Evidence of a pure heart

 

In a discussion about fear, one person said that he feared people would see the mistakes he makes and determine if he is what it is like to be a Christian, they would not want to be one. He wanted others to see only Jesus in his life. This seems to me the goal of the pure in heart. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8), at least the last part.

A wise person once said that mistakes are not going to ruin a Christian testimony, only what we do about them has that power. Obviously, I’m not to cover them up. “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13) Instead of restricting confession before God, I’ve learned that confessing them to those who have observed my sinfulness creates an open door to talk about the One who forgives sin. It puts us both in the same boat instead of ‘me saint, you sinner.’

Not only that, forsaking that sin is another declaration of the power of God. An unsaved person might admit a wrong, even stop doing it for a time, but that admission and their self-control does not change the heart when it is done only to impress those who watch.

MacArthur points out that there are only two kinds of religion in the world: those based on human achievement and those based on divine accomplishment. The former says you can earn your way to Heaven; the latter says you must trust in Jesus Christ alone. And this second kind is not popular with those who believe in the first one.

People in both camps make mistakes. This is our common ground. What we do with our sinfulness is different. First, Christians call it sin. That is evidence of a pure heart. We also do not make excuses for it, blame-shift, or try to conceal it, at least after learning how doing that gets us nowhere. As God says:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

And this is a truth we can share with fellow sinners, the unsaved around us. But this cannot happen if I fall into the trap of relying on my achievements. Those who do that tend to compare themselves to others in a self-justifying standard because we can always find someone worse than ourselves on which to base the comparison.

Here is another sharable truth: Jesus eliminated human standards by saying, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). This means that when I share my failures, or someone else admits a failure to me, I can say only God is perfect and add this is why I trust in the perfections of His Son and rely on His forgiveness — on my own, I have no perfections. Besides, unsaved people already know that.

Besides this truth, today’s devotional points out that God doesn’t compare me to liars, thieves, cheaters, child abusers, or murderers. He compares you to Himself. His absolute holy character is the standard by which He measures my suitability for Heaven and on my own, I fall short of that because I sin, I’m selfish and make all sorts of foolish mistakes. Jesus died for all of that, taking my sin upon Himself, paying its penalty, and then then gave me His righteousness. He keeps me by continually cleansing my sin as I admit it and empowering me to stop that and instead live His way. These things can be shared through the doorway of admitting sin.

Again, faith in Christ — not my personal achievements — makes me pure in heart. And my failures help me identify with others who fail and even opens doors to tell them the good news . . . if I don’t try to hide my sins and impress them with how good I am. They cannot yet relate to the purity God gives but they do know the reality of human error and sin and I can connect to them on that reality, then hopefully share with them the greater and liberating truth about Jesus.

Lord, I know the folly of looking down my nose as if I am better than unsaved people. It is You that saves me, not me or anything I do, and it is You that purifies my heart. I cannot take credit for that either, nor for the goodness of life that comes from trusting You. May I have humility to admit sin and boldness to share that and my hope in You with others, especially those who don’t yet know the wonder of having a heart that can see You.

READ: Psalm 24:1–5 and Ezekiel 36:25–29. Who is acceptable to God? How does God purify the hearts of His people?