August 2014

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. - Matthew 5:8

Each of the Beatitudes has two components: the condition called blessed (or “happy”), describing the heart state of citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven; and the resulting condition of life in the Kingdom. As we have seen in our study of the other Beatitudes, either one of these phrases might not mean what we assume on first reading. For one thing, we are sinful by nature and not in tune with God’s way of thinking or viewing the world. For example, the first Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” might refer to someone who has a strong sense of being economically disadvantaged, or it might describe someone with low self-esteem. Rightly understood, though, it refers to someone who is aware of their sin and guilt before God and knows they have no spiritual currency with which to settle their debt. Anyone who feels this way sees the true meaning.

“Blessed are the pure in heart” is another one of the Beatitudes that is frequently misread. Quite often we read it as if it refers to those whose hearts are clean, without spot or stain of sin. Such a person will indeed see God, and all those who believe in Christ are washed clean and made pure by His blood. But if we look elsewhere in Scripture, we see there is another interpretation. Psalm 24:4 says, “The one who has clean hands and a pure heart . . . does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.” Read this way, someone who is “pure in heart” has a heart entirely devoted to God, a heart that is not mixed or divided or combined with anything else. Food that is “100% pure” does not have any additives or fillers. Hearts that are 100% pure are set on God and nothing else—no private agendas, not secret idols.

The Bible teaches that God's love is unconditional for his children. In the view of some God will only love someone if they first do something for him - meet a condition. But the love of God in the Bible is that he first loved us, in spite of our disobedience. While we were still sinners Christ died for us. While we were dead in sin, Christ made us alive (Eph 2:5)

As an everyday example,some think the kind of love God has is like a parent whose toddler runs into the street. The parent stands at the curbside waiting and calling to the toddler to get out of the way of oncoming traffic but will do nothing more for the child if he does not first use his free will to obey the parent. What kind of love is that? Love is when a parent sees his child in trouble, and yes he calls out, but he also drops everything, runs out in the street at the risk of his/her life, scoops up the child and makes certain he is safe. That kind of love gets the job done. The child was disobedient but the parent did not care what the will of the child was at the time. He loved him too much to leave him to himself and the parent knows better then the child what is good for him. He "violated" the childs will BECAUSE he loved him. He would be dead otherwise.

Jesus taught that some don't believe because they are not his sheep, children of the devil. (John 8 & 10) But to those Christ came to save, he does not merely leave them to their own devices. He does not "help those who help themselves." No, he helps those who are unable to help themselves. God has conditions yes, but Christ meets the conditions for us. We love God because He first loved us. That is love..

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. - Matthew 5:4

The first and possibly most famous part of the Sermon on the Mount consists of a series of eight statements, each of which begins with the phrase, “Blessed are the . . . .” In the Latin Vulgate, this portion is entitled “Beatitudenes,” which comes from the word for “happiness,” and is the origin of the common English name for this section, The Beatitudes.

A common misunderstanding about the Beatitudes comes from this title. The Beatitudes are not a recipe for how to be happy. Because of our highly individualized society, contemporary Western readers in particular read the Bible as a self-help book, but to read the Beatitudes that way would actually get them backwards. They do tell us how to attain happiness, but they describe a settled joy that is the result of membership in the Kingdom of Heaven. Citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven, though, originates with Christ and His call to us to follow Him. We cannot simply use Him as a means to our own self-fulfillment.

A second way the Beatitudes can be misunderstood is if they are read as isolated, unrelated statements. Each of the Beatitudes is, in fact, related to the others, and the order in which they appear is intentional and important.

The first Beatitude is, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (v. 3).” As discussed earlier, “poor in spirit” does not mean we are discouraged by our lack of wealth, but refers to our spiritual poverty, the lack of anything innately good or righteous in us. When we realize our moral bankruptcy before God and that we have no means to bargain with Him so that we might enter His kingdom, we come to Him humble and broken and He receives us on the basis of Christ’s finished work at the cross, and not because of anything that we have done.