“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8, ESV)
There is an argument that has been raging in Western civilization, mostly since the Enlightenment: does God exist or not?
Standing in the background to all the endless philosophical and moral arguments for proofs of God’s existence are the illuminating words of Jesus above.
In other words, blessedness is predicated on the condition of a person’s heart—his inner man, the center of his being. Purity is cleanness: righteous motivation, moral uprightness, single-minded devotion to the Truth.
According to Jesus, then, blessedness is predicated on unfeigned faith in God. And only those who are pure in heart can see him.
Said another way, the debate is not an intellectual one. All the arguments against the existence of God can be boiled down to a matter of the heart.
“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.” (Psalm 24:3–4, ESV)
“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matthew 15:18–19, ESV)
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” (Romans 1:18–21, ESV)