📖 Biblical Definition
The sixth Beatitude of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). Purity here is internal — Greek katharoi tē kardia, "clean in the heart" — not ritual purity of hands or vessels. The promise is the beatific vision: those whose hearts are cleansed (by Christ’s blood and the Spirit’s sanctifying work) will see God face-to-face. "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). The promise is partly present (we see God now by faith in His Word and works) and ultimately future ("we shall see him as he is", 1 John 3:2). Cultivate the heart; clean the eye; see Him.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
BLESSED ARE TH, n.
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A scriptural beatitude; the sixth declaration of blessing in the Sermon on the Mount.
📖 Key Scripture
Matthew 5:8 — "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."
Psalm 24:3 — "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart."
1 John 3:2 — "When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."
Hebrews 12:14 — "Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity grades external behavior; Christ pressed inward purity.
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The sixth beatitude addresses the heart, not just the hands. Christ's repeated emphasis throughout the Sermon on the Mount — I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart — presses inward. External righteousness is insufficient; the heart must be cleansed.
Modern Christianity often grades external behavior — church attendance, sexual abstention, charitable giving. Christ pressed inward. The heart cannot be cleaned by self-effort; the cross alone provides the cleansing (1 John 1:7). Pray Psalm 51:10 daily: create in me a clean heart, O God. Hebrews 12:14 is sobering: without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. The pure in heart see God.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek roots below.
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G2513 — katharos — pure, clean
G2588 — kardia — heart
Usage
"Modern Christianity grades external behavior; Christ pressed inward purity."
"The heart cannot be cleaned by self-effort; the cross alone provides the cleansing."
"Pray Psalm 51:10 daily; the pure in heart see God."