Purity of Heart

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

Pure in the Greek means free from impurities or mixture, without blemish, spotless, clean, and clear. It speaks of freedom from falsehood and defilement- of the flesh and of the world. It refers to clean in a spiritual sense from the pollution and guit of sin. Pure means to be sincere, upright, and void of evil. It is freedom from corrupt desire and from guilt. It means blameless and innocent.

Heart refers to the center of human life, with its thoughts and feelings. It refers to man’s entire moral and mental activity, encompassing both emotional and rational aspects. It can be the inner man, so to speak. It includes desires, affections, thoughts, intentions, etc.

This verse speaks of being pure in heart or conscience. In the New Testament, heart used figuratively to represent the seat of desires, feelings, affections, passions, and impulses. Generally, the pure in heart are those whose center of life has been made pure by Jesus- His death, His blood, His resurrection. In other words, the pure in heart are the saved ones, those who have been made clean by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Blessed is the Greek word makarios, meaning possessing the favor of God, marked by the fullness of God, and is the state of the believers in Christ. It is equivalent to having God’s kingdom in our hearts (Matthew 5:3, 10). We are in the world, but our satisfaction as Christians comes from God and not the world. According to Bible scholar Dr. Ronald Cottle, a blessed person is one in whom grace and joy always overflow.

So, to be pure in heart is to be clean and pure inwardly. The purer and cleaner our hearts are, the more we shall see and experience God, encountering Him in every area of life. How do we walk in purity?

• We are cleansed and made pure at salvation. II Corinthians 5:7

• We can appropriate the cleansing power of Jesus’ blood. Hebrews 10:19-22

• We are continually cleansed and washed by the Word of God. Ephesians 5:26

• We are regenerated by the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:4-5

• We can maintain purity by walking in obedience to what God tells us. James 1:22

We’ll know and experience God for ourselves when there is no sin or defilement in us. Our mindset- our desire, delight, and reward is to see God now in our daily lives and in eternity.