What the Bible says about Beatitudes: Pure in Heart

Matthew 5:8

"Blessed are the pure in heart" is a beatitude expressing a standard that is extremely difficult to achieve. Relating strongly to much of what is written in the Old Testament, this standard is something the Pharisees vainly pursued through an obsessive observance of thousands of cultic rules they and others added to God's inspired Word. Their desire to achieve purity before God is commendable, but Jesus clearly demonstrates that they chose to do it the wrong way, leaving their hearts unchanged. In this vein Paul remarks:

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. (Romans 10:1-3)

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beatitudes, Part 6: The Pure in Heart

Matthew 5:8

The heart is central to this because in the Bible the heart stands for the seat, source, reservoir, and instigator of our thoughts, attitudes, desires, character, and motivation. It is synonymous with our modern use of "mind," since the mind is where we hold knowledge, attitudes, motivations, affections, desires, likes, and dislikes.

Jesus says in Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Obviously, the quality of the heart is the issue in this beatitude. Proverbs 4:23 reads, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." Our Father directly addresses the book of Proverbs to His sons (Proverbs 1:7). It assumes our hearts have been purified by His initial cleansing, that we have received His Spirit, and are in the process of sanctification and going on to perfection. Ezekiel explains this process:

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

This does not all take place in an instant. It is a process, and as we have all discovered from Scripture and our own experience since baptism, human nature is still very much alive within us (Romans 7:13-25). Paul confirms this in Galatians 5:17, "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you cannot do the things that you wish."

Human nature, the law of sin within us, is always seeking to pull us again into the defilement of sin, seeking to destroy our hope of sharing life with the holy God. That is why God counsels us in Proverbs 4:23 to keep—that is, guard, preserve, and maintain—our heart. It is very easy to become defiled by lapsing back to old habits. In stark reality, Romans 8:7 and Jeremiah 17:9 show why: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" The normal human mind deceitfully convinces each person that they are good and love God, men, and law. But the reality is just the opposite: It is at war with God and men, and hates God's holy, righteous, and spiritual law. It loves itself and its desires far more than anything else. It is this deceitful, self-centered enmity that exerts constant influence, pulling us into the defilement of sin.

Jesus preaches on this in Matthew 15:16-20:

So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

It is sin that defiles holiness. In terms of character, of being in the image of God, sin defiles, pollutes, contaminates, or blurs the reflection of God in us. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (I John 1:8).

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beatitudes, Part 6: The Pure in Heart

Hebrews 2:5-8

As Paul writes in I Corinthians 2:9, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." At the resurrection, we will be given the very nature of God and crowned with glory and power. The apostle John confirms in I John 3:2 that "when He is revealed, we shall be like Him." Thus, when our glorification comes, we will have an incorruptible, heavenly body (see I Corinthians 15:50-54). God will give us our inheritance, and it is no small thing—indeed, the author of Hebrews says it will be everything! We will go from nothing—less than nothing—to having "all things put under [us]"! Without a doubt, the incredible human potential in God's plan is the ultimate "rags to riches" story!

The huge gulf—that massive chasm between God's awesome greatness and our shameful insignificance—will be bridged. We will be full-fledged sons and daughters of God, presented "holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight" (Colossians 1:22). We will be one with God, never to be sundered by sin and death from God the Father and His Son.

Understanding this fact of our astounding potential, combined with the humility to recognize our current inadequacy, should motivate us to do as Hebrews 12:14-15 urges: "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord; looking carefully, lest anyone should fall short of the grace of God. . . ." In addition, Hebrews 2:1 advises us, "Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away." Clearly, we could fail to reach the goal that God has set before us, so we cannot simply rely on God's mercy and grace to allow us to slip across the finish line. Notice that the apostle uses such action words as "pursue," "look . . . carefully," and "give . . . earnest heed."

Jesus gives us a template of godly virtues in Matthew 5, known as "The Beatitudes." They are each made up of two clauses, the first being a blessing on one who exhibits a certain virtue, and the second, a reward that results from the virtue. Each virtue contains an element of humility, whereas each reward is part of our glorification. Our Savior, in showing us the way, emphasizes first humility, then glorification. This principle is reflected elsewhere. Proverbs 15:33 reads, "The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility." The apostle Peter writes, "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time" (I Peter 5:6). Notice the Beatitudes:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3-10)

He ends where He began, with the promise of inheriting God's Kingdom. If we want to live and rule with God for eternity, we need to develop these holy, righteous character traits, and we start with knowing where we stand in relation to Him: We are nothing, and He is everything (see Colossians 3:11). Once we have this firmly, unshakably anchored in our minds, then with God's help, we can begin building the character necessary to live as He does. In Hebrews 6:1, the apostle calls this challenging and life-consuming work "go[ing] on to perfection" (see also Romans 12:1-2). This is the period of our sanctification—our being made holy.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Unique Greatness of Our God (Part Six)

Hebrews 7:26-28

Though the author speaks specifically of the high priest, all priests who ministered before God were included within the scope of this law. Clearly, God is vitally concerned about the purity of heart, character, attitude, motive, and service of those who serve Him. Because we are to serve Him every day, this requires specific and continuing daily attention.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beatitudes, Part 6: The Pure in Heart

2 Peter 2:20-22

No matter how clean we are on the outside, if the inside, the nature, the heart, remains unchanged, or if we resort again to habitual sin, we will return to what we came from and once more be filthy both inside and out.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beatitudes, Part 6: The Pure in Heart