Purity (Matthew 5:8) By David P. Brown Jesus pronounced a blessing on “the pure in heart.” he said they would see God! “Pure” translates the Greek word “katharos.’ It is an adjective meaning “pure, as being cleansed.” The implication is that where a state of uncleanness or filthiness existed, now a process has worked to bring about the opposite state: that of cleanliness, i.e. purity. What is the process that God has chosen to create a pure or clean heart in man? This is the most important question we could ever ask. Why? Because only “the pure in heart” shall see God! In answering our question, we must first understand what this heart is that has been cleansed or made pure. Originally “kardi,” the Greek word translated “heart” in most places meant the muscle that pumped the blood through the human body. It came to symbolize the inner man (I Pet. 3:4); or the intellect (Matt. 9:4; Isa. 32:4; Prov. 14:10; Mk. 2:6); the emotions (Matt. 27: 37; Neh. 2:2; Dan. 7:15); the will (II Cor. 9:7; Rom. 6:17; Col. 3:15) and the conscience (Acts 2:37; I Jhn. 3:20). Now we are better able to understand why the translators also rendered “psuche,” meaning the soul or life, into our English word “heart.” The heart is representative of the complete mental and moral activity of man. We may conclude that the word “heart” represents the real person. For this present age it is tabernacled in the flesh (II Cor. 5:1). With this explanation of the heart in mind, we are better able to comprehend what has been made pure. We may now note the process by which the Lord made clean or pure the heart (intellect, emotions, will, and conscience). Jesus said that the apostles were made “clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (Jhn. 15:3). In the parable of the soils in Luke 8, the only soil receptive to “the seed” or word (vs. 11). was the “honest and good heart.” It heard and kept the word and brought “forth fruit with patience” (v.15). May we not conclude that this is not only how the apostles of John 15:3 were made clean through the word, but how any person’s heart is made clean through the word? Without the evidence found only in the word, there can be no faith or belief created within the heart (Heb. 4;12; Rom. 10:10, 17). And “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Heb. 11:6). - David P. Brown, via the Belvedere Beacon, the weekly bulletin of the Belvedere church of Christ, Belvedere, SC. Ken Chumbley serves the congregation as evangelist, and he may be contacted at [email protected] ****************************************
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 10:20:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015