What Does it Mean to be “Pure in Heart?”

The Greek word katharos is translated “pure” has two basic meanings: “clean” and “unmixed.”  Our English word cathartic come from this Greek word.  In the medical field, a cathartic agent is something a doctor uses to clean out the physical system.  In other words, it’s a powerful laxative, something that cleans out the filth!

That creates a mental image of what Jesus is referring to when He calls for a purging of our sin.  Being pure in heart is a spiritual catharsis that purges our sin.  Spiritually, it cleans out the filth.  

2 Timothy 2:21 puts it this way, “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

The word “katharos” (or pure) takes on the second meaning as well.  Being pure in heart involves being unmixed in our desires as well as being purged of sin.  Being “unmixed” is like:

·       Gold that is pure and free of impurities

·       Wheat that has had the chaff removed

It is a singleness of heart as opposed to a duplicity of heart or a divided heart.  A double minded person has mixed desires.  Being ‘impure in heart’ could be compared to a married women who has her husband, as well as a boyfriend on the side.  Her heart would be mixed between the two men.  She would be “impure in heart.” 

Spiritually speaking, a person who is double-minded, mixed, or  “impure in heart,” claims to follow Jesus while still loving a few favorite sins on the side.   

Within the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives several examples of double-mindedness.  In this section of His teaching, He warns us of the danger of trying to serve both God and Money.  He begins with an illustration of the body.

Matthew 6:22-23 says, “²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, ²³ but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

Jesus now uses this illustration of our eyes and our bodies to apply more broadly to human relationships:

“²⁴ “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

No person can ever hope to see God if their affections are torn between God and the world.  Our relationship with God is based on a love for God.  For our heart to love anything over our love for God is to commit spiritual adultery.

Does that seem overstated?  It’s the exact term James uses.  James 4:4 says, “⁴ You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

Then a couple verses later, James offers the cure for spiritual adultery.  James 4:8 says, “⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

When the beatitude speaks of ‘purity of heart,’ it is referring to a full and total allegiance to God.  It is a single-minded pursuit.  The prophet Jeremiah put it this way, “³⁹ I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.”