The Pure in Heart (Matthew 5:8)

Eduard Serediuc, MTS

Matthew 5:8 (NKJV)

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Some Christians interpret this passage in the following way: “If you, as a believer, ever want to see God and go to heaven, you need first to be pure in heart and continue to keep your heart clean of sin and lusts until the day you die.” They also say, “If you don’t keep your heart clean, you can lose your salvation at any moment.” This sounds more like a threat to believers than an encouragement or a blessing. However, when Jesus was preaching here, He had not died on the cross yet. There was no discussion about salvation through His blood, so this passage was not addressed to believers but to people without Christ in their hearts. People who believe in Jesus and His resurrection already have a pure heart forever. After Jesus died on the cross, the apostle Paul told the Corinthians believers the following:

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 (NKJV)

⁹ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,

¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the Kingdom of God.

¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Notice in Verse 11 that Paul says in the past tense that believers were washed and were sanctified of all those sinful things. The only place where they could have been washed and cleansed that way was in their hearts, meaning in their spirits. It is a one-time deal, and it’s something done to Christians by Jesus at the time of regeneration. It is not believers washing themselves continuously, but Jesus cleansing them by the Spirit of God once and for all. Titus 3:4–5 says the same thing:

Titus 3:4–5 (NKJV)

⁴ But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,

⁵ not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ saved us from sin through the washing of regeneration of the heart. The heart of believers has been completely recreated, that is why 2 Corinthians 5:17 says whoever believes in Christ is a new creation. Moreover, in Acts 15:9, when the apostle Peter tries to explain the Cornelius incident to the other apostles and elders, he says this:

Acts 15:9 (NKJV)

⁹ and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

When Cornelius and his house believed in Jesus and were baptized with the Holy Spirit, their hearts were purified instantly by faith. So, indeed those pure in heart are the blessed ones, and they will see God because, first, they did not become holy by their efforts, and, second, they cannot ever lose that righteousness due to sinful deeds they might still do. Their purity of heart is stable, assured, because it’s in Christ.

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Session 11 – The Post-Salvation Unbelief (Saved for Eternity) – June 19th, 2024