If we are in Christ, we are seen by God with Christ’s pure heart and clean hands. It is they who are united with Christ, those who have been cleansed by Jesus’ atonement by his making propitiation for our sins, and those who depend and boast in what Christ’s righteousness has fully achieved for us-knowing all the while that this is a “the gift of grace” that is not of ourselves-who will ascend the hill to be with God both now and forever. In fact, the following verse sums it up with clarity:ĥ He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from God of his salvation. Thus, those “who may ascend the hill to the Lord” are indeed, those with “clean hands and a pure heart”. In fact, the gospel has already secured for us what our hearts really, fundamentally desire and go after when we sin anyways-acceptance, freedom, satisfaction, peace, and security-and we find these in God’s incredible love for us. Therefore, we are free from the burden of measuring up, and free from the enslavement of sin that brings gaping aches into our souls when we try to find acceptance, freedom, love, and peace apart from God. Indeed, we have “every spiritual blessing” by our being connected with Christ (Eph 1:3-14). Thus, because of Christ, and by connection to Christ through faith, we stand already accepted, forgiven, redeemed, reconciled, loved, blessed, secured, assured, valued, and purposed. But in Christianity, God gives His Son’s righteousness to us and swallows the death associated with our sin. This approach does not produce love in our hearts for God- it makes us fearful, brings us into despair, and enslaves us into the constant pressure and burden of trying to measure up. See, every other religion tells us that we have to be good enough, better, and better still to warrant God’s acceptance, love, or favor. Indeed, “in and through faith in we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Eph 3:12). Yet, it is Christ’s righteousness imputed to us through faith that we are brought near to God. It teaches that my righteousness is “as filthy rags”, and that “I was an enemy of God”, a “child of wrath”, “dead in my trespasses”, “fallen short of the glory of God”, “slave to sin” (unable to choose good), “son of Adam” (I am inherently stained with sin, born into its slavery), and that righteousness is something I cannot attain on my own because it is “not of yourselves so that no man can boast”. Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” God is the one who makes our hearts pure – by the sacrifice of His Son and through His sanctifying work in our lives (see also 1 John 3:1-3).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. -Psalm 24:3-4įor so long I thought that “those who have clean hands and a pure heart” meant I had to be good enough, moral enough, and try hard enough to be God-honoring in order to “ascend the hill of the Lord”, which means to be in His presence, and have closeness with Him.īut that is completely not true in light of what Scripture teaches. The only way we can be truly pure in heart is to give our lives to Jesus and ask Him to do the cleansing work. It is more than an external purity of behavior it is an internal purity of soul. The pure heart is marked by transparency and an uncompromising desire to please God in all things. A pure heart has no hypocrisy, no guile, no hidden motives. So, to be pure in heart means to be blameless in who we actually are.īeing pure in heart involves having a singleness of heart toward God. It is where thoughts, desires, sense of purpose, will, understanding, and character reside. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. But it also refers to the spiritual center of life. 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. This can be applied to the physical heart. The Greek word for “heart” in Matthew 5:8 is kardeeah. Those who are truly “pure,” then, are those who have been declared innocent because of the work of Jesus and who are being sanctified by His refining fire and His pruning. For a vine to produce fruit, it must be pruned. Jesus refers to believers as being the branches and to Himself as being the vine (John 15:1-17). Malachi speaks of the Messiah as being like a “refiner’s fire” (Malachi 3:2). John the Baptist told people that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11). It means to be “clean, blameless, unstained from guilt.” Interestingly, the word can refer specifically to that which is purified by fire or by pruning. The Greek word for “pure” in Matthew 5:8 is katharos. Jesus spoke this during His famous Sermon the Mount. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8).