“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
(Matthew 5:8 ESV)
Today God worked through a simple indie song to open my eyes to the beautiful truth in Matthew 5:8, which says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” I was listening to Jon Foreman’s new album In Bloom, and his song, “Heaven Is Yours.” This song is inspired by what we call “the beatitudes” which are Jesus’s words in Matthew 5:3-12.
One line caught my attention. Jon paraphrased Jesus’ words from Matthew 5:8 like this, “Blessed are the pure in heart / with God in your eyes.”
The way Jon rephrased Jesus’ words grabbed my attention. God used Jon’s artful rephrase to spark meditation: What does it means to have a pure heart? Why are the pure in heart blessed?
I don’t think I had ever given thought to this Bible verse before. From Jesus’ simple statement, I heard the need for a pure heart. I heard conviction over my impure heart. But I had not yet thought about the joy behind these words, or the promise, or the point of having a pure heart, which Jon’s song drew my attention to.
What Does “Blessed Are the Pure in Heart” Mean?
The blessed result of a pure heart is clear vision of God. “Blessed are the pure in heart,” Matthew 5:8 says, “for they shall see God.” The blessedness that a person receives from a pure heart is the ability to see God clearly. The reward of being pure in heart is the ability to see God clearly.
Don’t we want a pure heart for so many other reasons?
I thought of many different ways this verse could go:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will have a good reputation with others.”
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for their consciences won’t be troubled.”
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they keep evil far from them.”
But the Bible does not say those things. It says “for they shall see God.” A pure or “clean” heart is wonderful to experience and will certainly affect your relationships with others. But we would be living out a tragedy to pursue a clean heart only for the sake of our own conscience, and the good opinion of our neighbor. We would miss out on the true joy of a clean heart—seeing God.
What Does It Mean to Be Pure in Heart?
Do you want a pure heart, friend? A clean heart? A clean heart is something God must create in us (Psalm 51:10). He will give a clean heart to anyone who comes to him in faith, asking for it. God takes great joy in washing any sinner clean who comes to him asking for cleansing. Jesus made it possible for us to have clean hearts when he shed his blood on the cross to pay the penalty for our wickedness and impurity and rose from the dead to give us new life (Hebrews 10:22; 1 Corinthians 6:11).
When we trust in Jesus, he cleanses us from the penalty due to all our sin, and we are made clean in God’s sight. But sin’s presence will remain in our lives until the day when Jesus makes all things new. So, we pursue purity in this life, through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit at work in us (Philippians 2:12-13). We have been washed clean in an ultimate sense, and yet we pursue purity daily by confessing our sin to God, turning away from it, and walking in obedience to Jesus (John 13:10; 1 Corinthians 6:11).
1 John 1:9 is a beautiful promise, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (ESV).
How do we define the pure in heart? The pure in heart are those who have trusted in Jesus to wash them clean, and as a result are filled with the Holy Spirit. But the pure in heart are also those who are regularly confessing the sins they are aware of to Jesus, and harboring no hidden impurities from him (1 John 3:8-9)
The reward of this purity of heart is not a sense of your own achievement. It’s not even that you don’t feel deadly effects of sin, merely. The reward of being pure in heart is that you see God!
Only the Pure in Heart Will See God
Do you know what it’s like to have “God in your eyes?” Do you know what it’s like to see God’s goodness? To hear his Word and feel spoken to? To notice his presence in your daily life? To have his glory fill your mind’s eye? To know him better and be able to see him who is invisible (Hebrews 11:27)?
Well, the pure in heart will see him. Those who have put their trust in Jesus and come to him for cleansing will know the true God (John 17:3). And those who continue to forsake their sin by faith in Jesus and by the power of his Spirit will know him better and better. Pursue purity of heart. Run from all that’s impure. Embrace all that’s good and true. And when you notice impurity within you, run to Jesus for cleansing.
Why? Because you want God in your eyes. God in all his glory. God in all his goodness.
Happy are those who are pure in heart, because they will see God.