The Beatitudes – The Pure In Heart

Continuing with our look at the Beatitudes, we move on today with verse 8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). What does it mean to be pure in heart? And what is the relationship between that and seeing God? Let’s see if we can find some answers.

To start, let’s examine how the Bible talks about the heart. In Jeremiah 17:9, it says, “The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it?” With such a bleak understanding of the heart, the idea of any heart ever being pure starts to seem like a foolish hope. But Jesus was not the only one who talked about having a pure heart. Israel’s king David once said, “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 has not appealed to what is false, and who has not sworn deceitfully” (Psalm 24:3–4). If Jesus and David both talked about having a pure heart, then there must be some kind of hope for wicked hearts.

the Bible tells us that what is spiritually impossible for us is possible for God. He has the power to purify our hearts.

Thankfully, Scripture does point us to the hope that exists for all hearts. Over and over again, the Bible tells us that what is spiritually impossible for us is possible for God. He has the power to purify our hearts. David knew that, and that is why he said to the Lord, “God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). David knew that he couldn’t make a clean heart for himself, and that God was the source of his hope. God himself also promised to renew hearts in Ezekiel 36. He said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). This transformation is made possible because of Jesus. And John pointed to His purifying power in 1 John 3. He wrote in verses 2–3, “Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.” For those of us who live in Christ, who are being conformed to his image (Romans 8:29), we have hope that we will be made pure just like he is.

Now, what about the promise to see God? How are these things connected? If we look at other places where the Bible talks about seeing God, we start to get a clearer picture. Long before Jesus said what he did in Matthew 5, God spoke to Moses in Exodus 33:20, saying, “You cannot see my face, for humans cannot see me and live.” Pairing this verse with what we’ve looked at so far, the implication is that people are unable to see God because of their impurity. And this idea is supported elsewhere in Scripture. The writer of Hebrews said to “pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

So, having looked at all of these passages, how should this knowledge affect how we are living today? First, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, we should remember that we are thoroughly hopeless without the power of God. Then, in the very same thought, we should rejoice that God has provided that hope for us. And if we haven’t gotten to know the Lord and placed our faith in Him, this should draw us to Him, knowing He is the one who makes everything new, including us (Revelation 21:4). Finally, this should help us remember what more we have to look forward to, when our hope will be fully realized in eternity, where “the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:3b–4). May that reminder help us keep pressing forward, no matter what obstacles we face today.

If you want to keep learning about what it looks like to live in a relationship with God, check out our other Experience Commentary articles, and explore more resources on our website, experiencecc.com.