Proverbs 20:9 (ESV)

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

The answer to this question is, “No one!” Solomon confessed the same in his prayer at the dedication of the temple (1 Kings 8:46). All Scripture teaches us that we are all sinners (see Psalm 51:5; Psalm 143:2; Ecclesiastes 7:20; 1 John 1:8).

There is only one exception to this rule: our Lord Jesus Christ. He could ask, “Which one of you convicts me of sin?” (John 8:46). Because of his death and resurrection, we can confess and rejoice at the same time, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23–24).