Here we have another example of the often subtle contrast
between religion and the kingdom of heaven. Religion tells us to do our best
and live purely and we will be rewarded with the favor of God for our effort.
Salvation tells us that it is not possible for us to live a perfectly pure life
and that the mercy of God through the sacrifice of Christ makes us worthy if we
receive Christ as Lord and also savior. If we are to put our trust in the
salvation of the gospel and not the effort of our religious service what is the
meaning of the above scripture?
We should first notice that Jesus does not say, “Blessed are
the pure in action.” Jesus is telling us that the inner heart is expressed
through our outer actions, and if our outer actions are not an expression of
our inner heart then of what value are our actions spiritually? To be pure in
our heart is of greater value than to try to follow a set of rules and call
that purity. The motives of our heart are of great value to God.
This purity of our heart is not perfection of our heart.
To be pure in heart is to be in the continuous process of being made pure. When
Jesus is our Lord, and our every desire is to please him, then we are continuously
on the path of allowing God to purify our hearts, and through God’s grace we
are called the pure in heart. The purity of the heart is not perfection but totalness.
When God is the controlling passion of our
lives then God reveals to us his nature, his purposes and his relationship to
us.
Through this purity of heart we begin to express what we
see of his nature, purpose and his relationship, and in this way we see God
himself.
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