Of all the Beatitudes, this one intrigues me the most: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Who does not want to see God? Yet the route to that is far more demanding than all that comes before Jesus’ sermon on how to be blessed. I understand being poor in spirit, mourning for sin, meekness, hunger for righteousness and being merciful, but purity of heart is more of a mystery.
A book by Thomas Watson called The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1–12 and written in the mid-1600s, describes what purity is and what it is not. There’s more, but this is enough to rattle my comfort zone.
Watson describes purity first as in God. He is utterly and totally pure, like light yet beyond our comprehension. However, there is also a created purity in His angels and was once in Adam before sin entered the world. There is also an evangelical purity where grace is mingled with some sin, like soil in gold ore, like dust in fresh air, like a coarse selvage on a fine cloth, or Nebuchadnezzar’s image, part silver, and part clay (Daniel 2:35). It is a desire for purity and a loathing for our impurity.
Watson also says there can be no faith at all in an impure heart. We must guard our hearts and keep them pure from the love of sin. Purity is the end goal of belonging to God: “Even as he chose us in (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him . . . .” (Ephesians 1:4) If my heart is not pure and my Christian life consists only of externals, then I’m like the Pharisees to whom Jesus said,
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:25–28)
My heart is where God dwells. Therefore, it must be kept pure and holy. Watson lists several signs of that not happening.
He says, and the Bible agrees, that purity is not about being a ‘nice’ person who does not commit gross sins. Instead, an impure person is oblivious to sins of the heart such as unbelief, hardness of heart, vanity of thoughts (see Romans 7:23). On the other hand, those with impure hearts might profess faith yet are ignorant of sin, of Christ and have no love for God (I cannot love what I don’t know). That person is not troubled about sin and sees no need of purity of heart, like a person with cancer but doesn’t know it.
Impurity of heart can also be aware of sin and enjoy it. The Bible talks about regarding iniquity in our hearts. Watson says this is looking at sin lustfully, delighting in it. The NT calls it “pleasure in unrighteousness” (see 2 Thessalonians 2:12) and making provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14) without any regard for God’s warnings about sin.
An unbelieving heart is an impure heart also. The Bible says “an evil, unbelieving heart” will lead us to fall away from God (Hebrews 3:12). Unbelief is God-affronting, hardens the heart, breeds hypocrisy, and causes fear of all kinds. It is the root of apostasy.
Also, an impure heart is covetous. This is the root of discontent, theft, murder, perjury, and other unjust and dark sins as well as lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Covetousness mocks faith and holiness but it can entangle people in legalistic religious systems. Watson says thousands of sermons lie buried in earthly hearts.
Lord Jesus, as I read Watson’s lists, my awareness of sin in my heart becomes acute. How easily I can mar the beauty of a pure heart with thoughts and ideas that are sinful junk. I know the joy of seeing You at work and seeing You smiling at obedience and yet allow that view to be hindered. Such foolishness. Help me to confess and repent all that is necessary to enable the purity of heart that is mine because of faith in You.
READ Ephesians 1:2-28. What do I have in Christ? How should remembering His blessings affect my heart?
No comments:
Post a Comment