We can see this principle at work in Ge. 1:2-3. In order for God’s command, “Let there be light”, to be effective, God first of all got His Spirit to hover in the neighborhood where the light was to manifest.

Jn. 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

The mighty arm of God is ready to save and uplift at any time, but unbelief prevents the arm of God (the light) from acting. In order to bring the Spirit of God into our hearts, we must display our belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

2Co. 4:13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” [Psalm 116:10] With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,
2Co. 4:14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.
2Co. 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Do you truly believe that we have died with Jesus and that the one who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also raise us up with Jesus? Continually show your belief by your testimony. As you do so, the darkness in your heart will begin to diminish and the light of God will be able to penetrate.

I give you thanks the Most High God, for you have rescued me and every member of my family from the dominion of darkness and you have brought us into the kingdom of your dear Son Jesus Christ, in whom we have redemption (Col. 1:13-14). Thank you gracious Father, for by your grace we have been united with Jesus Christ in his death and you are raising us up together with him. Thank you Holy Father as you raise us up from sin into righteousness. Thank you everlasting Father as you raise us up from the dominion of death into eternal life in Christ Jesus. I give you praise glorious Father God as you raise us up from poverty into the unlimited wealth of your divine power (2Pe. 1:3). I magnify your holy name, Lord God Almighty, as you raise us up from the curses that dominated our lives into your unlimited blessings (Ep. 1:3).

Faith during Jesus’ Earthly Ministry

Mt. 9:20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.
Mt. 9:21 She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”
Mt. 9:22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.

Mt. 9:27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
Mt. 9:28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied.
Mt. 9:29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”;

Mt. 13:54 Coming to his home town, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked.
Mt. 13:55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?
Mt. 13:56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
Mt. 13:57 And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his home town and in his own house is a prophet without honour.”
Mt. 13:58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Mt. 21:19 Seeing a fig-tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
Mt. 21:20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig-tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
Mt. 21:21 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig-tree, but also you can say to this mountain, `Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.
Mt. 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Mk. 9:21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered.
Mk. 9:22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
Mk. 9:23 “`If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
Mk. 9:24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Jn. 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Jn. 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.
Jn. 14:14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

If you have been baptized into Jesus Christ, prove to God in every possible way that you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. God will fill you with the fullness of His Holy Spirit and all things shall become possible for you.

Nu. 14:28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say:

Do you believe the various promises of God to those who are baptized into Christ Jesus? If you do, form the habit f voicing them out, as applying to you. God will do the very things He hears you say, if His Holy Spirit is in you.