What a Relief

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

 

“Pure in heart.” These words can make people wonder if they have any chance of ever seeing God in heaven! Not many of us would dare to claim that we have always been “pure in heart.”

In a recent teaching on the Beatitudes, the speaker told a story of a woman who came to him after he spoke on Matthew 5:8 (top).¹ She said she would never expect to see God because of her past sin. She was sure she had lived a life that would not be described as “pure in heart.”

What relief she must have felt when he explained to her that “pure of heart” describes not a perfectly pure life but a heart that is pure because it has been “refined by fire.”

This verse is saying that the one whose heart is being cleansed by God, one who is in the process of sanctification, will see God. It is those in the process of being “taught, reproofed, corrected, and trained in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16) who will be “pure in heart” before God.

The times in our lives when God is refining us are not easy. We usually recognize that it is He who is chastening or correcting. The conviction of sin is never comfortable for us. Often we want to hold onto whatever He is trying to refine from us. Our pride can keep us from seeing that His corrections and refinements are a part of our sanctification.

But sanctification is the clear path to peace and joy in our lives.

Though uncomfortable, conviction of sin should also be a confirmation of faith and an assurance of the Lord’s work in us. It is one thing that verifies that God is at work, refining us for His greater purposes in our lives.

Like a good parent, if He did not care, He would not correct. If He did not want to use us to grow His kingdom, to work for the good of our neighbors, then we would not need refining.

If you are not feeling “pure in heart,” if you, too, fear that you will not see God because of an impure heart, will you ask God to show you your sin? He says that if we confess our sin, He will be faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9-10).

He will refine you to remove the impurities. It may feel like fire but it will cleanse and purify. You will be blessed for the effort.

That blessing will not be just seeing God in heaven. That blessing will be now. What a relief for any of us who want to see God.