Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit
“The very first beatitude proclaims salvation by grace not works, for it pledges the kingdom of God to ‘the poor in spirit’, that is, to people who are so spiritually poverty-stricken that they have nothing in the way of merit to offer.” –John Stott

 In 1762 Augustus Toplady wrote the famous hymn “Rock of Ages.” The third verse goes like this: “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.” Toplady was writing about spiritual poverty, a concept Jesus had spoken about some 1700 years before him in the Sermon on the Mount.

The first beatitude says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” What was Jesus teaching? Many have misunderstood Jesus on this point. Many have understood Jesus’ teaching here to mean that those who are materially poor are blessed; that somehow the poor are righteous and the rich are evil. That rubric works nicely to advance a communist or socialist worldview, but it is certainly not what Jesus was teaching.

Jesus makes quite clear that it is the poor in spirit – not in material goods – who are blessed. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Toplady defined it best. To be poor in spirit means to know that you are saved by grace and grace alone. To be poor in spirit means to know that you have nothing to offer God – nothing in your hands to bring. To be poor in spirit means to cling to the cross because the merit of Christ is the only merit you can claim for your salvation.

Are you poor in spirit? If you are, you are blessed and you will inherit the kingdom of heaven. If you’re not, be warned. If you will not come to God through Jesus, you will not come at all. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).

Your Pastor and Friend,
John Knox Foster