Resurrection and the Heart

I have just a short and to the point post today, with the point being the most integral point to a believer who hopes to inherit immortality and eternal life. Jesus very pointedly told us the following: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for THEY shall see God" (Mat. 5:8). Yeah I know everybody's heard it, especially anyone who reads these posts often, as I reference this verse quite a lot. There's a good reason for referencing this scripture, and that is what I would like to point out today. I want to look at the real meaning of this word "pure," and drive this point home. "Pure" comes from the Greek word "katharos," and is defined as follows: "clean, pure... in a similitude, like a vine cleansed by pruning and so fitted to bear fruit... free from corrupt desire, from sin and guilt; free from every admixture of what is false [i.e. sincere, genuine]; blameless, innocent; unstained with the guilt of anything." Now if you missed something in that description of the word, be sure to go back over it again, really slow. Jesus clearly made the point that only people in this condition of spirit and mind would be saved. John made sure that nobody missed the point on this famed saying of Jesus, when he spoke of what it would take to attain unto the resurrection of the dead and subsequent immortality: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (I Jn. 3:2,3). Now Jesus is surely pure according to the defining of the word as listed above, and John make it crystal clear that those who would be saved in the end are those who are pure the same way that Jesus is pure. What's hard to understand about that? Yet the modern Christian religion has convinced almost everyone that we can't REALLY be free from the very inner nature of sin, like the definition of "pure" above states. Somebody is lying, and I know who it is. It's the devil, and he has claimed the name "Christianity" so that he can deceive God's saints out of their hope, which hope is salvation, or eternal life (Eph. 4:4; I Thess. 5:8; Rom. 8:24,25). I've been getting this argument from people for as long as I've been in Christ, some who have been born again, and some who just think that they have been. Just a few weeks ago someone who has been in Christ for over forty years was just flabbergasted that I had the gall to say that I am without sin. They thought that was so arrogant of me. Their response was, "How can someone say they are without sin, when we were ALL born in sin." And my response to that? Yeah, I'm quite aware that we were all born in sin, but tell me just one thing: Why the heck are we born AGAIN!!??

For someone, especially a child of God, to defend their position of being in sin by saying that we were all born in sin; just shows that they are carnally minded, and that's not good (Rom. 8:6,7). Because again I say, Why aren't you talking about the NEW birth? My life is founded in the NEW birth, which is the baptism of the Spirit, not in my first birth (I Cor. 12:13; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27). And the scripture plainly says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become NEW" (II Cor. 5:17). So just what is it that is "passed away," and what is it that's "become new?" "That ye PUT OFF concerning the former conversation the OLD man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be RENEWED in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the NEW man, which AFTER GOD is created in righteousness and TRUE HOLINESS" (Eph. 5:22-24). Note how it says that the "righteousness and true holiness" of the new man that we are instructed to put on, is AFTER GOD; which is synonymous with what John said about us "purifying [ourselves], EVEN AS Jesus is pure." And if you want to know the meaning of "true holiness," just go back to the beginning of this article and see the definition of the Greek word for "pure." So the truth is, woe unto me if I DO have sin, seeing that Jesus died and rose to give me the power OVER sin, and to walk in "righteousness and true holiness" (Acts 1:8; Rom. 6:6; I Pet. 4:1,2). And more also, woe unto all who are defending sin and its supposed place in the life of a believer! It's like I've told so many people who have presented this ridiculous, ungodly mindset of our not being able to be without sin in our hearts and lives literally: If nobody can truly and really be without sin, then that just simply means that absolutely nobody will be saved. I assure you that anyone and EVERYONE who leaves this world with ANY sin present in their heart or their life, does and will go to hell to await the "resurrection of damnation" and the white throne judgment, after which they will be cast into a far worse place than hell for eterninty (Jn. 5:29; Rev. 20:11-15). "Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous" (Psm. 1:5). A "sinner" my friend is someone who has sin in their life: "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, EVEN AS he [Jesus] is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might DESTROY the works of the devil" (I Jn. 3:7,8). It doesn't matter if someone has been born again, or whether they think they're "covered by the blood," or whether they think they're "forgiven of all past, present, and future sins" by some confession or supposed belief in Jesus. Sin is sin, regardless of who it is in; and pure is pure, which is what God's HOLY Spirit will make us, if we truly hope to be saved (Acts 15:8,9; I Cor. 6:11; Tit. 3:5; Mat. 24:12,13; Heb. 12:14). Amen.