Blessed are the Pure in Heart

My head has been whirling for the past several days about a topic I could blog about. I am currently reading “The Book of Mormon” as well as “The Promised Messiah” and a great book titled “Bonds That Make us Free”. I have had some really amazing insights from all three books and I will write about each of them but the topic I would like to discuss today comes from my reading of the Book of Mormon.

As I have mentioned before, I am reading the Book of Mormon this time with journal in hand. This is in response to Elder Scotts talk in conference that explained how to better receive inspiration. He said “I believe that you can leave the most precious, personal direction of the Spirit unheard because you do not respond to, record, and apply the first promptings that come to you.” I am trying to do this. I must admit that I pay much closer attention to what I am reading and I really try to understand what each verse is saying. As I go back and read the notes I have written, a flood of emotion comes over me as I realize the amazing insights found in the Book of Mormon.

This morning as I was reading in Jacob 3, I was impressed by verses 1-3 that talk about the pure in heart. I quote “1 BUT behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart. Look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction.
2 O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God, and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.
3 But, wo, wo, unto you that are not pure in heart, that are filthy this day before God; for except ye repent the land is cursed for your sakes;

The topic of being pure in heart has been on my mind quite a bit lately. It started a couple of years ago when Elder Bednar gave a conference address that was titled “Clean Hands and a Pure Heart”. I will address that talk in a minute, but more recently I was in the Mesa Arizona Temple, where above one of the doors leading into the endowment room was the inscription “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. This inscription went straight to my heart. Being pure in heart is a difficult process but something I really want in my own life.

In October of 2007, Elder Bednar gave the talk I referenced above. I listened to it over and over again, really listening to what its message was. I encourage all to read it but I will do my best to summarize it.

Elder Bednar starts out by reminiscing about learning the stories of the Book of Mormon as a child from his mother. One of his favorites was the story of Christ appearing to the Nephites at the temple in Bountiful. Elder Bednar says “As the Savior’s time with the people was drawing to a close, He succinctly summarized the fundamental principles of His gospel.

Said He, “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day” (3 Nephi 27:20).


The gate of baptism leads to the strait and narrow path and to the destination of putting off the natural man and becoming a saint through the Atonement of Christ the Lord (see Mosiah 3:19). The purpose of our mortal journey is not merely to see the sights on earth or to expend our allotment of time on self-centered pursuits; rather, we are to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4), to become sanctified by yielding our hearts unto God (see Helaman 3:35), and to obtain “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

We are commanded and instructed to so live that our fallen nature is changed through the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost. President Marion G. Romney taught that the baptism of fire by the Holy Ghost “converts [us] from carnality to spirituality. It cleanses, heals, and purifies the soul. . . . Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, and water baptism are all preliminary and prerequisite to it, but [the baptism of fire] is the consummation. To receive [this baptism of fire] is to have one’s garments washed in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ” (Learning for the Eternities, comp. George J. Romney [1977], 133; see also 3 Nephi 27:19–20).
Hence, as we are born again and strive to always have His Spirit to be with us, the Holy Ghost sanctifies and refines our souls as if by fire (see 2 Nephi 31:13–14, 17). Ultimately, we are to stand spotless before God.

The gospel of Jesus Christ encompasses much more than avoiding, overcoming, and being cleansed from sin and the bad influences in our lives; it also essentially entails doing good, being good, and becoming better. Repenting of our sins and seeking forgiveness are spiritually necessary, and we must always do so. But remission of sin is not the only or even the ultimate purpose of the gospel. To have our hearts changed by the Holy Spirit such that “we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2), as did King Benjamin’s people, is the covenant responsibility we have accepted. This mighty change is not simply the result of working harder or developing greater individual discipline. Rather, it is the consequence of a fundamental change in our desires, our motives, and our natures made possible through the Atonement of Christ the Lord. Our spiritual purpose is to overcome both sin and the desire to sin, both the taint and the tyranny of sin.
Prophets throughout the ages have emphasized the dual requirements of (1) avoiding and overcoming bad and (2) doing good and becoming better. Consider the penetrating questions posed by the Psalmist:

“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?
“He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully” (Psalm 24:3–4).

Brothers and sisters, it is possible for us to have clean hands but not have a pure heart. Please notice that both clean hands and a pure heart are required to ascend into the hill of the Lord and to stand in His holy place.”

There are some amazing doctrines taught in these few paragraphs. We should ponder and pray about all of them. However, I spent hours and hours pondering the words “Brothers and sisters, it is possible for us to have clean hands but not have a pure heart.” I went through my life over and over again asking myself what this means to me. I concluded that we can indeed have clean hands… and not a pure heart. We can refrain from various forms of sin but in our hearts or in our minds still “wish” we could participate. This is a form of clean hands but not a pure heart. I have really made an effort to invite the Holy Spirit into my life to purify my heart. This is a life-long process.

Elder Bednar continues “Some who hear or read this message may think the spiritual progress I am describing is not attainable in their lives. We may believe these truths apply to others but not to us.

We will not attain a state of perfection in this life, but we can and should press forward with faith in Christ along the strait and narrow path and make steady progress toward our eternal destiny. The Lord’s pattern for spiritual development is “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little” (2 Nephi 28:30). Small, steady, incremental spiritual improvements are the steps the Lord would have us take. Preparing to walk guiltless before God is one of the primary purposes of mortality and the pursuit of a lifetime; it does not result from sporadic spurts of intense spiritual activity.

I witness that the Savior will strengthen and assist us to make sustained, paced progress. The example in the Book of Mormon of “many, exceedingly great many” (Alma 13:12) in the ancient Church who were pure and spotless before God is a source of encouragement and comfort to me. I suspect those members of the ancient Church were ordinary men and women just like you and me. These individuals could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence, and they “were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God” (v. 12). And these principles and this process of spiritual progress apply to each of us equally and always.

Elder Bednar concludes with this thought and his testimony “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ. . . .

“And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot” (Moroni 10:32–33;

I add my testimony that these principles are true. I have had confirmation of them through the Holy Spirit. It is a constant battle to put off the natural man; We all fail and all make mistakes, but as we continually strive to do what is right, the Lord will make up the difference!