God Loves… Himself

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

Last week we tried to look some at how to pursue a pure heart. This is most likely strange to think about and many think that the important thing is simply the outward life, so they wonder why we even bother talking about things like this. They need to read Matthew 5:8 (above) and then I Timothy 1:5: “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” Whatever instruction a pastor or teacher gives, it is to be with a goal of love from a pure heart. We might note that love is not possible from a heart that is not pure. We can teach love and more love and then even more love, but if there is not a pure heart love is not possible. Love only flows from hearts that are pure. This means that a pure heart is one of the most vital things in all of Christianity since nothing that a believer does without love is acceptable to God (I Corinthians 13).

In the newsletter this week we will look at how utterly vital it is to focus on the heart. Scripture tells us that the heart is easily deceived (Jer 17:9). “He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” (Isaiah 44:20). It is a deceived heart that turns people aside. Today we focus on the exterior and think all is well when the exterior is well. The exterior was fine with the Pharisees as well. True Christianity deals with the heart as that which is utterly vital. It is the heart that we must deal with if we are going to do evangelism or grow in sanctification. It is the heart that we must deal with if we are going to seek true revival in our day.

The heart is selfish and focused on self because of its pride and self-love. The Pharisees prayed, gave alms, and fasted for selfish and prideful reasons. In other words, their religion consisted of duties and outward performances. Inwardly, however, their selfish hearts were focused on themselves. They were never moved from their central focus on self and being a god to themselves. They were children of the devil in that they lived for themselves even in religious things. That is what happens to religious people when they are not moved from love for God and instead have just transferred their self-love from worldly things to religious things.

Scripture tells us to watch over the heart with all diligence. The text gives us the reason for saying that in the next part of the verse: “For from it flow the springs of life” (Prov 4:23). In other words, what we do comes from the heart. If we have the springs of life in the heart, from that heart will flow springs of life. “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil” (Matthew 12:35). All that we desire, intend, think, say, or do come from the heart. If the heart is pure, then what comes from that heart is pure. If the heart is impure, then all that comes from that heart is impure. We must guard and watch the heart so that our hearts will be pure and what comes from that heart will be pure.

We will find that to maintain a pure heart we will need a lot of self-examination before the Word of God. But again, it is so easy just to read a verse of Scripture and look at the external life and think that we have executed a proper self-examination. However, let us remember what Scripture says about that: “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). It is the heart that must be examined in light of Scripture. In other words, we cannot just look at the externals and make a determination that all is well if we want the truth of Scripture.

The following two passages show us the sham of examining the outward man and not the inward. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts” (Psalm 139:23). “Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, That you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts Lodge within you?” (Jeremiah 4:14). A person that is interested only in behavior that is external will not be interested in the thoughts and in watching or washing the heart. But the heart must be cleansed from evil if a person is going to be saved according to Jeremiah 4:14. We also have James 4:8 teaching us how to draw near to God and that is by purifying the heart: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” The person and professing believer that does not spend time examining the heart should consider Proverbs 16:2: “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives.” The Lord looks at the heart in His evaluation of us, so to be accurate we must do the same.

We must remember that those that are blessed have pure hearts. While the pure heart cannot be obtained by work, we have been given the means of grace. We must be praying and seeking the Lord for grace as we use the means of grace. Any degree of purity in the heart we have is by the grace of Christ. So why do we have pride? Pride is that which hides itself in the heart by itself. A person that has an exalted view of self will not see that it is an exalted view of self because s/he is blinded by that exalted view that comes by pride. That person sees self as needing a bit of grace but does not see the need of grace every moment and for everything. Pride also does not see its need of grace to give the strength to do anything truly good.

Look in your heart and ask how much you really rely on grace. Do you see your need of grace before you act? Do you see your utter spiritual weakness and frailty before you do something? Do you truly seek wisdom and strength from the Lord before you do something or do you at best mutter a prayer and do it? We must know that our best works need Christ and for a work to be righteous it must have the life of Christ in us to do it. We truly have nothing to boast about but the glory of God and the cross. But down deep do you really want people to admire you for your good works and/or righteousness? To the degree that you do have that desire, your heart is not pure.

Have you arrived at the point where you are sick of self and desire Christ to live in and through you? When you do something that is outwardly good, do you have a sense of pride about it? Then know that your heart is impure at that point and that the work was either motivated by pride or you are trying to steal the credit from Christ. We know that Scripture teaches us that “from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries” (Mark 7:21). This might lead us to a great deception if our thoughts and actions are not really bad. We must begin to view the heart in a way that those texts pierce us as well. Outwardly good works can also proceed from evil thoughts as well. Spiritual adultery against God can proceed from evil thoughts too. Spiritual murder can come from the heart of man. Many spiritual idolatries and deceptions flow from the heart and also fall under the condemnation of theft, murder, and adultery. The heart must be pure if we are to see the glory of God shining through us in what we do rather than the nauseating stench of self and pride.

Have you reached the point of seeing through your own perpetual disguises? Do you see that your pride wants you to appear to others and yourself in a certain way? Do you see that you are wearing a mask in hopes of sustaining a self-righteous appearance before God, others, and self? Know that at least some others see through it and certainly God does. When will you drop the disguise and deal honestly with your own heart? Those that are truly and in reality pure in heart are blessed and will see God. It is not those that continue a façade of self-righteousness that will see God. If your heart is hidden beneath a veneer of self in some pretense of righteousness, know that your wall must either fall now or in eternity. That wall does not hide who you really are before God and will not hide anything in the final day and for eternity. You must have a pure heart or you will perish. Do not be deceived.

How many people want the outward doctrines of the Reformation without having the truths of the Reformation sink to the depths of their hearts? Do you desire to be Reformed because of your friends or for some other reason? Do you desire to be Reformed in doctrine or would you rather be broken of heart before God? Another way to put this is to say that it appears that many want to believe a doctrine but do not want the brokenness of heart that goes with the inner belief of the doctrine. The doctrine of total depravity may be believed in an external way, but until it is believed from the depths of the heart and the heart is broken of its pride and self-righteousness, that person does not really understand the doctrine even if s/he has finished a doctoral dissertation on depravity.

Do you believe in the sovereignty of God? Do you teach about sovereignty or do you proclaim a really sovereign God from the depths of your heart? Is the sovereignty of God a doctrine or do you bow in submission to a sovereign God in the hard things too? Do you teach about the cross or about the cross of Christ that has broken your heart and set up the reign of Christ in your heart? We don’t have space to continue in this vein, but I hope the point has been made. We must all examine our hearts and begin to seek grace in reality rather than grace in name. We must all desire and obtain a pure heart before God if we truly desire fellowship with Him and to see Him in His glory. If we are not willing to be broken from our pride in the depths of the heart, we can forget it. Nothing but a pure heart will see God. That requires a brutal honesty and the corresponding inner pain rather than self-deception. Do you really desire a pure heart? You will see if you are honest with yourself and with God.

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

We will continue to think in terms of the heart and what it means to have a pure heart. Two weeks ago we looked at what a pseudo-pure heart was and then last week we looked at what a pure heart really is. This week we want to look at what must be done to obtain a pure heart. In the next week or two we will look at why the pure in heart are blessed. The text tells us that the pure in heart are blessed for they shall see God. That should be the primary motivation for people to desire pure hearts. Without it they will not see God.

As we saw previously human beings are born dead in sin and with hearts that are totally depraved. Matthew 15:19 tells us the root of the issue: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.” Genesis 6:5 shows us the reason that the LORD sent the great judgment of the flood: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Proverbs 16:2 tells us that it is not just what we think, desire and do: “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the LORD weighs the motives.”

With the above Scriptures in mind, we must see that man cannot simply decide to have a pure heart. Many will read verses like those above and simply think that they can become pure by suppressing evil thoughts and desires and trying to focus on good things. They have surely missed the point if they arrive at that conclusion. The verses above should remove all hope from man that he can do this work himself. He must see that God is not just condemning the actions, but He is condemning the actions and the heart that the actions flow from. We must learn to look at those texts as condemning the heart primarily and the actions as a way of condemning the heart. The heart is the issue and not just the actions. So if we have some behavior modification where the actions are changed, the heart can still be just as rotten to the core as it was before. A man’s ways can be clean in his own sight, but we must never forget that the motives and intents of the heart are judged as well.

We must come face to face with the issue that the heart needs to be changed. If a person is unconverted, that person does not just need to behave better, that person needs a new heart. There can be no pure heart as long as there is not a new heart. There is no pure heart as long as the old heart and nature are the ones that we have received from Adam. The unregenerate person must see that it is that new heart that he needs. A person’s sin flows from a sinful heart, so good works must have a new heart to flow from. The works that flow from the sinful heart will all be sinful because the spring is polluted. The heart must be changed in order that what comes from that heart will not be totally polluted.

But at this point we are dealing primarily with believers. In one sense the instructions are the same as unbelievers, though they would come in a different way. The heart of the unbeliever is a heart that is full of pride and self-love. From that spring of pride and self-love man sets up an independence from God and a self-righteousness. What must be done is that man must recognize what is going on within his heart and seek the Lord for grace to break him from his sinful heart. When a person becomes a believer that person is not instantly a perfect person. In fact, no one becomes sinless in this life. So we must all battle and strive in order to have an increasingly pure heart.

The believer must begin to focus on his or her heart and its intents and motives. When the believer begins to understand that the motives and intents are naked and open before the Lord, then the process of seeking a pure heart begins. It is only when we understand the nature of our pride and self that we can begin to understand what a pure heart is and what is required to obtain it. We must also look with faith into that which is unseen by the eyes of the body and know that our hearts are before God in the brightest of light and He sees them perfectly. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). “But You know me, O LORD; You see me; And You examine my heart’s attitude toward You” (Jeremiah 12:3).

On the one hand, the religious sacrifices of the wicked are an abomination to God. Yet they are even more wicked when the intent is evil (Proverbs 21:7). On the other hand, we are told to serve the Lord with our whole heart and with a willing mind because God “searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts” (I Chronicles 28:9). No believer will ever please God without a thorough searching of intents and motives of the heart. No believer can please God without a heart that is seeking the glory of God out of love for God in the intents and motives. The heart is the issue and the heart is the issue in terms of true purity.

A pure heart will only be pure when the heart is broken of its sinful intents and motives. We must learn to discern between what we do out of love for God and what we do out of love for self. When we serve self, we are serving an idol as much as if we bowed down before a statue. In fact, the only reason people bow down to statues is out of self-love. They want the idol to serve them in some way. Christianity is treated in that way by what is seemingly a vast majority of people in our day. When Christianity is nothing more than how to live a good life, how to obtain morality, and other things that we want, it is really nothing more than the idolatry of the self. There is nothing that cannot be done within Christianity that cannot come from a heart of self-love except a pure love for God. But even there pride will delude a soul into believing that it loves God. Self-love and pride blinds the soul to reality.

Until we begin to grasp the depths of our pride and self-love all that we do (even in the name of Christ) will be done out of our pride and our self-love. It would appear that most things and most ministries are in fact based on things of self. We are told to serve God because it is best for us. We are told to do something for God because of what He will do for us. It can also be put in the most orthodox of ways. However, the Greatest Commandment is to love God with all of our being. Until what we do flows from a heart that loves God instead of self our hearts will be full of idolatry and certainly not pure. It is not love for God simply to love Him for the benefits given to self whether real or perceived. We must love God for who He is and sometimes He sends trials upon us that a selfish heart cannot bear, though a heart that loves God grows to see His glory in it.

All of what we do must flow from a love for God and be moved by His grace in the heart. If we do something that is good and yet is not out of love for Him, that is done in our own strength and is setting up pride and self-righteousness. In Philippians 1:17 Paul speaks of preachers who preached for the wrong reasons: “the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment.” These men were preaching Christ, but they were doing so out of selfish ambition. We can see the same thing today. There are denominational ladders to climb, meetings to attend where we want to appear good, comparison of churches, or perhaps ways to build the resume. That is not doing ministry out of love for God, but it is doing it out of love for self. Surely we can see how a minister that preaches and ministers from selfish motives is arrogant and proud and is not serving the living God. That man is nothing more than a vile idolater.

It is easy to see this in ministers, but can you see that in yourself? Have you examined your heart lately? How many things do you do simply for the sake of impressing others or to obtain honor in some way from others? If you can begin to see that, then the path for a pure heart is set out for you. You must see that you must be broken from self-love and self-righteousness in order for your heart to have true intents and motives that are moved out of love for God. You must begin to do battle with yourself if you are to have a pure heart and see God. If you do not battle self, then self is what will fill your vision and you will be blinded to the sight of God.

But there must be a word or two of warning. For you to be truly broken from self, you must also be broken from the idea that you can break self from self. We can strive to be broken from self on the basis of the strength of self. That is very deceitful and will lead to a false humility. What you must do is to know that you must be broken from self and yet that you cannot do it. You simply must begin to see each event as from the hand of God and sink into the nothingness of the creature before its Creator. Pray to see each event and trial as from the Lord and know that self cannot deal with it. Why is that? For God has not made us with the strength and love within ourselves to handle these things. He has made us to be empty vessels that He works those things in us by grace.

All that comes from a pure heart is motivated by love for Him and its intent is for His glory. For a heart to flow forth with love is for the heart to be the home of the living God and for Him to work His character in it. That heart is a heart that is not bowed down to self and does not love God for the sake of self. The pure heart does good works in order that the glory of God may shine forth from it, and not in order to show or prove its own self-righteousness. The pure heart is pure because God shines forth from it. The impure heart has nothing but self that flows from it. To have a pure heart, self-love must die and the love of God must flow from the heart.

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

We have been dealing with the heart and the pure heart for several weeks. Last week we examined the pseudo-pure heart. That type of heart lives by appearances and takes great pride in what it thinks it is and what it thinks others see in it and say about it. The pride of the pseudo-pure heart blinds it to what true humility is so the pseudo-pure heart is proud of its humility. It lives in a perpetual disguise and deceives itself and others. This week we will look at the description of a pure heart.

We have previously looked at the heart as being the very core of the person. It is from the heart that our thoughts, affections, choices, intents, motives, and loves pour out of. In other words, all that we think, desire, and do flows from the heart. If that is true, and surely it is clear from Scripture that it is, then the heart is the most important part of the person. If the heart is impure, then all that flows from that heart is impure. However, as in the case of the Lord Jesus, whatever flows from a pure heart is pure. In the case of saved human beings where we still fight with sin, we have pure hearts by degrees. So the pure heart that is spoken of in the text is not a perfectly pure heart, but a heart that is striving for greater and greater degrees of purity. It is from that heart that is growing in purity that the thoughts, desires, loves, and actions of human beings become increasingly pure.

Since an impure and pseudo-pure heart is full of self and pride, the pure heart will be described by humility. Pride and self is (the same sin in reality) the sin from which all other sin really flows from and so it takes a humble heart to seek and obtain purity of heart. It is impossible to have a pure heart without humility. The Lord fights the proud and gives grace to the humble. The humble heart is also a soft or tender heart as King Josiah was given (II Kings 22:19). The text there tells us that he had a tender heart and humbled himself before the LORD. A tender heart is opposite of a hard heart and a humble heart is the opposite of a proud one. It is the tender and humble heart that bows to the LORD when it hears what He says in His Word while it is the proud and hard heart (like Pharaoh) that will not listen to the LORD.

A pure heart is one that is whole-hearted or focused and single. Those are words that we use to describe a person that is focused with all of his or her might on one thing. There is, after all, only one thing necessary (Luke 10:40-42). The heart that is not whole-hearted is a divided heart and not a single heart. As Matthew 6:24 sets out, no one can serve two masters. The human heart is such that it can only have one primary master at a time which is to say that it only has one master. In light of the Greatest Commandment, where all humanity is commanded to love God with all of the heart, mind, soul, and strength, what man must do is to be focused and whole-hearted on one thing and that is God and His glory. A heart is only pure to the degree that it seeks the glory of God out of love.

A divided heart is perhaps not thought of as such a great sin in the modern day but that is perhaps only because divided hearts reflect on it. A divided heart is a heart that has many masters and is certainly not directed and devoted to the One. “Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name” (Psa 86:11). If the heart us not united, it is not in a position to fear God. “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (II Cor 11:3). In this text we see that simplicity and purity are what a mind can be led astray from. The word for “simplicity” is a`plo,thj (haplotes) which is really the concept of singleness. Something that is single is also seen as simplicity or undivided. It is the simple or single heart that has purity of devotion. So a pure heart is a heart that is undivided or single in its devotion to Christ.

A pure heart is a heart that is undiluted (to a greater or lesser degree) with non-love. I Corinthians 13 sets out that we can do nothing good that is without true love. Verse 1 of I Corinthians 13 tells us that whatever we speak it must be out of love. “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” Even if we have the most eloquent of speech, and perhaps the most religiously correct of speech, if we do not have love our speech is as a loud, clanging, and irritating noise. Surely this points to the heart from which flow all of our thoughts and words. It is also the heart that will flow with love or non-love. So clearly a heart cannot be pure and be the fountain of pure words without love.

We can then move on to see from I Corinthians 13:2 that even if we know all mysteries and have all knowledge, and even if a person could have all faith, yet without love those things are nothing. It is only when those things are applied and used with love are they used to the glory of God. Even if we would give all that we had to the poor and if we gave our body to be burned in the name of Christ, yet if we do not love while doing those things they are morally reprehensible in the sight of God. The reason is that they would then flow from an impure heart of self-love and would be works of idolatry for the idol of self. Knowledge and acts done in the name of Christ must come from a love for Christ for the heart to be pure and for those actions to be for God and His glory.

For the heart to be pure the heart must be moved by grace. Now this may sound a bit different, but we must remember that what is not of grace is of the flesh and in our own strength. We must also remember that all love that flows to a human being is by definition of grace. The only access a human being has to true love is to receive it from the only source of love and that is God. No one loves except those that know God (I John 4:7-8). God does not impart His love in the heart except by the Holy Spirit who pours forth love in the heart of true believers (Rom 5:5). God is not under obligation to do this and so it must be by grace. So a pure heart is a heart that is moved, actuated, and strengthened by grace rather than by the flesh and outward works.

A pure heart is seen in that it is the temple of the living God. God dwells in His temple through the Spirit and our bodies are said to be temples “of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (I Cor 6:19). The context of this text is that of purity in that we are to flee from immorality. A person without a pure heart to some degree is not the temple of the living God. The Spirit is not called the “Holy Spirit” for nothing. He is holy in that He works holiness in hearts and He is holy in the sense that He will not dwell in a heart that has not been cleansed by the blood of Christ. So a pure heart is the home and working place of the Holy Spirit. It is the place where the Holy Spirit sets up shop and manifests the glory of God through.

Closely tied in with the preceding paragraph is the biblical teaching of the fruits of the Spirit. They are called the “fruits of the Spirit” because they are what the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of His people and their thoughts, desires, and actions flow out from those. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Gal 5:22-23). These things are not the results of the flesh and human effort; they are the results of the life of the Holy Spirit in His people. This shows how the fruit of the Spirit is tied in with many things that have preceded this. If the Spirit is in the heart, it is by grace alone. The work of the Spirit in the heart is not because of human works, but is because of His grace. We also see that the fruit of the Spirit includes love. There can be no pure heart or works apart from the indwelling Holy Spirit and apart from the heart that He works His fruit in.

We can see, then, that a pure heart is a heart that is empty of self and pride (though not perfectly) so that the Spirit of God dwells there. It is a heart that is under the influence and power of the Spirit so that it is a heart that is moved by grace and works by love. It is a heart that is guided by the two Greatest Commandments which means that it loves God with all of its being and loves its neighbor as itself. A pure heart loves self only out of love for God. The point on which all revolves including love for self is love for God. Rather than the revolving point being love for self, which would be idolatry, selfishness, and the height of pride, it does all out of love for God. The pure heart, because it is indwelt by the Spirit, flows out in love because that is what the Spirit works in that heart.

In another sense the pure heart is that which flows out the life of Christ. Christ dwells in His people and it is His life that is to be lived through us. “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal 2:20). The old self has been crucified with Christ and is dead. That is the impure part of the heart. But now self no longer lives and it is Christ who lives in us and He lives in His people by faith. That is the pure heart. A pure heart is one that no longer lives for self or flows forth in the pride of self, but the life that flows out is the life of Christ. It is Christ who is exerting His life in and through His people. This is the difference between a form of the Pharisee and true Christianity. The Pharisee can be orthodox and committed to attending church and to good works. But it is the life of the flesh and of self. The true believer has a pure heart which means that self has died and what s/he does is the life of Christ coming through it. The pure heart is utterly necessary because Christ does not dwell in a heart that He has not cleansed and He only lives in a heart that His life will be lived through.

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

In the series on the Beatitudes we are presently looking at purity of heart. Last week we looked at the biblical teaching on what the heart really is. It is far more than just the feelings, but instead it is the core of the individual. It is the deepest part of the human being from which the thoughts, intents, motives, and desires flow. This week we want to look at what the heart is like from birth. This will point to why a pure heart is necessary in order to be blessed and is a blessing itself.

The core of what a human being is resides in or is the heart. But what is that heart like from birth? If humanities real problem is the heart since that would mean the real issue with behavior is the heart, then we need to gain some understanding of what man is like from birth. There are some obvious reasons for this. This will tell us to some degree why children behave the way they do. This will tell us why all human beings need a new heart. This will inform us and give us ways to distinguish between believers and unbelievers since the real issue is of the heart.

Last time we looked at Genesis 6:5: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” This raises a few questions at the very least. How is it that the wickedness of man was so great if God did not create man that way? How is it that the wickedness of man was so great if indeed men are born good or even neutral? We then go on and wonder how it is that it is not just that most of the thoughts of human beings are evil, but that every thought of the heart is evil. Not only were the thoughts of the heart evil, but every intent of those thoughts of the heart was evil. Not only that, but every intent of the thoughts of the heart was only evil and that continually. Here is a description of humanity that is utterly horrible. But the text should force us to ask questions about how and why that is true.

It might be a relief to think of the flood coming along and wiping all of those sinful folks out if it were not for other verses in Scripture. Genesis 6:5 is before the flood, but Genesis 8:21 is right after the flood and it is no relief: “21 The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.” The words of Genesis 6:5 and 8:21 are not exactly the same, but we can see how the writer is assuming 6:5 in writing 8:21. But the writer adds one other thought. He now says that the intent of man’s heart is evil from this youth. The heart itself has evil intent and that from the youth.

These words are far worse than a mere flood can be. They show us why the flood was sent on the earth and why human beings do evil and why all fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). We can see the reason why Matthew 15 is simply setting out what the Pharisees should have known about the heart: 19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. 20 “These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.” If the Pharisees would have searched the Scriptures for the truth about what it meant to be unclean, they would have found that it was the heart and not all of the legalistic things they set out. This is a hard teaching that moves salvation beyond outward actions.

If we look at Genesis 8:21 and link it with Matthew 15:19-20, we see why the world is as it is. Human beings have evil intent in the heart from their youth. So it is not wonder (from Mat 15) that hearts like that will flow out in lies, slanders, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, and many other things. But how did their hearts get like that from such a young age? Let us look at Genesis 8:21 a little closer. The word translated as intent has the idea of purpose, frame, and inclination. The heart that is inclined toward evil in what it does is inclined away from holiness. The heart that is framed in evil has a purpose of evil. But how is the heart framed, inclined, and purposed in and toward evil? Even more, how is it that way from its youth or as the word implies, from his early days?

This throws us right back into the doctrine of original sin. There is only one biblical way to explain how human beings have such evil hearts from their early youth. One might argue that it is the way a person is raised, but this will not explain how children that are raised in Christian homes have such evil hearts if they are not converted. But even if they are converted, what are they converted from? We have to go back and look at the teaching of Scripture from Romans 5 and Ephesians 2 and two verses from the Psalms.

“15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. 17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 19 For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous (Romans 5:15-19).

This passage in Romans 5 is the classic text for setting out the teaching of Scripture on original sin or the teaching of how each human being has an evil heart and needs to be born from above and receive a new heart. It shows us what really happened when Adam sinned and died spiritually. It teaches that Adam was a head or representative of all human beings. When Adam transgressed the commandment of God every human being that followed him was born into sin with him. Every human being that will be born in the future will also be born into sin be virtue of being represented by Adam. Notice how that point is pounded home in each verse: “By the transgression of the one the many died” (v. 15). “The judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation” (v. 16) and “by the transgression of the one death, reigned through the one” (v. 17). “Through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men” (v. 18) and “through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners” (v. 19). All of these passages point to the one man and his sin being the root cause of why all human beings are sinners.

Psalm 51: 5 is another powerful verse that points to this grim truth: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” Being brought forth in iniquity is the birth and then he also points to conception. Psalm 58:3 sets out the same truth: “The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.” How can people be estranged from the womb and go astray from birth? It is only if they are born in sin which they have by virtue of Adam’s representation of all human beings.

It is argued that this is unfair and that man never had a real choice in the matter. Let us also remember, however, that God is perfect in wisdom and He set out the best man for the job. We should also be very careful about arguing that it is unfair for God to declare all guilty on the basis of representation because that is exactly what Christ does. If we do not want Adam’s representation, then we cannot be saved by another. If we want to stand alone we will stand apart from Christ and so will never be saved. The doctrine of original sin and how all humanity is born in sin is a necessary teaching. It teaches us that all of us need Christ and need to be born from above.

We can now move on to Ephesians chapter 2. “1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Verses 1-2 show us the state of the heart and how man lives in the world. He is dead in trespasses and sins. In other words, man is not alive spiritually and so he just walks or lives according to the standards of what other people do and that worldly standard is set up by the evil one. In doing that he is living in the lusts of his flesh and indulging the desires of his flesh and mind. That shows that he is by nature a child of wrath. The very nature of human beings apart from Christ is to be a child of wrath and to be dead in sins and trespasses. Thus we can see the outworking of Genesis 6:5 and 8:21 in the New Testament. Man’s heart is evil from his youth because he is born without spiritual life and so he is by nature a child of wrath. The intent of the heart is evil because the heart is dead in sin.

This newsletter is grim, but it is setting out Scripture. The person with a sinful nature is a child of wrath. That person has an evil heart with evil intent and so all manner of evil flows from it. That includes the very best of his or her works. The blessedness of a pure heart is that it has been made pure by Christ Himself. From that pure heart will flow true love and good intents. A pure heart is blessed because of what it has been delivered from and because of what flows from it. A pure heart has living water and the life of Christ Himself. It is the temple of the living God. It shares in the very life of God.

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

The past two weeks we have looked at the issue of purity. It is not just the absence of impure things and just staying away from evil. It is the presence of love and a heart that is single or united on God and His glory. This week the focus will be on the heart. We must know what the heart is in order to know what a pure heart is.

First we need to take a look at a few verses in the Sermon on the Mount (SOM) in order to see the importance of the heart and to start getting at the idea of the biblical teaching of the heart. This is based on the idea that the Beatitudes are really the essence of the SOM and the rest of the SOM is simply an expanded explanation and application of the Beatitudes. We see in our text (Mat 5:8) that the blessed are the pure in heart. We go to v. 22 and see that it is anger and angry words that are considered as murder. Anger is from the heart and a pure heart that is a meek heart does not flow out in that type of anger. In v. 28 we see that it is lust in the heart that is adultery. Then we go to chapter 6 and note how important motives and intents are in prayer, alms, and fasting. We see, therefore, that the heart and its motives and intents are vital in sin and in religious actions. Without a pure heart the inner man can be guilty of breaking all the commandments while at home and even in bed. Without a pure heart all the best of actions are nothing but sin and are at enmity with God.

The heart in common language is thought to be nothing more than what modern people call “emotions.” However, we must get beyond that thought if we are going to get at the biblical concept of the heart. The heart refers to the very core of our being. It is the deepest part of the soul from which all that we think, desire, feel, and do flows from. It is from the heart that Scripture tells us that we have thoughts, the intent of the thoughts, our affections, choices, intents in general, and motives in all that we do. Now if we combine this paragraph with the previous paragraph, we can see how vital the heart is to sin and to holiness. We can see how a pure heart would lead to pure thoughts, intents, motives, and therefore actions. This is how vital the heart is.

We must go to the Scriptures to get the biblical idea. I believe that the previous two paragraphs are biblical and have been developed from Scriptural concepts, but now let us look at Scripture directly. “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart” (Luke 6:45). Whatever comes from the mouth and life comes from the heart. The problem is that we cannot see the motives and intents of the actions. But know that it is from the heart that everything comes. A pure heart only comes by the grace of God as that alone is true purity.

In Mark 7 Jesus was discussing the rules of the Pharisees and in v. 5 He was answering why His disciples would eat with unwashed hands. The Pharisees thought that you had to go through a ritual before you ate because if you did not you would be unclean. Jesus said this: “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. 21 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. 23 “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man” (vv. 20-23) Jesus was saying that it is not what you put in man that defiles him, but what comes out. The things that defile the person are those things that come from the heart. If we can remember what it meant to be unclean to the Pharisees we might be able to get a handle on what Jesus is really teaching. To be unclean meant that you were ceremonially unclean and could not go to the Temple and could not worship. Jesus was telling them that it was their hearts that made them like that.

We can look at Scriptures and know that man thinks in his heart as well. “Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long will your wicked thoughts Lodge within you?” (Jeremiah 4:14). Here we see that God is speaking and telling the people to wash their hearts because wicked thoughts have found lodging within them. In other words, their thoughts were wicked and so their hearts needed to be cleansed. We can look back at the text in the previous paragraph and see that it is “from within, out of the heart of man, proceed the evil thoughts” (Mark 7:21). Where do evil thoughts come from? Clearly they come from the heart of man. How does one get rid of evil thoughts? Simply by thinking of good things or positive things? No, what man needs is a new heart. The heart must be changed so that the thoughts and the intents of the thoughts can be changed.

Where do the affections and desires come from? They come from the heart as well. Psalm 10:3 shows us the desires of the heart in terms of the wicked. “For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD.” Yet a few verses later in the same Psalm, we see that the Lord hears the desire of the humble and will strengthen their heart. “O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear” (v. 17). Solomon’s warning to young men is for them not to “desire her beauty in your heart, Nor let her capture you with her eyelids” (Pro 6:25). So we can see that desire and desires come from the heart. Whatever we desire, that desire is from the heart and tells us the true love of our soul.

Let us move to the intents of human beings. The intent is what we really intend in what we do. No matter the outward action, we intend something by that action. No matter what we say, we intend something by those words. We can intend to deceive by telling the truth and if so we are lying in the heart. We see from Genesis 6:5 that man not only has intents in the heart, but that his thoughts have intents as well: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Human beings are shocked at times to find out that God judges the thoughts, but this text tells us that He judges the intents of the thoughts too. The heart is the deepest part of the soul and when we have thoughts there are reasons or intents behind those thoughts. Those intents flow out of the heart and they are judged. A pure heart is necessary in order to have truly pure thoughts and to have the intent of those thoughts to be pure.

Heb 4:12 is a text that mirrors the basic thought of Genesis 6:5: “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The word of God actually pierces enough to judge the thoughts of the heart and also the intentions. What this is saying is that if you will read or listen to the Word of God as more than just a novel, the Word of God cuts to the deepest parts of your being. You are as naked before the Word of God as you can be with the very deepest parts of your being set out for God to see. There is no use trying to hide the filth that hides in your heart and its intents from God, He already knows them. What you need to do is to go to the Word and pray that the Lord would show you your own heart. Be prepared to see the most filthy and hideous beast that you have ever seen. You will seek grace if you see your own heart in the light of the Word. Examine what you intend in your thoughts, actions, and desires because God does. Know the truth about yourself.

How important are the motives of the heart? If a person desires to be pure in the sight of God and live and love in a way that pleases and glorifies God, then they are indispensable. Because of the fall and the pride of men’s hearts, man justifies his every behavior. “All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives” (Proverbs 16:2). Man looks at his ways and can always find a way to justify his behavior in his self-centered and proud heart. But God goes beyond that and looks at the real motives. A motive is what moves the soul or the heart to do an action. The intent is what we really intend in what we do and the motive is the desire that moved us to the action. “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God” (1 Corinthians 4:5).

Human beings are not privy to the intents and motives of a lot that others do. We must be careful of judging those things. However, we must be quick to examine our own hearts in this. We must go to the Word of God and perform a brutal surgery on ourselves. It is heart surgery that must be done if we desire a clean and pure heart. We must never be satisfied to live and be content with outward behavior that conforms to a standard. The Word of God tells us that our thoughts, the intent of those thoughts, our desires, all intents, and all motives will also be judged and are being judged. If we have the least modicum of love for God we will search out those thoughts that are lodging in our hearts and displease Him. If we love God we will desire that our intents and motives will be out of love for Him. This is basic “heart-religion.” In previous times it was known as experimental or experiential Christianity. If the truth were to be made known, there is no other kind of Christianity. Despite what passes as “Christian” in our day, true Christianity deals with the deepest parts of the heart. It must do so if it is going to please God by being pure in heart. The Word of God says so. Do you believe it? If so, you will immediately start heart surgery with the scalpel of the Word of God while praying for God to open your eyes. If you don’t truly believe the Word, then you will continue satisfied with your level of external Christianity buttressed with some elevated feelings. It is easier in this life to be satisfied with an external form of religion even though it is a lie.

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

Last week we looked at what the term “pure” means with the heart in the background. We must not think of a pure heart as one that simply stays away from sin, but is in fact one that pursues purity. Not only that, but the heart must be pure in order for anything pure to come from it. Last week the conclusion was that a pure heart was a unified heart that willed one thing. Purity is something which is not mixed with another and so is unified on one thing. A pure heart is one that is set on and focused on loving God and living for His glory. Indeed the concept of purity means the absence of pollutants, but it must be so in order to pursue what is pure. We will wait until next week to get into the issues of what the heart is and is not. This week we want to look at the importance of the truth of purity in other Scriptures and how vital it is for the Christian in all areas of life.

What is one main reason that the heart must be pure? It is because the heart is the dwelling place of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is perfect and never sinned while on earth and will certainly never sin now. He hated sin so much that He went to the cross and suffered the wrath of the Father so that His people would no longer be in its bondage. He died so that His people would be free from sin. This shows how much His people should pursue holiness out of love for Christ and out of delight in the indwelling Christ. If indeed He dwells in the hearts of His people, then His people must pursue holy hearts in order to please Him.

Without question the heart is the dwelling place of God. God looks upon the heart and He is only pleased with purity. How could a pure God be pleased with an impure dwelling? How could a God that is perfectly blessed live in a miserable heart that is impure? How could a God that loves His own glory as His holiness live in a heart that loves other things which makes it filthy? We are told in powerful language to flee sin because the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. “But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body” (I Cor 6:17-20).

It is out of love for Christ, then, that the believer is to pursue holiness and purity. The reason given in I Corinthians 6 (above) is that the body is a temple and the Spirit indwells the believer. But another reason, though linked together, is that the believer is one with Christ. A believer that sins is therefore sinning against Christ. Can one love Christ and continue to sin against Him? Can one continue in sin which is against the temple of the living God and of the Holy Spirit? It is not an option to do so. But we can see in the Scripture in our text about how true blessedness is found in those who have pure hearts. These are the people that are one with Christ and have the presence of the Holy Spirit in them. It is also the Holy Spirit and not just any spirit. The Holy Spirit will work holiness in the heart which is certainly purity of heart.

Titus 1:15 gives two reasons to pursue a pure heart: “To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.” One reason to pursue a pure heart is that to the pure all things are pure. That does not mean that the believer with a pure heart can run around living in sin and think that it is pure. But what it does mean is that the things within the commands of God are pure and the legalistic rules of purity (context) do not determine what is or is not pure. The second reason to pursue a pure heart is because that without a holy heart nothing is pure and that includes religious things. There is nothing that a person with an unclean heart can do that is not impure. What flows from an impure heart is impure and everything that is done comes from that impure heart.

Titus gives us a picture that we must pay attention to and shows us the vital importance of seeking a pure heart. For a pure heart all that it does will be pure. But for the impure heart all that it does will be impure since the heart determines whether the actions are pure or not. All that flows from a polluted spring is impure. All outwardly good actions, which include religious activities, are impure when done with an impure heart. Yet all the common activities along with the outward actions and religious activities are pure if done from a pure heart. An example and illustration of the principle is seen in love. True love can only come from a pure heart. All that comes from a non-pure heart is non-love. “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (I Timothy 1:5). This text shows that the goal of teaching is love from a pure heart. Acts 15:9 tells us that a heart is cleansed by faith: “cleansing their hearts by faith.” Galatians teaches us that faith works by love: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love” (5:6). The circle is now complete. The heart is cleansed by faith, that is, through faith one receives Christ and the heart is cleansed of guilt. The faith that the heart is cleansed by is the same faith that works by love. True love, then, can only come from a pure heart because a pure heart is one that has been cleansed by Christ through faith.

All that the impure heart does is not from faith and we know that one must have faith in order to please God (Hebrews 11:6). The text itself says that it is impossible to please God without faith. The heart without faith is impure and does not work by true love, but rather operates from self-love. We also know that there is nothing that a human being can do that is acceptable to God if it is without love. “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

The link between all that the impure heart does is impure and nothing is acceptable and pleasing to God apart from faith and love is clear. Even in the Titus text it speaks of the impure heart as unbelieving. The impure heart is not purified by faith and without faith nothing is pleasing to God. The heart that is pure and has faith works by love and nothing is acceptable to God without love. We can also see this link in II Timothy 2:22 where Paul instructs us to “flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” One is to flee from youthful lusts which are from an impure heart and pursue faith and love.

James 4:8 sets out some truths in this that should be instructive as to how important this is. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James instructs us to draw near to God. He then tells us how to do that. Sinners are to cleanse their hands and purify their hearts. But notice what he does at this point. He calls them “double-minded.” This is where this week’s article ties in even closer with the one from last week. Last week we set out that a pure heart was one that was unified and willed one thing. A double-minded person does not have a unified mind. This shows us that a double-minded person must have a unified heart in order to have a pure heart.

James 4:8 also has a context: “6 Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (4:6-10). Verse 6 shows that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. In light of that, we are to submit to God. In doing that we are to draw near to God. This is done by purifying the heart and not being double-minded which is to have our minds and hearts on multiple things. Part of submitting to God and purifying the hands and heart is seen in v. 9. It is to seek spiritual things instead of the things of the world. We end with verse 10 with humility which is where verse 6 starts off.

All of these things come together at this point. A proud person has an impure heart and is opposed to God and grace. All that the proud does is from a double or non-unified mind and heart and so all that he does is not from faith and love. But it takes humility in order to have faith and love. We cannot trust in God and ourselves at the same time. We cannot love ourselves and God as the supreme love at the same time. Humility is utterly necessary to have a pure heart and to have the true blessedness of God. Humility is to take our proper place as a creature before its Creator. Humility is the emptiness of self, but self and pride are the properties of the impure heart. A pure heart is a unified heart that loves God supremely and is not divided between God and self. Since it is empty of self it is able to love God and others from a pure heart. That is true blessedness in sharing in the love of God.

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

Blessedness or true happiness of the soul requires purity of heart. We might prefer to simply say that true blessedness flows in and through the heart that is pure. In other words, blessedness is not the result of works, but a state of the soul that flows from a pure heart. We can see how this fits with the previous beatitudes. A pure heart must be a heart that is poor in spirit and so emptied of self-righteousness. A pure heart is one that would mourn for the sins of others and for how God’s name is so misused. A pure heart is meek and gentle and self-centeredness and self-love is absent. A pure heart is one that longs for purity in life and so hungers and thirsts for righteousness. A pure heart is merciful because it has been shown mercy and desires the glory of God above all.

The term “purity” seems rather self-evident to mean a heart that is free of sin. Maybe it would mean a heart that has been cleansed by the blood of Christ. Without doubt those things are true in some sense. But are they true in this text and in this context as to the meaning? We know that a person is blessed if his or her heart has been cleansed by the blood of Christ. We also know that a person is blessed if his or her heart is free (not perfectly) of sin. But is that what is meant in this context? We can even know that a person will never be blessed unless his or heart has been cleansed by the blood of Christ, but are we sure that is all that is meant in this context? If that is all that was meant, he could have simply said that. I think something else is going on here.

The New Testament has different words for “pure.” The verses that I use will be focused on the Greek word (katharos is the transliteration). It is translated in various ways such as unclean, pure, clear, innocent, purification, cleanse, cleaning, and cleansed. The first example is this: “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (I Tim 1:5). A pure heart in the context of I Timothy is closely linked with Matthew 5:8 and clearly means something apart from initial salvation or justification. In this verse we have Paul telling Timothy of the goal of instruction. The goal of instruction is not in order to stock the brain with things that will make it swell with pride, but love. That love is not just to be things that a person does, but is to come from a pure heart. In fact, there is no such thing as love from an impure heart. Only those that have purified hearts truly love. We can see how this would certainly be true of a blessed person.

At the moment we can see one reason for a pure heart. It is from that heart that true love flows from. But II Timothy 2:22 gives us another reason. “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” A pure heart is what we call on the Lord from. This tells us that it takes a pure heart to call upon the Lord in truth. This is also another reason that a person would be blessed as the possessor of a pure heart. It is only from a pure heart that a person calls upon the Lord with. Still another type of use is seen in Titus 2:14: “who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” In this case a pure heart is linked with the positive actions of the believer. Christ gave Himself to redeem us from every lawless deed. But He also gave Himself “to purify for Himself a people for His own possession” who are “zealous for good deeds.” This is an utterly vital point. It is the blood of Christ that cleanses from sin and removes the wrath of God, but it is also Christ who gave Himself in order to purify a people for Himself who are also zealous for good deeds. To be cleansed from past sin is also to be set apart for present and future use.

The same point is also made in Hebrews 9:14: “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Here again we see that it is Christ who gave Himself for a purpose. That purpose was to cleanse the conscience from dead works with the purpose that the one cleansed would serve the living God. The atoning blood of Christ is not just for the purpose of saving people from hell, it is also to cleanse and set apart a people who are able to serve God. Dead works are of no use at all, but a person that is cleansed by Christ can be set apart to serve the living God according to the pleasure and glory of God. Why did Christ die? Let 2 Corinthians 5:15 drive the point home: “and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” Christ not only died to deliver from hell, but so that His people would no longer live for themselves but for Him. Once again: “For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living” (Rom 14:7-9).

Without quoting the text of other Scriptures, one primary meaning of the Greek word translated as “pure” in our text is that of cleansing such as from leprosy (Mat 8:3; 11:5). Being cleansed from leprosy implies the result of pure skin. When something impure is truly washed away, what is left is pure or clean. The idea of purity, then, is something that is not mixed with sin or impure things. This is seen in Revelation 21:21: “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.” The gold is pure in the sense that it is not mixed with parts that make it impure and so make it of less value. It is pure in the sense that it is not mixed with things that are not gold. Hebrews 10:22 also points to this meaning of pure: “having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” It is pure water in that it is not mixed with that which is dirty or unclean.

What we are faced with as we examine what “pure” means, is that Scripture sets out purity in at least two ways. One, there is the aspect of being cleansed from that which is unclean. Two, there are the actions that flow from that which has been purified and cleansed. We know that the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin, but it is so hard to get at the second part of what we are cleansed and purified for. James 1:27 gets at this meaning as well: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. This is seen by the terms “pure” and “undefiled.” These either mean the same thing or he is using one to build on the other. Either way, what we are left with is an unselfish religion that is concerned with the glory of God by helping those that cannot help themselves. An impure and defiled religion would be to do things out of selfish motives and an impure heart.

Now let us draw some of this together. While I am not denying that a pure heart is one that has been cleansed of sin by the blood of Christ, I am trying to point that the context of this beatitude is not salvation alone. It is about sanctification or growing in a pure life. The term “pure” in this context seems to be focused more on the idea of what a heart is like after it has been cleansed by the blood of Christ. This would then be a heart that is pure in the sense of that it is singular in its focus and is one in what it intends. To the degree that gold is not mixed with other metals is the degree of its purity. To the degree that the heart is not mixed with pride, self, and the world is the degree that it is pure. A pure heart is one that is singular and fixed on what it is doing and is to be doing.

Soren Kierkegaard wrote a book entitled Purity of Heart. He defined a pure heart as a heart that willed one thing. In other words, it was purified from all other things in order to be devoted to the one thing. He said that variety and great moments are not one thing. Doing things for rewards is not to will one thing. Doing things out of fear of punishment is not to will one thing. Doing things out of service to ourselves is not to will the one thing. A commitment to only a certain degree is a barrier to willing one thing. Without commending all that the book says, there is a great point in what he is saying. A pure heart is indeed a heart that is focused on one thing and is not mixed with the impurities of half-heartedness and some commitment. It is committed with everything. Psalm 86:11 teaches much the same thing in terms of a pure heart: “Unite my heart to fear Your name.” It is a heart that is united rather than divided. It is a heart that is united on loving God. It is a single heart in its devotion. A heart that is united is not fragmented with some going after the world and some going after this and that. A pure heart and a united heart are the same in that they are focused, intent, and undivided in seeking God out of love for His glory.

As you meditate on what it means to have a pure heart, don’t just think that it consists in what is not there. We tend to think that as long as we don’t do certain things we are pure. But in this case the concept of pure points us to utter devotion and a single heart and mind. A pure heart is not only one that wants to be free from outward and inward things that defile, but it wants to be focused on the one thing necessary. Martha was distracted with so many things that she forgot her real purpose. So many people today are so distracted with the things of life that they forget that they are here for one real purpose. Even religious things and family things can distract us from pure hearts. Church and family are to be done out of pure hearts as well. To the degree our heart is pure is the degree that we are free from pride, self-centeredness, and other focuses. Then we can be intent on and devoted to one thing in all that we do. Being cleansed from sin and having a unified heart that wills one thing describes a pure heart.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)

This week we will examine the idea of the blessedness of the merciful. If we look at this text on the surface, it does appear that those who show mercy are rewarded with mercy. In previous weeks I hope that I have shown that to be a false interpretation as it becomes either a salvation or a sanctification by works. If we receive mercy because we have shown mercy, it shows that God operates in the blessings for works plan rather than giving grace and then crowning that grace with more grace. Anytime that we think that we have received mercy from God because we have done something, we can know that we have turned the mercy of God into something we can earn. God will show mercy on whom He will show mercy. Mercy comes to humanity based on the character and mercy of God, not based on the goodness or outward actions of man.

Why are those who show mercy blessed? One reason is because only those with salvation show true mercy. The Gospel came as a result of the mercy of God. We can see why God sent the Son from Luke 1:76: “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS; 77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins, 78 Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us.” The Father sent the Son to give to His people the knowledge of salvation by forgiving them their sins. He did this because of His tender mercy. This text shows us that the Gospel is not just a legal transaction with God, but it comes from the tender mercy of God.

The psalmist cries out to God with that in mind: “Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old” (25:6). Paul points to this in Ephesians as he looks to the reason why God would have such mercy to raise sinners from the dead: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us” (Eph 2:4). Mercy flows from love. In fact, mercy is the love of God for the helpless. So the Gospel comes to sinners based on the mercy of God alone. Titus also sets this out. Why are people regenerated by the Spirit of God? “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5).

As we can see, then, the plan of salvation was from the tender mercy of God and raising sinners from the spiritual dead and regenerating them is also based on the mercy of God. In this light, we can see the necessity of being poor in spirit in order to receive mercy. If mercy is not based on our works or efforts, then to receive it we must not trust in our works or efforts. The broken in heart are those who are needy and impoverished, even helpless. The broken in heart can receive true mercy, perhaps even without pride. Mercy helps those who cannot help themselves and it is those who are poor in spirit that realize that they cannot help themselves. So God’s mercy comes to those who reach the point of inability. The only thing that separates the believer from the worst of the outward sinners is grace and mercy. This should show whey believers should be merciful to other sinners.

When we see the great mercy that has been demonstrated to us as sinners our self-righteousness crashes down. We have nothing left to trust in but Christ and His grace alone. Our hearts are broken and we are left with nothing of self to lean on. But beware of having pride & self-righteousness in the fact that you have no righteousness. It is possible to appear to be merciful rather than to be merciful. The appearance does not cost much, but to strive for a broken heart from self, self-righteousness and pride so that we can have a merciful heart does hurt and cost. We will only truly be merciful to the degree that we love God, not to the degree that we love self or try to appear merciful to others and perhaps even to self. It is, after all, better to be humbled for sin than to be proud of grace.

One evidence of having the blessedness of having been shown mercy is that of showing mercy, but not because God rewards merciful acts with mercy. If we only show mercy in order to receive mercy, this would ruin the motive of doing all out of love for God and His glory. Instead, we must see outward acts of mercy as the outward manifestation of sharing in the life of God. We only show true mercy when we have received the mercy of God and it is working in and through us. While this seems so backwards to those who work in order to obtain things from God, it is the position that fits with the rest of Scripture.

Mercy is the aspect of true love that is toward the helpless or those that cannot help themselves at all. There is only one location to obtain true love and this is the God who is love. The only people that show mercy, then, are those that have true love and those that truly love have been born of God and know God (I John 4:7-8). This also means that the only people that show true mercy are born of God and know God since true mercy flows from true love. The point of this is to show that those that are born of God and know God are the only ones that have true love and therefore true mercy. A person that displays true mercy, then, is a person that has been regenerated by the mercy of God. That person is blessed. The person that shows true mercy is a person that knows God. According to John 17:3, eternal life is defined by knowing God. So a display of true mercy would be evidence of that person knowing God and therefore of eternal life. That is true blessedness.

To put this in a different way, these are the people that have the love of God in them and they are in the love of God. To share in the love of God as it flows between the Father and the Son is to share in the eternal blessedness of God. Those that show true mercy are the ones that have been shown saving mercy and presently have the mercy of God living in them. That mercy of God in them is expressed in acts of mercy toward others. It is, in biblical language, to share in the life of God (II Peter 1:3-5). The blessedness of the merciful is not in getting something from God; it is to have God Himself and to share in the manifestation of His glory in this world. The only thing that a believer that has been shown mercy and has tasted of the good things of God should want is simply more and more tasting of the glory of God. To have the life of God in the soul is to have the glory of God’s mercy to work its way out into the life of the blessed person and that means that person simply has more and more mercy to look forward to.

Let us look at this again. The blessed person has been saved by the mercy of God. The love of God now dwells in that person which enables the converted person to show true mercy. Each act of true mercy that a believer shows is not a work for righteousness, but is an act of love for God and human beings made in His image. What can reward a person that loves God more than anything at all? Nothing but God Himself will satisfy a heart like that. Sharing in the life of God is the blessed life because God is the ever and all blessed God. He has nothing but Himself and the manifestation of His own glory to delight in. He can give nothing better than Himself. So the person that has the love of the ever blessed God in His soul does not want anything but God. Showing mercy is a way to see the manifested glory of God. Showing mercy is a way to taste of the glory of God. Showing mercy, then, is its own reward as it enables the soul to manifest the glory of God and that is what the soul loves. The blessedness of those that show mercy is not in getting more things, but in receiving more of God’s mercy which is His love to them which is really giving them a love for Himself. This is to share in the life of God and is true blessedness.

The beginning of blessedness means to be saved by a Gospel of mercy. The Gospel itself gives hope of a God who will have mercy. The teaching that God removes His wrath from sinners by the sacrifice of Christ (propitiation) is a term that is taken from the mercy-seat in the Old Testament. Believers are blessed when they show mercy because they have the life of Christ in them and are already recipients of mercy. But even more, believers have the promise of mercy all of their days on earth and then for eternity. Believers have the promise that they have a merciful and faithful High Priest (Heb 2:17). Believers have the promise that God will be merciful and remember their sins no more (Heb 8:12). Believers can look to passages like Leviticus 16:2-14 and know that the blood that was spoken of there spoke of Christ who was to come and that Christ has sprinkled His blood on the mercy seat.

But believers should also know that they have the life of Christ in them (Gal 2:20) and that is their very hope of glory (Col 1:27). Believers are the temple of the living God and they know that the glory that shines through them is the very same glory that was seen in Christ (John 1:14), That is the glory that consists of grace and truth. Believers can know that as they live life they are not working for righteousness or any form of mercy, they are working out of love. God has saved them by His mercy and they no longer have anything to work for other than to glorify His mercy and love. All that a believer does that is out of love for God is truly the mercy of God for that is the mercy of God shining through that person. That is also the blessedness of God shining in and through that person. How blessed are the merciful because they have received the mercy of God and that same mercy will shine in them now and for all eternity.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)

Last week we looked at the concept of mercy. Mercy flows from love and helps those who cannot help themselves. With God mercy is always sovereign since any obligation or merit means that it is justice. Mercy always has the true good of the individual being helped in mind and so the primary concern will always be spiritual. True mercy flows from love which has God as its only source. There is a very real sense, then, that all true mercy flows from God through His people. Mercy, as it flows from love and the character of God, is not based on any benefit or good from the person being helped. All true mercy flows from and is moved by the character of God who is sovereign.

Those without true mercy are set out as evil in Scripture. They are “without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, [and] unmerciful” (Rom 1:31). An unmerciful heart is a heart that does not know God and is being hardened. The person that is unmerciful is also seen as unloving and untrustworthy. This is another verse that shows how linked mercy is with love. In fact, without love there is no mercy and yet where there is true love there is mercy. Mercy is simply love reaching out to help those that cannot help themselves. So where there is no mercy, there is no love and yet without love there is no Christianity as we know from I Corinthians 13. True mercy in the spiritual realm is part of Christianity and without it there is no Christianity.

There is also the connection between showing mercy and a judgment of no mercy. “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). This is not teaching that showing outward mercy earns the mercy of God or that the Gospel is by works to some and by grace to others. It is simply showing the connection between receiving mercy at judgment and showing mercy on earth. We can see that connection in Matthew 25 as well. There it is those who fed and clothed Christ who will receive mercy at judgment and those that did not feed and clothe Christ who will not receive mercy at the judgment. What happens to those who have no mercy? All men who do not receive His mercy and then follow the way of mercy are refusing His kindness that leads to repentance and are storing up wrath for the day of wrath (Rom 2:4-5). It is a hard heart and it will grow harder and harder as it despises and rejects mercy. On the surface both of these texts appear to have mercy being obtained by works. However, what is true is not always what appears as true on the surface.

One is blessed if he is merciful because showing true mercy presupposes that one has been shown mercy and is acting like His Father who is merciful. That mercy is being worked in and through the person as the fruit of the Spirit and the life of Christ. That means that texts like James 2:13 and Matthew 25 show that true mercy is necessary and that those who show true mercy are blessed of God and will receive mercy. But those texts are not teaching that the mercy of God is obtained by good works. Rather, good works and the demonstration of true mercy show that true mercy has already been shown to the person showing mercy. The texts simply show the connection but do not declare that the showing of mercy demonstrates that God will reward it by showing mercy.

How does the blessedness of being merciful fit with the Beatitudes that we have discussed previously? Showing mercy only comes from one who has been broken of self-righteousness (poor in spirit). This person mourns for the sin of others and can show mercy when insulted (meekness). This person has a hunger & thirst for righteousness. The beatitudes show that mercy is an issue of the heart and not just the behavior. If we see the connection that each beatitude is necessary to have the others, then we know that being broken from self-righteousness is necessary for true mercy. We must be broken of self to have and show true mercy. There is mercy toward physical issues and there is mercy toward the spiritual condition of others. The heart that is bound to self-righteousness cannot show true mercy, it will be contrived. True mercy brings others what they really need and that is God. People are dead in sin, self-love, and self-centeredness. It is true mercy to tell them of their spiritual state and of the Great Physician. However, be warned. It takes humility to receive mercy and those who are proud in the heart will hate you if you try to show them true, spiritual mercy. But true mercy will not be scared off when it is opposed.

There is a huge difference between outward acts of mercy and merciful shown from the heart. Acts of mercy can come from the strength of self-love. True mercy comes from the heart by the workings of God. Only one who has received true mercy from God can have true mercy since they alone recognize what it really is and the depths to which it goes (Col 3:10). Self-love finds hidden strength and has secret hiding places because of the desires of self for survival. Selfishness cannot always be seen as it feeds on the subtle poison of apparent generosity in always sacrificing for others. This self must be exposed by the light so that you can see it for what it is and learn to hate it. This flattering illusion of self must die. We must see that we really worship self. All of our mercies and kind acts can be nothing but the strength of pride and self. You must see all that you are in truth and realize the poison of your mercies and niceness. Your kindness has been poison as it has fed self. Your sacrifice for others, politeness, and kindness are nothing but self-love. It is the effort at appearance of these things that shows us our own hearts. We can try to appear convicted and even humble when we hear things like this, but the trying to appear that way is nothing but the appearance of self-love in the robe of religion. To show true mercy our self-centeredness must die.

When we show “mercy” for selfish reasons, we do them with a desire for honor and applause which means our hearts are not doing them out of love for God or a true desire for the good of others. The desire to be seen as nice and merciful is really a desire for self which opposes the glory of God. This means that we are not there to give people what is really best if we desire self above all. If our heart wants the person receiving the mercy (in name) to see how nice or merciful we are, then we are not doing our actions with true mercy which desires for others to see the glory of God. Some people do vicious acts to others in order to obtain honor from men. Others do outwardly kind acts in order to obtain honor from men. But both come from the same selfish heart. The vicious act does harm to the body, but the outwardly kind act can do much harm to the soul. Outward acts moved by selfish hearts that want to appear as nice, kind, and merciful might do more harm to the soul than vicious actions to the body. In reality, however, they might be vicious acts to the soul. Outward kindness and niceness can soothe people and make them feel better in their sin when what they really need is to have their sinful hearts opened by the Word. Mercy and niceness when only outward and done for the appearance are very dangerous lies about true mercy.

Do I want the appearance of mercy for the honor of others or the reality? The appearance can be relatively easy. The reality will only come in accordance with the dying of self. Self in the outward life is seen in people who want to appear great or to be honored by a position, clothes, house, car, job, money, and all sorts of things. All that they have is borrowed from things. So the person in religion borrows from the appearance of things as well. We want to be known as humble, knowledgeable, well-read, merciful, holy, kind, nice, and so on. But we would rather put on the clothing of these things than deal with our heart to do so. The appearance of these things might make us feel godly or righteous, but they are smoke in the nostrils of God. These things are not pure sacrifices coming from pure hearts. Spiritual pride is built on appearances, but in our pride we think they are real. When we can do something in our own strength, though we pray over it and think highly of it, it is just self and perhaps spiritual pride. Spiritual pride is not real in the spiritual realm, it is hypocrisy and self-deceit. If you have never fought this in your heart and have never been nauseated by it, then you can be sure that you still have it. You can be sure that there is an enemy in your heart that is deceiving you about yourself. Oh pray that God would open your eyes to that poisonous serpent that lies within your own heart and it is killing you. It must be seen in order to be killed.

Throughout history mankind has set up ministries of mercy and the like. They are termed “mercy” because they are said to relieve the needs of others. But many of these, instead of being true acts of mercy, are but shows of self-righteousness. True mercy and humility, while able to be distinguished, cannot be separated. A true heart that has true mercy will not do it for self-aggrandizement. How we try to make self appear merciful so we can think we are. We try to make self appear humble so we and others can think we are. But if we try to make others think we are that just shows that we are not. Would we rather appear to be merciful or to be merciful? The appearance does not cost much, but to strive for a broken heart from self, self-righteousness and pride so that we can have a merciful heart does hurt. It might also cost us all that we have and trust in, which is such a high cost for the proud in heart.

Pride and mercy are polar opposites while mercy and humility are necessary companions. How can I be proud of the mercy that I have received if the reason that I received mercy is because I could not help myself? How can I be proud that I received mercy because I was in utter and complete bondage to sin and was going to hell because I deserved it? If a person is proud of the mercy that s/he received, then that person does not understand mercy in the slightest. Humility is utterly necessary to show mercy, but also for receiving it. If I show mercy out of pride I am not doing it for the sake of the other, but for self. If I receive mercy as something which I deserve or which should have been shown to me, then from pride I have not received mercy at all. That is why the Gospel is only received and loved by the humbled. To the rest it is either nonsense or all about self.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)

This beatitude is again one that seems rather obvious. God is merciful and so human beings are to be merciful. If they are merciful, then other humans will show them mercy and God will reward them with mercy. However, this is simply not the meaning of this beatitude. That interpretation means that people only receive mercy because they show mercy which is another way of saying that God rewards people according to their works. There is an element of truth that merciful people do receive mercy from others, but we must be careful how far we take that too. Jesus was perfectly merciful and yet He was persecuted in life and killed while thousands mocked Him. Perhaps we have lost the idea of what mercy really is.

The standard of mercy is God’s mercy, especially as shown through Christ. We learn about that mercy in Scripture and then as we see it worked in and through true believers, which means it is an expression of the mercy of God. We need to go to Scripture to get at the main idea of mercy. “For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires” (Romans 9:15-18).

It is obvious from Romans 9:15-19 that mercy is an act of God that comes from Himself and is not based on the qualifications that one must obtain. God shows mercy on whom He will have mercy. In the context Paul is showing why God could love Jacob and hate Esau before they had done any good or bad. His argument is that God will show mercy on whom He will have mercy. In other words, mercy is not something that God be obliged to show or it would not be mercy. God has mercy on those He desires which is to say there is no obligation on God’s part to show mercy. He shows mercy because He is merciful and He shows mercy at His sovereign pleasure.

Another part of the sovereignty of God in this is to show that God hardens whom He desires. We have to wrestle with these hard issues in the biblical text or we are not being faithful to Scripture and will never understand mercy. The hardening of hearts and showing mercy are both the acts of God based on His own pleasure and desire. Why did God harden Pharaoh? In order to demonstrate His own power and that His name would be proclaimed. This is a very hard teaching, and yet it is as clear as can be in Scripture. Why does this need to be taught and stressed? Simply because it is in Scripture and because there will never be a true understanding of mercy apart from it. This teaches us that mercy is the sovereign prerogative of God and this is clear from the fact that He would be just to harden those He has mercy on. God shows mercy at His mere pleasure and for no other reason at all. That is what Romans 9 teaches us. Mercy is not mercy but justice if we can do something to deserve mercy from God.

We can also learn about mercy from Ephesians 2:1-10. Without quoting the whole section, verses 1-3 teach us that human beings are by nature children of wrath and are dead in trespasses and sin. Verses 4-7 gives us the contrast to that: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” We must notice that sinners are spiritually dead and deserve wrath. The contrast is with what people deserve and what God does. Verse 4 starts off with the word “but” which is a contrasting word between what has gone before and what is about to be said. Despite what human beings are, God makes them alive together with Christ. That is a shocking statement if we understand how much God hates sin.

How can God take sinners like that and make them alive together with Christ? It is not because the sinners are worthy, but because He shows mercy. Take note again that God does not save sinners because they are worthy or because of what they have done, but rather He shows mercy despite of what they deserve and despite what they have done. God saves because He is rich in mercy. But why is He rich in mercy? It is because of His great love with which He loved them. Notice that the text does not say that He loved them because of anything in them, but because of His great love with which He loved us. God loves sinners because God loves God. It is with this great love which flows within the Trinity that God loves sinners. God’s love is moved within Himself and for Himself rather than the merit of human beings. It is because of that He is able to love sinners and show mercy to them.

I John 4:7-8 points out something that is a fairly obvious but still much neglected point. There is no love apart from that which comes from God. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Verse 8 tells us that God is love, or in other words God exists in love. We know that God is triune and so the fact that God is love points to the fact that love flows between the members of the Trinity. Since God is self-existent His love flows within Himself and does not need any other energy or motive other than Himself. He is love. Verses 7-8 also tell us that no human being has true love other than those that know God. Only those that are born of God and know God have true love. That is utterly shocking to some people as they see how nice some unbelievers are, but niceness and love are not the same thing. A person can be very nice out of self-righteous motives and out of self-love. But true love is shown only because of the God who lives and works in His people.

With the Scriptures above set out and somewhat explained, we can now draw a few conclusions about mercy.

1. Mercy is a sovereign act of God
2. God is perfectly just to show mercy or to harden hearts
3. Mercy cannot be earned in any way or to any degree
4. There is utterly no obligation upon God to show mercy
5. Mercy flows from the love of God
6. Love is also sovereign dispensed by God
7. No one who deserves the wrath of God deserves the smallest bit of the love and mercy of God
8. No human being can show true love or mercy apart from being a child of God

In light of the truths above, we need to go back and examine our beatitude. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7). We can know for sure that people are not blessed because they are merciful in the sense that they are given blessings because they run around showing mercy to others. The interpretation of this verse that postulates that heresy makes salvation out to be a work. What we must gain from studying the character of God is that human beings can only show true mercy if it is out of a true love for God and our neighbor. No human being has any true love and true mercy unless that human being has been born of God and knows God.

What we must also see is that in our day mercy ministries are seen as relieving the plight of those without certain physical items. That may indeed be a part of mercy, but anyone can do that whether believer or atheist. Mercy is seen in its highest form in the spiritual realm. It matters little of a person’s financial status, all are dead in sins and are by nature children of wrath. It is no mercy to a person if we give them food and clothing and hide the true nature of God and of the Gospel from them. The social gospel is still alive and well in its activity. Professing believers do run around and think that they are doing Christian ministry simply because they are giving people without much income things to help them. Again, that may have a place, but without the true Gospel we are not helping people in the long run. We must be like Jesus in this regard. After he healed a man, He told him this: “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you” (John 5:14).

Mercy is the attribute of God by which He helps those who cannot help themselves and no one else can either. By definition mercy is helping the helpless or those who are without other help. It is the aspect of love that reaches the helpless. Men and women are truly helpless since they are dead in their sin and trespasses. They are wandering around in spiritual darkness living as without God in the world. True mercy addresses their spiritual state. True mercy will tell them what the true mercy of God is. Anything less is, well, merciless. Unless we tell people of their true spiritual state and of the nature of true mercy, we are being merciless to them. According to our text, that would be demonstrative evidence that we are without true mercy ourselves. How blessed those are that show true mercy as it reflects the mercy of God.