The Power of Purity

UV 634/10,000 The Power of Purity Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Matthew 5 v 8 The word “ katharos” in Greek means pure, without blemish, clean, undefiled. This uni-verse spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself implies that those whose hearts are pure shall see God. No man has seen God as no man is absolutely pure. Purity implies not just physical cleanliness or ceremonial purity as the Jews practiced but ethical purity. Jesus alone is pure and that is the reason, sin and death-the consequence of sin could not hold Him captive and He came back to life. Purity of heart is more powerful than death. When we accept Jesus as the blemishless Lamb provided by God as in the sacrifice of Abraham, we too become blemishless and pure. When we receive Him into our heart as our Lord and Saviour, our hearts are declared pure in the sight of God. This much is due to grace. But, by our efforts we must do our best to maintain a beautiful attitude of heart and mind. The word, “ katharsis” derived from the Greek root word “ katharos” meaning pure, implies that to enable us to be pure, the Lord sends us through a process of refinement or purification. The Word of God and suffering in this world are the two principal tools the Lord uses to purify our hearts and minds. It is not by religious or ceremonial or ritual purification or by self-flagellation that we become sanctified. As gold and silver is purified in a furnace, we are purified through suffering. The spiritual dross is removed by the pain of emotional suffering. Our thoughts, motives, emotions, speech, actions and reactions are purified and perfected. When we go through this process, we shall come forth as pure gold. When we are pure, we are ready to see and experience God. Once we see God, we will never be the same again. Seeing God does not mean seeing Him literally but it means to perceive the hand of God in all that we do and experience. When we see God in this manner, we are truly blessed. Prateep V Philip