From our study of the preceding two beatitudes, it should then be evident that in a similar way it is only those who have first tasted peace with God at the cross of Christ who can become peacemakers. Simply because they have known God's peace, they must be peacemakers.
The next beatitude says, “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.” Again, the same general principles apply. We are to purify ourselves, as John says in the first of his epistles (1 John 3:3), but we are enabled to do so only because we have first been made pure by God and have come to see true purity in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We cannot even state the definition of mercy as we have done here without thinking at once of the cross of Jesus Christ. For it is here that God has acted out of grace in mercy to fallen, sinful man. In fact, God acted so completely at the cross that there is a sense in which mercy can be seen by a sinful man only there. In his sinful, fallen state man could do nothing to save himself, so God stepped forward to do everything that needed to be done for man.
In yesterday’s study, we noted that the first three beatitudes show how a person must see himself as a sinner before God—that of being spiritually bankrupt, sorry for sin, and meekly humble. Then, in the fourth beatitude, we find the promise of God’s righteousness for the one who comes to God in the ways described in those preceding beatitudes. We said that, given this progression, it is logical to expect that the beatitudes to follow will show the transformed life that marks the one being remade in Christ’s image.
I was once speaking with one of my friends about the relationship of Christian teaching to Christian conduct. He wanted to write an article about how doctrine and devotion are related, and I agreed with his idea wholeheartedly. When it comes to Christian teaching, what you believe does affect how you live. And if it does not, something is terribly wrong spiritually.
