Articles

The Poor in Spirit

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).

In these words we see something that is of special importance in Christians. It is what Christ calls the quality of being "poor in spirit". This essay seeks to show that it is the work of the Holy Spirit that a man's heart is changed - from a proud and haughty spirit, to a meek and gentle heart which is poor in spirit. And such a working of the Holy Spirit is the necessary and sufficient condition for a man to come to a genuine repentence and inherit eternal life.

The first thing we may observe is that this quality of being poor in spirit is something that has been repeatedly mentioned in Scripture. Isaiah 61:1 says: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted". This state of being poor and brokenhearted mirrors how David was, when he cried out to God concerning his sinfulness: "For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise" (Ps. 51:16-17).

So then, to be poor in spirit is to know ourselves "clothed with filthy garments" (Zechariah 3:2) and to cry out as Isaiah did: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" (Isaiah 6:5) Those who are poor in spirit are those who "are brought to the sense of their sins, and seeing no goodness in themselves, despair in themsevles and sue wholly to the mercy of God in Christ".[1] It refers to those who are "heavily laden" (Matt. 11:28) under the weight of their sinfulness. They mourn and weep for their sin, abhoring themselves in the dust (Job. 42:6). And all this, because they apprehend the sinfulness of their sin.

The sinfulness of sin

Sin is the transgression of God's holy, just, perfect, and good law. His law not only forbids the doing of evil, whether by thought, word or deed, but also commands the doing of good (Matt. 22:37). So both to do the evil that is forbidden, and to omit to do the good that is commanded by the law, are sin. But while sin manifests itself in outward acts, it chiefly consists in an inward heart-condition that is contrary to God. It is for this reason that sinners are called "enemies of God" (Rom. 5:8, Col. 1:21); and the sinful mind is "hostile to God" (Rom. 8:7). Accordingly, sin and the acts of sin are expressed as a walking contrary to God (Lev. 26:21), rebelling against God (Isa. 1:2), rising up against Him as an enemy (Micah 2:8), striving and contending with God (Isa. 45:9), and despising God (Num. 11:20). It makes men haters of God (Rom. 1:30), resisters of God (Acts 7:51) and fighters against God (Acts 5:39 & 23:9). These things are found within the very nature of sin, such that if God did not restrain some men from the power of sin, and constrain others to obedience by his love and power, every man would be a treacherous hater of God.[2] For sin always aims at the utmost soul-destroying sin of its kind. All of them seek to rise to the peak of evil (and if left alone, they most certainly will). Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression; and every thought of unbelief would be atheism.[3]

If we say that we hate sin, it is a good thing. Yet, we must carefully consider the reasons why we hate sin, so that we do not deceive ourselves. Is it merely because it wounds our consciences? Or weakens our souls? Or deprives us of the comfort of our communion with God? Is it only because sin robs us of life, vigour, and our beloved peace and quietness? If our hatred of sin stems from only these, it proceeds merely from self-love, and not from an apprehension of God's holiness or the sinfulness of sin. For even demons and the damned in hell have the good sense to resist that which makes them feel uncomfortable. In stark contrast, consider how David cries out to God concerning his own sin: "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgement" (Ps. 51:4). David knew that all sin is first and foremost an offense against God's holiness, and that God had every right to judge him. He knew that God was of "purer eyes than to behold evil" (Hab. 1:13). Consequently, he knew that he deserved nothing more than the fiery wrath of God for his sin.[4] His sorrow and mourning was directed not at any other outward grievance but at the very displeasure of God.[5]

Counterfeit Repentence

Indeed, this is what separates true repentence from a counterfeit repentence. A man may experience terror at the pain and trouble for his sin, but if pain and trouble were sufficient conditions to establish repentence, then the damned in hell should be the most penitent, for they are the most in anguish. Repentence depends upon a change of heart. There may be terror, yet with no change of heart.[6] The thief is sorry when he is caught, not because he stole, but because he has to pay the penalty. Pharaoh was more troubled for the frogs and the river of blood than he was for his sin. Likewise the hypocrite grieves only for the bitter consequences of sin, but not for its sinfulness.[7]

Until we are poor in spirit - we cannot go to heaven

And now, we can see why it is only those who are poor in spirit that can cast themselves unto the righteousness of Christ, and thereby inherit the kingdom of heaven. This is because only those who are sensible of their desperate lack can "hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Matt. 5:6) - that is, the righteousness that is not their own, but of Christ's (Philippians 3:30). In other words, until we are poor in spirit, we are not capable of receiving grace. Those who are swollen with self-excellency and self-sufficiency are full already and cannot receive gold. The glass must first be emptied before wine may be poured in. Only those who see themselves clad in filthy rags welcome a change of garment.[8] But by nature we are so puffed up with self-esteem that we cannot fit through the narrow gate of heaven. Therefore, we who are in Christ, have all our poorness of spirit and repentence brought about as a gift from God, who says: "I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God" (Ezek. 11:19-20).

The Lord alone brings forth poorness of spirit, from which springs true repentence and a change of heart

The Father alone gives us a godly inward sorrow for our sins, which melts the soul in tears, and which abides in the heart and does not fall away. It is not a matter of the intellect, for though we profess, as we are taught, that sin is the transgression of God's law, what do we really comprehend of it? What do we know of sin if God does not work in us an apprehension of it's hatefulness? The knowledge of God's divine perfections (and our sinful worthlessness, in comparison) is very much an immediate gift of God, which He bestows on whoever he pleases. So the Psalmist cries: "Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law" (Ps. 119:18). Without God, although the letter of the law is ever available for us to pick up and read - we may not marvel at its distinguishing perfections, infinite glory and wonderful excellencies.[9] So too, our physical eyes by nature are blind to the utter vileness of sin, until God grants us the light to see that we have been in a pool of rotting flesh and maggots all along.

No one comes out of his mother's womb a Christian (Ps. 51:5). In order for one to come to realise his vileness and his need of Christ, something has to happen by which that person is radically changed.[10] Consider Ephesians 2:1-5:

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the price and power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ".

How did God "make us alive together with Christ"? It is through the mysterious work of regeneration, which Jesus tells Nicodemus: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). That is - to be born again, with a radically changed heart, that is poor in spirit, and which results in the turning around of the believer's entire life - having been pulled out from under the dominion of sin and into the family of God (Rom. 6-8).

The visible outward effects of an inward poorness of spirit

As a result of this, the truly repentant will be humble in nature, with a sense of his utter subjection to God, and a willing submission to the authority of God over him. For he knows that fallen man is exceedingly filthy and polluted before a infinitely holy God. He understands himself to be "not [his] own, for [he has been] bought with a price" (1 Cor. 6:19-20), even "with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Pe. 1:19).[11] Therefore, whatever he does, he does for the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).

And perhaps, he might pray a prayer such as this:

"Thou art good beyond all thought, but I am vile, wretched, miserable, blind; My lips are ready to confess, but my heart is slow to feel, and my ways reluctant to amend. I bring my soul to thee; break it, wound it, bend it, mould it. Unmask to me sin's deformity, that I may hate it, abhor it, flee from it. My faculties have been a weapon of revolt against thee; as a rebel I have misused my strength, and served the foul adversary of thy kingdom. Give me grace to bewail my insensate folly, Grant me to know that the way of transgressors is hard, that evil paths are wretched paths, that to depart from thee is to lose all good. I have seen the purity and beauty of thy perfect law, the happiness of those in whose heart it reigns, the calm dignity of the walk to which it calls, yet I daily violate and contemn its precepts. Thy loving Spirit strives within me, brings me Scripture warnings, speaks in startling providences, allures by secret whispers, yet I choose devices and desires to my own hurt, impiously resent, grieve, and provoke him to abandon me. All these sins I mourn, lament, and for them cry pardon. Work in me a more profound and abiding repentence; Give me the fullness of a godly grief that trembles and fears, yet ever trusts and loves, which is ever powerful, and ever confident; Grant that through the tears of repentance I may see more clearly the brightness and glories of the saving cross."[12]

[1] Thomas Watson, Beatitudes - An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12, Feedbooks, 1660, at Ch. 2.

[2] Ralph Venning, The Sinfulness of Sin, 1669, at p 8.

[3] John Owen, Mortification of Sin in Believers, The Works of John Owen Vol 6, The Banner of Truth Trust, at p 12.

[4] R.C. Sproul, What is Repentence? (Crucial Questions), Reformation Trust Publishing, 2014.

[5] Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1630.

[6] Thomas Watson, The Doctrine of Repentence, Puritan Paperbacks.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Supra n 1.

[9] Jonathan Edwards, A Divine and Supernatural Light, Yale University Press, 1734.

[10] R.C. Sproul, What is Repentence? (Crucial Questions), Reformation Trust Publishing, 2014, at pg 31.

[11] Jonathan Edwards, Charity And Its Fruits, Chapel Library, 1738.