We cleanse our hands by removing them from sinful pursuits and moral compromises and then seeking God’s forgiveness. We get our hands dirty when we play in the world’s sandbox. God had issued a similar order through the prophet Isaiah: “Wash yourselves. James’ charge to “cleanse your hands” focused more on the people’s worldly actions and outward deeds. James may have also had these words of King David in mind: “Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god” (Psalm 24:3–4). It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his offspring throughout their generations” (Exodus 30:21, ESV). Whenever the priests entered the wilderness tabernacle and approached the altar to minister to the Lord, they were required to cleanse their hands and feet with water from the bronze basin: “They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die. James’ use of the phrase cleanse your hands linked his command in a spiritual and moral sense to the language of the ancient Jewish ceremonial rituals of worship. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8, ESV). He beckoned his readers to repent from their sinful ways and return to the Lord: “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” God is the one who makes our hearts pure – by the sacrifice of His Son and through His sanctifying work in our lives (see also 1 John 3:1-3).James observed a widespread problem of worldliness infiltrating the lives of Christians in the early church.

The only way we can be truly pure in heart is to give our lives to Jesus and ask Him to do the cleansing work. It is more than an external purity of behavior it is an internal purity of soul. The pure heart is marked by transparency and an uncompromising desire to please God in all things. A pure heart has no hypocrisy, no guile, no hidden motives. So, to be pure in heart means to be blameless in who we actually are.īeing pure in heart involves having a singleness of heart toward God. It is where thoughts, desires, sense of purpose, will, understanding, and character reside. But it also refers to the spiritual center of life. This can be applied to the physical heart. The Greek word for “heart” in Matthew 5:8 is kardeeah. Those who are truly “pure,” then, are those who have been declared innocent because of the work of Jesus and who are being sanctified by His refining fire and His pruning. For a vine to produce fruit, it must be pruned. Jesus refers to believers as being the branches and to Himself as being the vine (John 15:1-17). Malachi speaks of the Messiah as being like a “refiner’s fire” (Malachi 3:2). John the Baptist told people that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11). It means to be “clean, blameless, unstained from guilt.” Interestingly, the word can refer specifically to that which is purified by fire or by pruning. The Greek word for “pure” in Matthew 5:8 is katharos. Jesus spoke this during His famous Sermon the Mount. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8).

Clean hands and a pure heart kjv