Matthew 5:8

Matthew 5:8

Pure Hearts

1. Pure hearts in Christ mean the blessing of progressively greater experience of God in life, so we must seek His purity for our hearts (v. 8a)

1. As Jesus continues to unfold His teaching on how someone should live who has realized and acknowledged their desperate need for His grace in their sinful state, turned to Him in repentant faith for His righteousness, and been transformed by Him through faith, and the blessing which follows, Jesus now says those whose life is approved and affirmed by God are those who are pure in heart. With His statement and promise Jesus identifies the real issue we face as human beings, and the only solution to our problem. The problem we all face in life isn’t a surface problem which can be solved by treating what is seen in our lives in own strength and ability, but the problem which impacts all humans is in our hearts. He says those who are blessed are those who have pure hearts. For us in our context today, the term “heart” can refer to the organ which pumps blood throughout our body and keeps us alive, or it can refer to our feelings, affections, or our “gut” response to a stimulus apart from intellectual reasoning. But as Jesus uses “heart” in this context, it refers to the center and source of our nature which determines all of who we are as people. The heart represents the conscience, mind, emotions, and will, or all of a person’s convictions, thoughts, feelings, intentions, and actions at the deepest and most profound level. It is on this deepest and most fundamental level of who we are, that sin has wreaked havoc, fundamentally separating us from God, permanently disabling any ability to address our problems in our own abilities and strengths, and leaving us in desperate need of cleansing in Christ. ”Pure” here means to cleanse something from contaminants, to be unmixed, undivided, or non-duplicitous. Sin has rendered our hearts polluted, impure, and divided beyond repair at the deepest level, and thus for pure hearts we first require new hearts through judicial cleansing through repentant faith in Christ alone. Even after judicial cleansing, our hearts must be continually purified and cleansed as we live in a fallen world in our fleshly bodies. And finally, all those who have been judicially and continually cleansed in Christ will be finally and perfectly cleaned from all sin in the future eternal presence of Christ. In this way Jesus delivers us from death to life, and continually conforms our outer appearance to match our inner reality in Him. (v. 8a; 1 Sam. 16:7; Ps. 24:3-4; 51:10a; 139:23-24; Prov. 4:23; 20:9; 21:2; 27:19; Jer. 17:5-10; 32:38-39; Ezek. 36:25-27; Matt. 12:34-37; 15:8; 23:25-28; Mark 7:14-23; John 13:8-10; 15:1-5; Acts 15:8-9; Rom. 1:21; 2:5; 2 Cor. 5:17, 21; Heb. 3:12-13; Jude 24-25; Rev. 7:9-10, 14; 21:1-5)

2. Pure hearts in Christ mean the blessing of progressively greater experience of God in life, so we must live lives of single devotion to Him (v. 8b)

1. The blessing which Jesus promises from the process of being purified in Him is that we’ll “see God”. Jesus is referring to the present and future blessing of the of continual, daily, undivided heart focus on God in our lives. By God’s grace our pure hearts, or consciences, minds, emotions, and wills are able to focus continually more unrestrictedly and intensely on God, His glory, His truth, and His power, will, plan, and purpose. As a result we’re admitted into presence, and gain the reassurance, confidence, and peace of the promise of intimate fellowship with Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Judge of the universe where we find continual renewal, confidence, hope, and peace when we sit with Him, talk with Him, and listen to Him. Being admitted in His presence will also result in the blessing of being in awe of His glory. This blessing will be fully manifest in the eternal future as we’ll finally be able to live forever in the presence of His unrestricted glory when we’re completely free of our sin and flesh. And it is manifest now in this life through our communion with Him in His Word and prayer as even a fraction of His great His all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, unchangeable, unmatched, and perfectly faithful nature will continue to properly reshape our views, understanding, motives, reactions, and actions to life’s most overwhelming times and circumstances. And finally, being made pure in Christ so as to see God means living in the blessing of God’s grace and comfort, which is to say we’re fortified, built up, and strengthened in spirit to meet the challenges and difficult circumstances in life in His power. Ultimately the blessing of seeing God in life is about balance and stability in sinful and shifting world through single minded focus on God. Double mindedness and a divided heart produces instability in life, but those who are pure in heart are blessed with undivided focus on God, entrance into His presence, awe of Him, and the experience of His grace which overcomes the world! (v. 8b; Exod. 33:18; Job 42:1-6; Ps. 27:7-14; 29:1-11; 51:10b-12; 73:1, 25-28; 86:1-17; 119:57-64; Eccl. 3:11; Isa. 6:1-8; Jer. 29:11-13; Matt. 7:24-27; John 17:17-24; 1 Cor. 13:12; 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:1-18; Phil 3:7-16; Tit. 2:11-14; Jas. 1:5-8; 4:1-10; 1 Pet. 5:6-11; 2 Pet. 3:11-14; 1 John 3:1-10; Rev. 21:22-22:6)