Abundant Grace Fellowship
Pure In Heart
Blessed Are The Pure In Heart
By Pastor J.D. Link
Abundant
Last week we talked about the blessing of God on the merciful, and how treating others as you would have God treat you is another “golden rule”. We saw that being merciful is an attribute of God, it is important to God, and we want to follow the example of Jesus. We summed up by saying we should be good to ourselves by pursuing mercy; and that mercy is a major reason we are saved (Titus 3:5, Heb 8:12).
Continuing with the beatitudes, let’s look at Mt. 5:8 - Blessed (happy, fortunate, & well off) are the pure (clean) in heart: for they shall see God. Of course, all men will see God; but the pure in heart will see Him as Father, while those that are not pure in heart will see Him as Judge. The first group looks forward to seeing God (Titus 2:13, Heb 9:28, 2Pt 3:12); the latter will dread that day (2Thess 1, Rev 20). Do you look forward to seeing God? Your answer will indicate what’s in your heart. In another sense, the pure in heart will see God now, as well. They will see His favor on their lives (Ps 5:12), they will see God in their prayer time (Mt 6:6), they will see Him take bad things and work them out for good in their lives (Rom 8:28). The pure in heart are truly blessed.
Why the pure in heart? Because that is what God looks upon (1 Sam 16:7). Proverbs 23:7 says “For as he (a man) thinks in his heart, so is he…”. You may be able to put on an act out in public; you may fool everyone else, and maybe even fool yourself: but God knows who you really are, because He is the One who searches the heart (Jer 17:9-10). Do you remember the old Eddie Rabbit song “You can’t run from love”? Well he was right. The Bible says God is love (1Jn 4:16); and it also says there is no place you can hide from Him (Ps 139). All things are open and manifest before His eyes; nothing is hidden from Him (Heb 4:12-13).
The Pharisees were perfect examples of God looking on the heart (Mt 23:25-28). You see, the Pharisees had their act together outwardly. They looked and talked all holy; they also did a great many “good” religious things. Their problem was on the inside, in their heart. Inwardly, they were rotten to the core. Their motives were not pure or honest; and their attitude toward Jesus and His teachings proved it (at least one Pharisee was not like this [Jn 3:1, 7:50-51, 19:38-39]). Please understand, our outward actions as Christians should certainly reflect the inward change of our hearts; but as the Pharisees show us, it is possible to have some actions that look pure, without having a pure motive in our hearts.
So the question may arise “Who does the purifying? Is it God or us?”. The Scriptures show us that both God and us play a part in the purification of our hearts; God being the initiator, and us following after and adhering to what God commands. In Acts 15:17-19, the Apostle Peter says that God gave the Gentiles The Holy Ghost and purified their hearts by faith. So we see that God does the purifying work in us when we put faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is called regeneration (2Cor 5:17), when we are born again (Jn 3:1-16). At this point, we are sanctified (set apart as holy unto God), as it says in Heb 2:11, 10:10, 14 Jude 1:1, as well as many other places in The Scriptures.
As for our part, The Word of God tells us that we should sanctify ourselves because this is His will for us (Lev 20:7, 1Thes 4:1-3); that we should cleanse ourselves (2Cor 7:1); that we should purify ourselves (Jm 4:7-8, 1Jn 3:3). See also 2Tim 2:21-22, 26. Is this unreasonable, considering all God has done for us and in us? No, it is our reasonable service to offer ourselves as living sacrifices unto God (Rom 12:1). We are the ecclesia (church), the “Ones called out”. “Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord…” (2Cor 6:17).
I know the doctrines of justification, regeneration, and sanctification can get really deep, but I hope I’ve kept it simple enough to help you in your walk with God. Until next time, rejoice in the Lord!