I know a number of people who profess Jesus, and openly claim to know Him as Saviour. However, they are determined to enjoy life to the full, knowing that the type of enjoyment they seek does not comply to God’s known standards of holiness. They do not actually argue that what they are doing is wrong, but rather are consoled by the personal belief that God will forgive them anyway because He is loving. It is not for us to judge their eternal position and fate in Christ. While it is true that salvation contains the hope and certainty of eternal life at the end of time, we are encouraged to believe that it is God “who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). The blessedness and distinctive spiritual joy that the Beatitudes promise should be experienced in the here and now. They are experienced as we share and participate in the kingdom of God now!
It is interesting to note that the blessedness promised by Jesus, and the rewards of each Beatitude, are never material things. There is no health and wealth gospel here. It is our own spiritual well-being and relationship to God that is ultimately the center of all that Jesus is seeking to teach and lead us into. All these other things will be added as we set our priorities on His kingdom and righteousness.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8).
Even though up to this point a word study has not been needed, it is helpful in this Beatitude. We really need to understand what Jesus was saying when He used the words ‘heart’, ‘pure’ and ‘see’.
Heart: the word kardia (heart) word came to stand for man’s entire mental and moral activity, the center of man’s inward life that defiles all that he does.
By using the word kardia, Jesus firmly places the emphasis of His teaching on the matters of internal rather than external. It is what’s on the inside that counts to Jesus, not the showy outside acts. The Pharisees were commanded to not judge by mere appearances because they loved to focus on the external. Jesus condemned them when He said, “Woe to you… You are like whitewashed tombs, which looks beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean” (Matthew 23:27).
Jesus firmly stakes a claim to be Lord over every aspect of our lives. This is not surprising since He gave us His all through His death, and He gives us His fullness through our union with Him. Can you imagine how God feels if we do not reciprocate His love? By using the word Kardia, Jesus indicates that He demands our all. As we give Him our full attention He enters every room of our lives. In this way He does His sanctifying work and achieves all His purposes in and through us.
Pure: Katharos means free from impure admixtures, without blemish, spotless and is used. The Christian’s freedom from the defilements of the flesh and world.
Jesus tells us that if we want to see God, our hearts must be pure. When reading this Beatitude in English many might be assuming Jesus is saying “Blessed are those who are holy, for they will see God”. This is because pure and holy tend to be seen as terms that are synonymous. However, this is not the case. Katharos is an interesting word that teaching the following:
First, Katharos implies that the heart is something that is not inherently pure but needs to be made pure by some process. Other Greek words that stem from the root word Katharos are translated “to purge” or to cleanse thoroughly”. This implies a process.
Therefore, Jesus is basically saying, “bless are they who have (and continue to allow) their hearts to be purged and thoroughly cleansed and made pure. If they do, they will see God.
Next, when related to the heart, mind and conscience, katharos, means single-mindedness, or undivided. Jesus calls us to have an undivided heart. As we realize this truth, the holy life we already possess through our union with Jesus becomes a daily reality. Purity can be said to be a state of heart reserved completely for God and free from all worldly distractions. The pure in heart are those who, by an act of faith, commit their heart and being single-minded to the things of God.
Finally, a pure and undivided heart also includes the concept of sincerity, honesty and integrity. It is a joy to work with people who are sincere, honest and full of integrity. You can trust them to do what they promise. They have no hidden agendas. They speak the truth in love, not just love speaking the truth.
However, the place and context of this sixth Beatitude is important. It comes after the fourth Beatitude that promises God’s fullness. In other words, God’s fullness must accompany single-mindedness, sincerity, honesty and integrity. The Scriptures makes it clear that sincerity or integrity are not in themselves sufficient qualities to ensure that a person will see God. A person can be sincerely wrong.
To see: Optomai means to gaze with wide-open eyes as at something remarkable. This is more than just simple observation. It is an earnest and continued inspection. Optomai in the passive sense, “to be seen” is used objectively with reference to the person or thing seen.
How many times have you questioned God over some situation in your life, only months later to see God’s sovereign and perfect plan at work? Sometimes years later it dawns on you why things happened the way they did. Very often, from our perspective, the will of God is messy in the present, but in retrospect it is perfect.
However there is a better way than waiting until all all pans out and you can see God in something. God encourages us to have an undivided heart where we trust Him in the present. This involved an act of the will, centered on the fact that God is a good and sovereign God. Psalms 77 illustrates this. The Psalmist was having difficulties and his mind was filled with doubts (Psalm 77:1-9), then he consciously focused his heart and will on the attributes and actions of God. This brought him to a place of victory – he could “see” God in his circumstances.
The pure in heart sees God in his present and past circumstances because he has set his undivided heart on God, and his character, not on the circumstances he finds himself in.
There is also the promise that we will literally see God when we pass into eternity. The Apostle John writes, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:2-3). This is the wonderful hope and reality we have as Christians. It is a sad observation that many thousands who make a profession of faith in Jesus do not grow much as believers or even fall away from following the Lord.
Though there are many reasons why people do not follow the Lord after initial commitment, I am convinced that one of them is related to the quality of their conversion. If a person comes to Christ without fully realizing that God will demand an undivided heart and single-minded commitment to Him from them, then there can be a crisis in faith. When a Christian shares a watered down type of gospel that encourages people to come to Jesus because Jesus can make you happy, give you a fulfilled life, resolve problems, take care of you day-by-day etc, etc., an unhealthy expectation is fueled in the heart of the seeker. When a Christian shares the gospel from the man-focused stance of what Jesus Christ can do for you rather than balance it with the primary emphasis of what God want to do in you.
When some of Jesus disciples complained that His teachings are very hard and difficult for people to accept (John 6:60), Jesus did not revise and water down what He said. Rather He emphasized that what He said is from the spirit that give life and that people cannot come to Him unless the Father enables them (John 6:61-65).
At this point many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. It is very interesting to see Peter’s reaction when Jesus turns to him and asks if he and the other apostles want to leave too. Peter responds, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God”.