Pure in Heart
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”
Matthew 5:8
In one sense, this is a very straightforward statement. But we need to ask ourselves what does he mean by the word, “pure,” and what is our, “heart”? First, what does the Bible say about our heart? Jesus says of our hearts, “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. (Matt 15:18-20)” We find that the inner motivation for sin flows from our heart. All of the sinful actions and attitudes we have are the fruit of what is at the root in our heart. One commentator describes the heart this way, “There it stands for the whole of our inner state, thought and will as well as emotions: ‘In a psychological sense, the seat of man’s collective energies, the focus of personal life, the seat of the rational as well as the emotional and volitional elements in human life, hence that wherein lies the moral and religious condition of the man.’”[1]
The Bible also tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.’ (Jer 17:9)” The heart is the seat of who we are including our intellect, will, and emotions. Because of sin it is confused and convoluted so it is difficult for us to understand what our own motivations and desires are. We know that we are to guard our hearts because our heart is what gives direction to our lives. “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (Pro 4:23) The Bible also tells us, “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. (Psa 24:3-4)”
Our heart is what directs us, and we are to keep guard over it. However, because of sin, our hearts are deceptive and evil. We find that we do not merely need minor repairs but a complete transformation of our hearts. This is what the gospel does! “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezk 36:26-27)” We were spiritually dead. The heart of stone represents us before we came to Christ. We were physically alive but spiritually dead, completely insensitive to the things of God. When we came to Christ, he made us spiritually alive and gave us new desires to love and obey him.
We live in the “already and not yet.” In other words, we have received the first fruits of our salvation, but the full expression of salvation will be experienced when Christ returns and establishes his eternal kingdom. Right now, we have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ so that God accepts us, and we are able to walk daily with him. One day we will be transformed, and all vestiges of sin and temptation will be gone. “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)”
[1] Leon Morris. Pillar New Testament Commentary: Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992. eBook.
