God Loves… Himself

“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.