Blessed Are The Pure in Heart

Sorry I have been chumping out on my stated goal of dealing with perfection and some of Wesley's teachings on the Sermon on the Mount. What can I say? Sometimes it gets busy. And on top of that, I am not feeling that I am giving this the time it deserves... something will work out here....

From Sermon 23 (and again, Wesley's 52 Standard Sermons are foundational for our doctrine.)

The pure in heart are they whose hearts God has purified as He is pure, who are purified through faith in the blood of Jesus from every unholy desire.

In speaking of adultery, and the purity of not committing adultery, Wesley says somethings that impinge on holiness and perfection as well as the specific case of adultery. If anyone [or anything] is an occasion of sin, of impure desire, even though it never got beyond the heart or imagination, never coming out in word or action, commit yourself to a complete separation; get rid of them [or the thing in particular that is an occasion for sin], give them up for God's sake. Any loss of pleasure, friends, or prosperity is better than losing your soul.

There are two steps to take in such a situation. First, see if prayer and fasting can rid you of the temptation. Carefully abstain from every activity or conversation or situations that you have found to be an occasion for temptation. And if this does not work, try second to talk to your pastor or at least some who have experience in the ways of God, to discuss the ways and times you are tempted.

But do not confer with worldly [that is to say, non-Christian or barely Christian friends], otherwise you may be misled to believe what is not true about holiness.

A personal word: when I was a new Christian, I had some uncomfortable moments when I realized that while I trusted God to save me, there were still unholy parts of my life. Some things improved, other stayed the same. And sometimes it seemed to me that some things were worse. And perhaps new problems had arisen.

I spoke to some who did not have sufficient maturity. They told me that in Romans 7, Paul says that there is sin that we do not want to do, but we keep on doing.

I could not believe that. I could not believe that Jesus died on the Christ for me to remain as I was, or to carry on in sin. Luckily I sought out a Methodist pastor who told me that I should look to Romans 8 and the obligation and power to live according to the Spirit, not the sinful nature.

i guess what attracts me most in Methodist theology is the idea that it is possible to be pure in heart. May it be!