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Articles
Poor in Spirit
Let us begin our study of the beatitudes by looking at Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The word poor can be used in two senses, one who is not wealthy but who has the basic necessities of life, and the other, being, one who is completely in poverty and destitute of even daily necessities. This second use, is the way the word is used here, it comes from the original language to mean total and complete poverty. We must see that we are totally and completely bankrupt before the Lord in reference to our spiritual condition. Until we see that we are flat broke spiritually, and thus in need of the spiritual riches of Christ, we will never come to Jesus with the right attitude. We must see that we have sin in the sight of God, and are thus condemned because of it. As Paul would say in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Our personal righteousness is as Isaiah 64:6 says, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Until a person realizes that they are sick, they will never go to the doctor, and this is the way that it is spiritually, we must see that we are sin sick, and in need of the Great Physician. The promise to those who truly see their spiritual condition before the Lord, and who will come to him for the cleansing of the soul, are told that theirs is the kingdom of heaven. In order to gain the kingdom of heaven, a place in the rule and domain of King Jesus today, we must humble ourselves to see our true spiritual poverty. The haughty, arrogant, self-sufficient human being will never see any need for Jesus Christ and his blood. Only the poor in spirit will be blessed.
