The Beatitudes Matthew 5 – Daily Christian Fuel

Online Discussion regarding The Beatitudes in Matthew 5

I recently participated in an online discussion regarding the beatitudes where an 18 question challenge was asked regarding the beattitudes found in Matthew 5:3-12. Below you will find the questions asked, verses 3-12 in Matthew and My responses to each of the questions. Though it is long, I pray it will be encouraging and offer some insight to Jesus’ teaching in the sermon on the mount.

Questions for consideration regarding Mathew 5:8.

1. In light of the fact that Jesus did not give these sentiments haphazardly, How does this Beatitude in Mathew 5:8 figure into the previous Beatitudes?
2. How do you see the first three Beatitudes found in Mathew 5:3 to Mathew 5:5 in relation to our need?
3. Does the first three beatitudes deal with the awareness of our need, the fourth beatitude deals with our recognition of our need, and then the next three Beatitude’s deal with our satisfaction of the need and does the last beatitude show us the repercussion of these Beatitude’s being in us?
4. Does the first three Beatitudes correspond to the last three Beatitudes? If so how?
5. What are we mourning over in the second Beatitude and how does it correspond to this Beatitude in Mathew 5:8?
6. Is the first three Beatitudes doe we not see our need, then we come to our satisfaction and the final 3 do we not find the fulfilling of the need?
7. What does pure mean in this verse?
8. How do we get or maintain a purety of heart?
9. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ concerned only with the heart of a Christian as described in Mathew 5:8?
10.Why does God put an emphasis on the heart over the head?
11. Does God place an emphasis upon the heart even above conduct? Why?
12. What does the heart mean or deal with?
13. Is not the heart the seat of all our troubles? How so?
14. How is Mathew 5:19-20 applicable to Mathew 5:8?
15. Essentially speaking, what does “pure in heart” mean?
16. What is necessary before I can see God?
17. Is seeing God only applicable to the future in heaven only?
18. Do all the Beatitudes have a promise fulfilled here ad now as well in the future? If so how so?.

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Matthew 5:3-12

He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

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This will take a bit. I will submit my responses over several post as I address each of the questions in the original post as presented. Prior to answering these questions however, I would like to put forth a starting point of my thoughts regarding the Be-Attitudes. I think the first thing that needs to be established is to have a correct view or understanding of what is an attitude? An attitude is multi-facetted. It combines beliefs with emotions/feelings which in turns predisposes behavioral responses and/or initiates behavioral responses. Thus, attitudes are made up beliefs, emotions and behaviors which requires the engagement of a person’s mind, heart and body. Because attitudes are based upon what we believe, our “will” plays an important role in the shaping of our attitudes. There are two classifications of attitudes, worldly attitudes and Godly attitudes. Worldly attitudes are based upon skewed beliefs derived from the lust of the flesh and false doctrines or philosophies and they are based largely in personal experience and become established by circumstances (outward in). Where as Godly attitudes are based upon an eternal truth found in God and from God and as such are unchanging and when one choses to believe a Godly principle or truth, regardless of the circumstances around us, our responses and the actions towards situations derive not from our own understanding, but what God has said (inside out). When we understand the two classifications of attitudes, it becomes apparent that the list of Be-Attitudes Jesus is teaching throughout His entire sermon on the mount, but specifically the list in verses 3-12 are Godly attitudes and as such all of them are based upon truth or a principle of truth as established by God. Jesus understood that deepest need of those who were listening to Him. They were people who were trying to wash the outside of the cup but inwardly they were dirty (outward in). He understood that the people listening to Him all had worldly attitudes, even those who observed the law and religious traditions were nothing more than whitewash tombs. And so he begins His teaching ministry with a list of Be-Attitudes and continues throughout the entire sermon to show that it is the attitudes of your mind and hearts that ultimately dictates and controls your behavior (Inward out). The law… do not murder. Jesus… do not be angry with brother or sister. The law… do not commit adultery. Jesus do not lust in your heart. A person who has the right attitudes will automatically fulfill the law. And that is exactly what Jesus meant when he said I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. And so fulfilling the entire law can be summed up by loving God with your all. All your mind, heart, soul and strength and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Since attitudes are a combination of our beliefs, emotions/feelings, will and behaviors… they are the key to understanding how to love God with our all and to love others as we love ourselves.

With that said, I will now address the questions in your list.

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1. How does this Beatitude in Mathew 5:8 figure into the previous Beatitudes?

Before one can compare this to that, you have to define what this is and what that is. This seems like a lot, so I will focus mostly on defining 5:8 and then the others will define in a more general sense when comparing or explain how they affect and are related to each other.

What does “pure in heart” mean?

Pure translated – clean, Undivided, with out defilement. As it pertains to the mind, single mindedness. As it pertains to the heart undivided and undefiled devotion

What does “see God” mean?

What is meant by the word see? To discern clearly (physically or mentally) I would add (emotionally and spiritually). The idea is to behold correctly, to know.

A.W. Tozer writes from the “Knowledge of the Holy”:

“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.

For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.

We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God.”

Jesus conveys this in 6:22&23

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

As has been previously stated by others, it is only when God reveals himself to someone that they can see him, and 5:8 clarifies whom God will reveal himself too…. those who 1) have a correct understanding of who God is and 2) who have an undivided, undefiled devotion to Him. Or to say this another way…. the Father desires those who love Him to love Him in both spirit and in truth. This is what it means to me to be pure in heart… and the promise given is that He will reveal himself and make himself known as He truly is… Like he did with Moses… Face to face (Number 12:6-9 ).

How does this fit into the previous Be-Attitudes? I believe the previous attitudes are what develops 1) having a correct understanding of who God is and 2) through them they produce an undivided, undefiled devotion to Him

As it pertains to our need, Poor in spirit and mourning carries with them the idea of humility/humbleness and sorrowfulness over our sin. The realization that we are in debt and are incapable of paying what we owe. That we need someone to help us and to genuinely mourn our sinful condition in ourselves and in others. James conveys this perfectly in,

James 4:8-10

8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. saying… Draw near to God and He will

I think this passage shows or ties how the first two are connected with having a Pure heart….

As to meekness and mercy… God in His grace shows us forgiveness, kindness, gentleness and is long suffering and He came to serve us and not be served. This is why we love Him so, because He loves us. Our undivided devotion…. our pure heart spring from the fount of His love to us and we then are to extend this love to others… to serve, to forgive, to be kind, gentle and patient with others. That through us they might come to know God…. and this may answer one of the questions about being light and salt… it is the idea to see God we must have light… the truth… to see, and God wants us to be lights so that others can see Him and glorify Him through how we are kind, gentle and patient with others and serve and minister to them.

And of course to hunger and to thirst for righteousness. Every morning this is part of my devotion and prayer… That I would seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. That He would come first. That I would hunger for the bread of heaven, the eternal fount of living water… To me it is obvious how this is related to one’s undivided devotion and pure heart towards God…

All of these are found through Jesus. The Be-Attitudes is the gospel in Christ. They are not a buffet where we pick and choose… they are a packaged deal. It is impossible for one to have a pure heart and see God without having the others. For it is through all of them that we see God correctly for who He is and see ourselves for who we are in Christ…that is:

Humbleness, Repentant, Obedient, Servanthood, Kindness, Gentleness, Patient, Merciful, Forgiving, Having a zeal and desire for what is right and to have a pure heart, that is undefiled devotion in loving God.

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2. How do you see the first three Beatitudes found in Mathew 5:3 to Mathew 5:5 in relation to our need?

I assume what you mean by need is salvation from our sinful condition.

Poor in spirit denotes our inability to pay for the debt we owe. We have transgressed God’s law and the wage we have earned is death (Roman 6:23 For the wages of sin is death…). Hence the first step in the salvation process and to have a godly attitude that is poor in spirit…. is the agreement, the acknowledgement that our condition is sinful and we deserve death and have no power or righteousness of our own that fix our condition. This being the first step is the awareness of our sin and awareness of our need for a savior.

Mourning here denotes godly sorrow. The idea here is sackcloth and ashes. As we take step one in acknowledging we are poor in spirit agree with God that we cannot do anything on our own to correct or fix our sinful condition, this should lead us to mourn in two ways. The first is simply because we recognize the horribleness of our sinful condition and being cut off and separated from God. Part of godly sorrow is a desire to draw near to God as stated in James 4:8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.., but even greater still we have another cause to weep and to mourn as we understand the price God Himself paid in order to redeem us. This sadness is what produces or leads to repentance which is the second step that is needed when receiving Christ as both Savior and as Lord. It also is what leads to the third step… Meekness.

Meekness is humbleness, gentleness. It is the absence of arrogance and pride. The first thing we do when we acknowledge that God is right and we need a savior, and we then feel the conviction and weight of the cost of our sinfulness… it leads us to the first act of repentance which is to surrender and lay aside our pride and no longer call ourselves lord over our own selves, but rather acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior, the One who bought us with His blood. Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

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If we were in a court of law, I would object to question #3 on the ground you are leading the witness… lol It also appears to be several questions joined together into one… So I will break it apart and answer the best I can.

Does the first three beatitudes deal with the awareness of our need?

Yes as describe in my answer to question #2 above.

You state: The fourth beatitude deals with our recognition of our need…

4th Be-Attitude = “hunger and thirst for righteousness”

For me, the 4th Be-Attitude is the extension and logical outflow for someone who genuinely repents from their way of living sinfully and humbles themselves to acknowledge Christ as Lord. As I understand it, in the context of the salvation process, #3 is where one submits themselves to Christ and receives into their hearts the Holy Spirit (Gal 4:6 & Eph 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.)

As I see it, Be-Attitudes #1-#3 equates to what Paul says in Eph 1;13…”…When you believed”. Once they believe, they are then marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. This also follows What Peter says to those on Pentecost who acknowledged what peter had said and their hearts were cut as they came under conviction and it produced godly sorrow in that they cried out to Peter to ask them, what must we do? And Peter say, repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So in my understanding, in the context of the salvation process, it would be after #3 that a person has genuinely repented and placed themselves un the authority of Christ. They would then receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And it is here we see the work of the Holy Spirit begin once it enters into a believer. The Holy Spirit begins to transform us from the inside out. The renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1&2). The HS writes God’s laws upon our hearts and minds, and we begin this journey as a disciple of Christ. We want and desire to be right with God and to live right before God. We have forsaken our old way of life and now seek His kingdom first and His righteousness. Anyone who received Christ as Lord and Savior, yet has no inner desire to live rightly before God as a holy living sacrifice, then they did not receive Christ according to the Gospel.

In regards to your statement of the next three Be-Attitudes dealing with the satisfaction of our need… Not sure exactly what is meant by this? The next three being mercy, pure heart and peacemakers resulting in receiving mercy, seeing God and being a child of God. Not disagreeing, just that I see it in a different context which may just be a semantical difference. I see as a result of a person hungering and thirsting to be right before God, being merciful to others, allowing the indwelling Holy spirit in our hearts create in us a clean heart-a pure heart and the desire to share the Gospel with others as a ministry of reconciliation through Christ to help others find peace with God as we have. The peace that Jesus gives, not as the world gives.

And finally at the end of question #3 you tact on this final question – does the last beatitude show us the repercussion of these Beatitude’s being in us?

The last Be-attitude is in regards to being persecuted or suffering because you chose to live your life by God’s righteousness. It is clear that when a person choses to live righteously, they will find themselves in conflict with their flesh, the world around them and the enemy who is Satan and those who follow him. We are called to stand firm as we put on the full armor of God which emphasis, truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and the word of God. Jesus says in Luke 9:26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. And so Jesus is making it clear what we can expect and He wants us to face any hardship with the right attitude knowing that our momentary troubles are not worth comparing to the eternal glory awaiting us.

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4. Does the first three Beatitudes correspond to the last three Beatitudes? If so how?

As I have stated before, I believe that all of these are inner-connected and so I would say yes they correspond to one another.

If you have been following what I have written in regards to the first 3 Be-attitudes being the initial steps of the salvation process in which a person receives Christ Jesus as Lord, then the last three would be part of what it means to live by faith with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and being transformed into the likeness of Christ and becoming mature to the fullness in Christ.

To answer how these correspond to one another can be understood by the following verses in Colossians 2:6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Verse 6 says, “just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord” This would be Be-Attitudes #1-#3. We are then told that is also how we are to continue to live our lives in… that is, acknowledging God is right and that we need his saving grace everyday, that we should never forget the price paid continue to turn from our sinfulness and to each day recognize and submit ourselves under the authority of our savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

As we repeat this cycle every day, we will find our faith is strengthen in Him

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5. What are we mourning over in the second Beatitude and how does it correspond to this Beatitude in Mathew 5:8?

Already answered previously

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6. Is the first three Beatitudes doe we not see our need, then we come to our satisfaction and the final 3 do we not find the fulfilling of the need?

Again I am not sure I fully understand your point of view. Not saying I disagree, just see it from a different point of view.

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7. What does pure mean in this verse?

Previously answered above

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8. How do we get or maintain a purety of heart?

As I mentioned, this comes out of the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in regards to our sin and our separation from God and a person acknowledging the truth of that, and through godly sorrow moves into repentance and submits themselves under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, where by they receive the Holy Spirit which now indwells their hearts and it by walking by the Spirit that we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Therefore to maintain a pure heart is to repeat the process of #1-#3 daily and walk by the Holy Spirit who teaches us and comforts us and empowers us.

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9. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ concerned only with the heart of a Christian as described in
Mathew 5:8?

No, as stated in earlier posts, we are to love God with our all. All of our heart, all of our minds, all of our soul and all of our strength. The gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned about all of us. Which is why attitudes are key in that they involve what we believe with our minds, what we desire, treasure or feel with our hearts and it is the inner-man that will ultimately dictate the outward behavior. Godly attitudes will produce godly behavior.

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10.Why does God put an emphasis on the heart over the head?

I want to be careful to clarify in advance and reiterate that we are to love God with our all, not just our heart… having said that I will agree that special emphasis is given in regards to the heart. All one needs do to understand why is to read two passages…The first passage is:

1 Cor 13:1-13. This chapter ends with…

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

The second passage is:

Matt 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If our goal is to see God as He truly is, we must remember that it is with a pure heart by which God has promised to reveal himself. To those who seek, they will find. To hunger and thirst for righteousness are also terms of desire of the heart.

Lastly, the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts and he teaches our minds.

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11. Does God place an emphasis upon the heart even above conduct? Why?

Answered in two places. In the last post and in earlier posts where I make it clear that Jesus understood that the people are trying to clean the outside of the cup but the inside was still dirty. Jesus was trying to teach them that having the right attitudes inwardly is the key to outward behavior.

Matt 12: 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

Psalm 119:11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

What we believe about things will dictate what and how we think about things. How we thinking about things will dictate how we react and feel about things. How we feel about things largely dictates what we say and do.

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12. What does the heart mean or deal with?

Attached is an illustration I made which answers this. I have illustrations for the mind and strength too. will be glad to post them if asked to do so.

Loving God with all the Mind Illustration

Loving God with all Strength Illustration

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13. Is not the heart the seat of all our troubles? How so?

Matt 12:33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

Matt: 15:8 “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’” 10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

Matt: 15:18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person;

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14. How is Mathew 5:19-20 applicable to Mathew 5:8?

Already answered earlier. Because having godly attitudes will ultimately dictate the things a person says and does, Specifically the godly attitude of a pure heart, undefiled devotion and love for God is key to understand that even though we are not under the condemnation of the law, we still delight in the law of the Lord. Having the right attitude changes the law from a burden to joy in obedience to the law.

29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Righteousness that is based on performance becomes legalism and we learn quickly that we cannot keep the law. The righteousness of Christ is given to us by grace. This righteousness will always exceed that of the Pharisees, however as we hunger and thirst for righteousness, this will result in a pure heart for God and we will keep God’s law not because we have to, but because we want to. This is the difference in the type of worshippers the Father seeks. Those who love Him will also love His law. Un-like those that follow the law as describes in Matt 15:8&9.

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15. Essentially speaking, what does “pure in heart” mean?

Already Answered

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16. What is necessary before I can see God?

Already Answered

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17. Is seeing God only applicable to the future in heaven only?

No, Already answered. See reference above in regards to to Moses – Face to face and A.W. Tozer’s quote in earlier posts.

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18. Do all the Beatitudes have a promise fulfilled here ad now as well in the future? If so how so?.

Everything that we say and do as believers will be tried by Holy Fire. Everything we did that was based upon the eternal truths of God will remain but all the things we did that we based upon the temporal, will be burned up.

While I believe in large part we have very little understanding of what God’s eternal economy is truly based on and what God actually values and has worth. In other words, what does it mean to store up for yourself treasures in heaven. All to often we try to extrapolate earthly wealth and treasure towards our understanding and we do so to our own peril. Eternal treasures are not based upon silver or gold. In my first book called, “My Heavenly Bucket List – An Eternal Perspective for Life”, Chapter 5 is dedicated to understanding eternal treasure.

Simply said, eternal treasures are those treasures which are based upon God eternal values. By faith we can and are blessed to enjoy the benefits of eternal treasure here and now and in the life to come.

How is it possible to enjoy them now and in the life to come? Because eternal treasures are based upon relationship with God and others. Thee is nothing more valuable than the love of God has for us and the love our family and friends. The sooner we understand this, the sooner we will be able to understand what eternal treasures are truly all about.

I have enjoyed answering all of your questions and hope that the things I shared will in some way encourage others in understanding the importance of having Godly attitudes. Thank you for the challenge and the opportunity to share.

By Him and for Him,
God bless