Jesus declared in his sermon on the mount, “Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8) As a child growing-up in the faith context of
The Salvation Army, I learned a chorus that I still remember the tune. At times, throughout the day, it comes to me
as an enduring gift from God. It goes
like this:
Give me a heart like thine.
Give me heart a like thine.
By
thy wonderful power,
By thy grace every hour,
Give me a heart like thine.
Samuel Logan Brengle, in his classic work Helps to Holiness, his chapter entitled "The heart of Jesus" unpacks what the song writer likely meant when he penned the
chorus above. Jesus has a pure heart, a heart
of pure, holy love. Purity of heart is God’s essence,
his nature, his character. When the
Bible says “God is love” it means not any kind of love, but holy love that
characterizes the purity of his heart.
Brengle underscores Jesus having a loving heart, a humble heart, and a
gentle heart. He goes on to say, “It is
just this kind of heart he wants us to have.”
But it is not just a heart that only teaches love, but lives out the
purity of heart as love in action.
Martin Luther King grasped an understanding of purity of
heart in action when he powerfully wrote, Strength
to Love (1964) especially chapter four about the love of Jesus in action. Citing
Christs’s words on the cross, “Father forgive them . . . (Luke 23:34), King
highlights the “marvelous expression of Jesus’ ability to match words with
action.” The words of our Lord’s
teaching came from the purity of his heart, but he was not merely a good
teacher or philosopher with a pure heart.
He was and is Savior and Lord who out of the purity of his heart bled and
died on our behalf on the cross. He
acted on our behalf , and still does in the sending of the Holy Spirit. He acted on our behalf and still does in his
advocacy with God the Father for our forgiveness and salvation. Today he acts on our behalf even now to restore us to his likeness in purity of heart.
Dr. Steve Seamand's, professor of Christian doctrine at
Asbury Seminary, in his book entitled Holiness
of Heart and Life (1990), writes “God’s holiness is manifest in his
absolute purity. God calls us to be
pure. Through his Spirit he can make us
pure. If we are willing, God can cleanse
us from all our impurities and will cause us to follow him wholeheartedly
(Ezekial 36:25-27). Then he asks, “Will
we hear his call to purity? Will we receive
his grace which can make us and keep us pure?
Will we be holy as God is holy?”
There is the useful life and the holy example that flow
from a pure heart, which will not only speak in favour
of God and holiness while you live, but shall go on influencing
the world long after you have passed on to your reward.
- William Booth, Purity
of Heart (1902) -
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