![]() Psalm 24:3-4 (NIV) says, “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.” This Psalm seems to describe the ideal worshiper. Clearly, the Pharisees didn’t give attention to cultivating pure hearts. He described them as drawing near God with their mouths while their hearts were far from him (Matt 15:8). ![]() ![]() Christ rebuked the Pharisees for this by calling them white-washed tombs-clean on the outside but filled with dead men’s bones on the inside (Matt 23:27). To commit either of these is to fail to both love God and man, which are the greatest commandments. They thought if they hadn’t committed adultery, they had kept that commandment, but Christ said to lust is to commit adultery. They thought if they hadn’t killed anyone, they had kept the law against murder, but Christ said to be angry is to commit murder in our hearts. This was especially important for the Jews and Pharisees to hear, as they tended to focus on outward compliance to God’s laws instead of inward compliance. To love sin, to cultivate unforgiveness, or pride is to hinder our relationship with God and our ability to see him. Likewise, David said if he cherished iniquity in his heart, the Lord would not hear him (Ps 66:18). Therefore, he is unstable and ineffective in prayer. The double-minded man is somebody who wants to live for the world and live for God at the same time (cf. James 1:7-8 describes how the double-minded man is unstable in all his ways and how he will receive nothing from God when he prays. Therefore, to hold on to ungodly attitudes is to hinder our relationship with God and our ability to see him. The more a person grows in these godly virtues, the more they see God. He starts ridding them of jealousy, anger, pride, and selfishness, and replacing these attitudes with selflessness, humility, love, patience, and other virtues. When people follow God and are born again, God begins to change their hearts. To be pure in heart refers to having an inner moral righteousness. 5 Therefore, we must ask what does Christ mean practically by being “pure in heart”? 1. In the biblical mindset, “heart” refers to the mind, will, and emotions. When Christ adds the word “heart” to it, he is not just referring to emotions. 4 Therefore, the word generally means both “clean” and “unmixed.” 3 It was also used of metals that had been refined until all the impurities were gone-leaving only pure silver, pure gold, etc. The word “pure” has had a variety of uses: It was used of soiled clothes which had been washed clean, and an army of soldiers which had been purged of the discontented, unwilling, cowardly, and inefficient soldiers-with only first-class fighters remaining. Interpretation Question: What does it mean to be pure in heart? In this study, we’ll consider the sixth beatitude: the blessing on the pure in heart and the promise of seeing God.īig Question: What does the sixth beatitude mean and what applications can we take from it? The Pure in Heart It is for this reason that some view this beatitude as the climax or pinnacle of the Beatitudes the first five lead to it and the last two flow from it. Here in Matthew 5:8, Christ promises the highest good that man can achieve-seeing and knowing God. However, he would show Moses his back-a manifestation of his glory, but not his full glory. God responded to him that no one could see his face and live. Moses cried out for this in Exodus 33:18, as he asked to see God’s glory. This is essentially what Matthew 5:8 promises-to see and know God more intimately. He names three things that people often pursue in life as the highest good: wisdom, strength, and wealth however, the highest good is knowing God. ![]() Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me 1 Throughout history, seeing and knowing God has often been considered the summum bonum-the highest good in life. Some have wondered why it is not the first beatitude or the last, as the culmination. In many ways, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” is the chief beatitude. He makes them the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers. From there, God begins to fill his people with righteousness. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.Īs a reminder, the fourth beatitude, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, marked a pivot in the Beatitudes.
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