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?

 

Confession is never easy . . .

A friend once asked me, “What is the big deal about the gospel? Why do people struggle over Jesus dying for the sin of the world?”

I asked, “What about your sin?” He paused for a few moments, then said, “I see what you mean.”

The Bible teaches the facts of what Jesus did, facts that had been disputed for decades, but there is almost no argument now that this really happened just as the Bible says:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures . . .”  (1 Corinthians 15:3–4)

While some would say the resurrection is a myth, far more people struggle with the part that says, “Christ died for our sins.” Jesus explained the reason for this right after the good news of John 3:16:

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (John 3:17–20)

Personally, I’m not particularly fond of having my sin exposed either. Pride and wanting to be well-thought of easily stands in the way of honest confession. However, learning the folly of sin and how it ruins my life, friendships, and relationship with God gives confession the edge.

“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)

As my friend experienced, personal confession doesn’t have much appeal up front, but the more I walk with Jesus, the easier it becomes. The reason? Hanging on to sin messes with fellowship with Him and with other Christians. Being close to Jesus involves a contrite heart, humility, and most of all, honesty. Trying to conceal the junk that runs contrary to holiness ruins all of that and all of that has become far too precious to ruin. Paul wrote:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” (Romans 1:16–17)

^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, forgive me for the times that I have tried to conceal from You the awfulness of my sin. You are so gracious to forgive and cleanse me that my reluctance makes no sense. Sometimes, sin needs to be confessed to others and that might be more difficult because not everyone is merciful and gracious like You. However, You have taught me the importance of keeping short accounts with You and with anyone I sin against is a vital part of the gospel. Admitting my sin is the only access to Your power for salvation from sin, and a major part of living by faith.