The Pure in heart
“Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).
There can be a tendency to concentrate on the first part of today’s verse in our desire to be pure in a world marked by spiritual and moral impurity. But we also need to consider the second part of the verse. The word “pure” here means cleansed. Only those redeemed by God and made holy through Christ’s work see God. Now we see by faith. The Christian’s hope in Christ will take us into the presence of God. We are introduced to both these thoughts at the beginning of John 14:
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (vv. 1-3).
The phrase “pure in heart” also suggests “with undivided loyalty”. The Lord makes Himself the object of our faith: “Believe also in Me.” This is our present experience. We live by faith, as Paul describes in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
In John 14 the Lord also promises to take His people into the Father’s house. In John 17:24, Jesus prays to the Father that His Church “may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory.” Ephesians 5 explains that Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her, and one day will present her to Himself as a glorious church. 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4 describe the day the redeemed company are brought into the Father’s house. In that day, we shall enter into the completeness of our salvation and our eternal destiny.
When the Passover lamb was chosen, it was kept safe in order to demonstrate its perfection before its sacrifice (Exodus 12:6). Christ’s purity, holiness and perfection were seen in His peerless life. And that life was given for us in love at Calvary. Now, in resurrection glory, He is the object of our faith. His love sustains us, and we witness to it in our lives.
In the opening verses of 1 John 3, the apostle beautifully describes God’s love for us. He has made us His children and promised that we will be with Christ, and like Him, “for we shall see Him as He is”. Then he adds, “And everyone who has this hope in Him (Christ) purifies himself, just as He is pure.” The reality of Christ’s return had a profound effect on the early Church. Christians lived in the reality of this hope. It shaped and enriched their lives. It purified them and enabled them to live, not in self-righteousness, but lives of sacrifice, purpose and witness. The pure in heart do not love the world, but they do live in the world. The word of God sanctifies us, and we are sent into the world by the Lord to be His witnesses (John 17:14-18). Christ’s purifying ministry begins in our hearts, it purifies our lives and transforms us into His likeness. The world dismisses purity and suffers as a consequence. We rejoice in the One who is its source.
