Salvation Summaries

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Of the beatitudes I’ve studied so far, this one stood out to me.  Why?  The blessing that the pure in heart will receive. THEY will see God.  Wow! What a promise!  If you want assurance that you will see God (in heaven but in some sense on earth), then you need to be pure in heart. But what does this mean?  Let’s find out. 

Pure 

In the Bible, pure is used to describe a number of things, including God (and His words and commandments), heart, mind, prayer, conscience, wisdom, gold, etc. However, if we apply it to people, here’s what we find:

• Pure refers to people who are saved.  They shall see God’s face (Ps 11:2, 7) and dwell in His presence (Ps 140:13).  Thus, the beatitude is directed towards believers not unbelievers.

• Pure can also refer to what a person does or how they act; whether it is right and just for example (Prov 20:11, 21:8).  A pure person is without sin (I assume major or frequent) and guilt; they are clean and innocent (Prov 20:9, 30:12; Job 33:9). 

• Pure is similar to upright (Job 8:6). An upright person:
  • is righteous (Prov 11:6)
  • has integrity (Prov 11:3)
  • does not commit any great transgression (Ps 19:13)
  • departs from evil (Prov 16:17)

• Also, pure is similar to blameless. Per the NET, blameless means complete, perfect, flawless. It does not mean that the person is sinless, but that he/she is wholeheartedly trying to please God, that he/she has integrity and is blameless before God.   From looking up verses with the word blameless, we learn that a blameless person:
  • is righteous (2 Sam 22:21-25)
  • fears God and shuns evil (Job 1:1)
  • obeys God’s commandments (Luke 1:6). 
  • is innocent of committing any great sin (Ps 19:13-14)
  • lives without fault or sin (Phil 2:14-16)

Thus, a pure person is a Christian and therefore righteous. Such person fears God and seeks to obey His commands. They live with integrity, shun evil, commit few sins and are free from guilt. This clearly speaks of a mature Christian, not an immature one. 

In the Bible, Noah, Job, Zacharias and Elizabeth were all described as blameless. Bishops and deacons are expected to be blameless (1 Tim). But Paul wanted believers to be blameless (Phil 1:9-11; 2:14-15) and Peter did too (2 Peter 3:14-15).  

This means that you, fellow believer, should aim to be blameless (and thus upright and pure) too.  In my experience (just kidding – I’m by no means blameless, nor has this been the specific goal I’ve been trying to achieve, but it is now), becoming blameless is unlikely to come from osmosis, or simply listening to a weekly sermon on Sunday. Rather, it will require diligent study of God’s word during a morning or evening quite time, prayer throughout the day, some Bible memorization (including reciting certain verses during the day) and a dedication to repeat all of this every day.    

Based upon the above, Jesus could have said “blessed are the pure” and we would have had a pretty good idea as to the type of Christian He was referring to. But it’s important we look at the rest of this phrase, for Jesus did not say blessed are the pure in mind, or in thought, or in their own eyes, or even in the eyes of others. Rather, He said blessed are the pure in heart.  So, what does heart mean in this verse?

Heart

The word heart can be found more than 500 times in the Bible and is used in a variety of ways. As a result, context is important to understand which meaning Jesus may have had in mind in His beatitude.

I looked up the word heart in probably a hundred verses or more, and summarized my observations below of what this term means and how it is often used. I highlighted in bold the definitions I thought applied to Jesus’ beatitude about the pure in heart. 

• God knows your heart (Luke 16:15)
• Source of reason; similar to mind (Mk 2:6-7)
• Source for understanding, thinking, thoughts and thus similar to mind (Mk 4:15; Luke 2:19,35; Jn 12:40)
• Can differ from the mind (Mt 22:37)
• Source of emotion; troubled, concerned, afraid, sorrow, joy (Jn 14:1, 27; 16:6,22; Acts 2:26; 2 Cor 2:4; Eph 6:22; Col 3:15)
• Can be the source of good or bad things that you say and do (Mt 12:34-35; 15:18-20)
• Reflects what you most desire (Mt 6:21)
• Source of one’s secrets (1 Cor 14:25)
• Source of one’s intentions (2 Cor 9:7)
• Source of sin and unbelief (Eph 4:18; Heb 3:12)
• Source of evil, sin (Mt 9:4; 15:8; Jn 13:2; Acts 8:21-23; Rom 1:21, 24)
• Can become hardened from sins (Mk 3:5)
• Stirring of the heart is needed for repentance and salvation (Act 2:37-38)
• Circumcision is of the heart not mind; heart has more to do with sin (Rom 2:29)
• Must believe in heart to be saved (Acts 8:37, 16:14; Rom 10:9-11)
• Salvation is from the heart (Luke 8:12; 2 Cor 4:6)
• Faith purifies the heart (Acts 15:9)
• Obedience to God comes from the heart (Rom 6:17-18)
• Source for forgiveness (Mt 18:35)
• Receive the HS into your heart not mind (2 Cor 1:22; Gal 4:6)
• Where Christ dwells (Eph 3:17)
• Longing to save others comes from one’s heart (Rom 10:1)

Thus, although heart is sometimes used synonymous with mind, I believe Jesus had more than mind in view when He chose to use this term.  

Pure in Heart

If we combine my summary of what a pure person is and what Jesus may have had in mind when He used the word heart, I believe He was referring to someone who is pure in their thoughts, desires, intentions, and maybe emotions to some degree (pure joy for instance).  Purity in these areas should, in turn, lead to obedience to God’s commands and a lifestyle that is pure, upright and blameless.         

Now, let me make one other observation about pure in heart that supports my above view on what this phrase means.  

If you look up the phrase “pure in heart,” it is used only one other time in the Bible, in Psalm 73:1, which says, “A psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.” As a result, we don’t have much to go on to help us understand it.  Also, Psalm 73 does not clearly define what it means.  However, we can piece together clues from this chapter and a few others to draw a conclusion.   

Clues from Psalm 73, 24 and 15

Psalm 73:1 starts with a comment about the pure in heart, and then in 73:2 the author, Asaph, transitions to his personal situation, where he implies that he’s not been pure in heart (“But as for me…”) due to envying the wealthy who – even though they are proud and violent and foolish and curse God – continue to prosper and don’t experience the problems the poor do. Then – and this is key – in verse 13, he laments, “Surely then in vain I have cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocence.”  I believe this statement refers back to and thus defines the pure in heart in verse 1.  The NET defines heart as the seat of one’s thoughts and motives.  It further defines “washed hands in innocence” as maintaining a pure lifestyle.  Thus, this interpretation for heart and hands lines up with my view of what pure in heart means. 

Similarly, the phrase “clean hands and pure heart” can also be found in Psalm 24, where the NET defines clean hands as blameless deeds and heart as pure motives, which is similar to that above but uses the term blameless.  In this Psalm, it is the one with clean hands and a pure heart who can ascend onto the mountain of the Lord and stand in His holy place. 

And finally, Psalm 15 also talks about the one who can “lodge in Your (God’s) tent and dwell in Your (God’s) holy hill.”  It is those who walk with integrity and strength of character and works righteousness, who speak and hold truth in their heart, who keeps his word, who does not do evil to his neighbor, and who honors those who fear the Lord.  In short, it is the person who is pure, upright and blameless. 

Summary

In Jesus’ sixth beatitude, He says that the pure in heart will be blessed for they will see God (and what a promise that is!).  The pure in heart refers to a mature Christian who has pure thoughts, desires and intentions, and leads a pure, upright and blameless life. They fear God, obey His commands, commit few to no sins and are free from guilt. 

Living an upright and blameless life should be the goal of every Christian, but it will likely take more time and effort than simply going to church on Sunday and listening to a sermon. The benefit, though, is assurance of eternal life and seeing God in heaven.