Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)
No promise in the Bible has been more compelling and propelling in my personal pursuit of purity than the promise Jesus gives in Matthew 5:8. I could probably write an article on every one of these eleven words — this verse is that full of power. But one word compels me more than any other: see. “They shall see God.” I want that! Because of all I know about God in his word, I really, really want to see him.
John Piper has taught me a lot, but one of the most important lessons he ever taught me was that we sever the root of sin’s pull by the power of a superior promise. We don’t just say that sin lies to us (though it does, and we should); that’s a mere pistol when it comes to temptation. If we’re going to win the war on sin, we need heavier ammunition, and Matthew 5:8 is an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Do you want to lay your eyes on unparalleled beauty, on unsearchable wisdom, on unrivaled strength, on unstoppable love? Pursue purity with all your God-given might.
The Pure Will See
The pure in heart will see God. This is what eyes were made for.
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)
You have eyes so that one day you might see God. Even if your eyes (like mine) don’t work well, one day God will give you new eyes for him. One of the very last promises in the Bible says, “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4).
And whose face will that be? We will see the face of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Before he died, he actually prayed that for us: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). The pure in heart are going to see God.
This promise is a future promise; the fullness of seeing is yet to come. But like all of the beatitudes, it is coming true even now. “For now we see in a mirror dimly” — we really see — “but then face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). The pure in heart see him even now, through faith. And where do we see him? We see him where he reveals himself: We see him in his world, we see him in each other as his body, but we see him best and most clearly in his word.
In the Bible, we see the unseen Jesus — in every book, on every page, under every verse. Matthew 5:8 means that the more pure we become, the more we get to see and enjoy him even now. And the more we see and enjoy him, the better equipped we are to reject lesser, sinful pleasures. Purity is a means of greater joy in Jesus, and joy in Jesus is a means of greater purity.
Those Who Seek
What does it mean to be pure in heart, though? The heart in Scripture is the center of who you are. This isn’t about external performance or looking a certain way in front of others. Jesus wants an inner, fuller purity (Matthew 23:25–26). Outside purity without inside purity is no purity at all.
“Pure in heart” means far more than a clean browser history. No, this is talking about something much deeper, wider, and more beautiful. Psalm 24:3–6 gives us a fuller picture:
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
The pure man avoids what is false. He does not offer up his allegiance to impurity. More importantly, though, he seeks the face of Heaven. Everything he avoids, he avoids in order to pursue fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). Purity in the Bible isn’t only about the absence of sin. No, purity is mainly about a single-minded, undivided seeking of God.
Already Pure, Not Yet Pure
Is purity something God does for us, or is it something we do for God? Yes.
No amount of washing or working or weeping can make you pure before God. Instead, God sent his Son to die for your impurity, and he sent his Spirit to raise your cold, lifeless, lust-filled heart from the dead. That is the only way to be forgiven, washed, and clean. By grace alone, through faith alone, you are pure (1 Corinthians 6:11).
And yet, he still calls those he has made pure in Christ to pursue purity in Christ:
Flee from sexual immorality. . . . Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:18–20)
Why would he tell them to be pure if they’re already pure? Because while God declares us pure in Christ, and even sees us as pure in Christ, he hasn’t made us fully pure yet. He will, but he hasn’t yet. We all have impurity this side of heaven. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Our status is pure in Christ, and yet our actions and affections are not yet perfectly pure, so by grace and through faith, we relentlessly pursue purity.
None of us will be fully pure in this age, but all of us can be more pure in this age because God gives us his grace, his word, his power — his Spirit.
The Blessed Battle
Those who receive and pursue greater purity in Christ get to taste and see that he is good. They will be blessed now and in eternity. “Blessed are the pure in heart . . .” I don’t know what comes to mind when you read the word “blessed,” but this promise is almost certainly fuller and richer than whatever you’re imagining.
This blessedness is more than circumstantial comfort or pleasure. This is a full-soul satisfaction that touches every part of us. We experience in Christ what so many desperately, tragically try to find in sin — in their unrepentant impurity. They’ll never find blessedness in rebellion. God lays bare the futility of that search:
My people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13)
That’s what it’s like to live in impurity. Miserable are the lustful in heart, for their eyes die of thirst. You will never find blessedness there. You’ll find real lasting joy by running as hard as possible away from temptation and into fellowship with Jesus.
So, do whatever clears your eyes to see and enjoy Jesus, and avoid whatever blurs your vision and dulls your affections for him. Purity is a means of seeing and enjoying him more. And enjoying Jesus more is the greatest way of pursuing greater purity.
Desiring God