Poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3)

In what ways does the Bible describe a Christian? Sometimes, it uses one word such as believer or disciple. At other times, it uses a longer sentence such as when Paul listed in Galatians the features found in the fruit of the Spirit. And on other occasions, it uses a paragraph. When that happens, the description may be made up of relevant doctrines such as Paul does in Ephesians 1:3-14 where he lists several doctrines such as adoption into God’s family, redemption through Christ’s death, and having the Holy Spirit as a gift from God. Or a passage or paragraph may have a list of instructions to be obeyed by his people as in the Ten Commandments. Another example of a list is the Beatitudes in which Jesus mentions eight character traits, each of them having a connected divinely-given privilege.

What is poor in spirit?

The phrase ‘poor in spirit’ occurs once in the Bible, although it has strong connections to how the concept of poor is used in the Old Testament. A person like this is not self-confident, self-satisfied and self-centred. It is important to note the use of the term ‘self.’ A person who is poor in spirit can be confident in God and satisfied with God and concerned about his spiritual state. When Paul wrote that he could do all things through the ongoing strength given by Jesus, he was expressing confidence that Jesus would enable him to do for God whatever came his way in providence.

Is there a reason why this trait is mentioned first in the list? Basically, it is first because without it one cannot have the other traits that Jesus mentions. Of course, that could be said of all the traits in the list, yet there is an order to them which may not be an order separated by time, but one separated by crucialness and necessity. It is similar to the relationship between faith and repentance – they occur simultaneously, but faith is more crucial.

At first glance, there seems to be something contradictory in this beatitude which is that the person who is poor in spirit has access to all that is available in the kingdom of heaven (or kingdom of God) now and in the future. It is this privilege that makes this type of person to be constantly blessed. The idea of blessing here is not so much inner happiness but privileged status. We will see that sometimes an individual who is poor in spirit will be sad, but even then he will still be privileged.  

It is important to note that that we are never poor in spirit in the sense that Jesus means before we are converted. Only those who have repented for their sins and trusted in Jesus can have this character trait. This is obvious from the context of this verse. It has often been said that the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ manifesto about his kingdom in which he begins by describing the kind of people who are in his kingdom before he then describes the activities in which his subjects will engage. He gives eight traits of character that mark them all and then explains some consequences of having them, including their influence on society as salt and light, the priority they will give to dealing with their inner sinfulness (what used to be termed mortification), how they will engage in duties such as giving alms, praying and fasting, and so on. They need to have the character traits before they can have any influence on society or engage in personal mortification of sin or practice any duties satisfactorily in God’s estimation.

How would we define poverty of spirit? It is a constant awareness of who we are in God’s sight, of who we are in the experience of his grace and mercy, of who we are as we contemplate the future God has revealed to us.

When are they poor in spirit?

It will help us to distinguish between the commencement and the continuation of poverty in spirit as far as believers are concerned, to consider their conversions and their continuing outlook. Onset and ongoing is one way of describing this experience.

What do sinners discover about themselves at conversion when they first came to know the Lord? This discovery is made through the work of the Holy Spirit who convinces them of their sinfulness as well as of the hideousness of their actual sins. They discover who they are in the sight of God. They find this by looking into the mirror of God’s Word.

Other people at that time may have various views about them, most of which are inaccurate. They may think the person is becoming devout because he now reads the Bible. They may wonder if she has turned over a new leaf and made some changes to her priorities. But such assessments are way off the mark because the person who is being dealt with by the Holy Spirit has discovered that he is bankrupt in the sight of God. As far as the relationship with God is concerned, that sinner discovers that he has not got a penny in the bank.

Obviously, he realises that he is spiritually poor, with no heavenly riches. But he also realises that he himself is not what he should be, even although he was made in the image of God. He has lived for himself and not for the glory of God. He has been self-centred, not God-centred, but that outlook changes at his conversion. He turns to the Lord and confesses that he has nothing good to say about himself and he willingly places himself in the dust and affirms that his sinfulness has demeaned him and deprived him of any divine privileges. With an awareness of their undeserving state, they trust in Jesus for pardon, and they are filled with wonder that the Lord has had mercy on a sinner like each of them. They repent over their sinfulness.

The second period in which they are poor in spirit is while they are living the Christian life in this world. They may do this for decades or they may do so for only a few years before they pass away. Indeed some may only do so for a few months or weeks depending on when they were converted. What marks the outlook of Christians as they live for God?

No doubt several answers could be given to that question, but let me mention three. They confess that they are sinners, they pray for divine help, and they think about the perfect world of heaven. We can say that Paul had those three marks as an established believer. He had been a Christian for several decades when he confessed that he was the chief of sinners, he mentions frequently in his letters that he prayed often, and he speaks regularly of heaven and what life would be like there for God’s people. But those three details of confession of sinfulness, of prayer, and of thinking about heaven were also true of the thief on the cross who was only a disciple for a few hours. It would not be too far to say that those three features are always found wherever humility is found. Reality of who they are as saved sinners, regular prayer, and longing for a sinless world reveal a person who is poor in spirit.

Possessing the kingdom

Paul reminded the Corinthians of how rich they were when he said that all things were theirs (1 Cor. 3:20). But we can ask ourselves a question of each of the stages that we have referred to.

First, what riches of the kingdom are given to the person who has realised his spiritual bankruptcy, repented of his sins, and trusted in Jesus? Here are some answers, and while we know about them it is good for us to think about them often. He has been given a perfect standing in the presence of God through justification when he was pardoned of the condemnation that all his sins deserved and clothed with the righteousness of Christ as his garments of salvation. At the same time he was adopted into God’s family and given a right to all the privileges of the sons of God, a right that is irreversible, and which will only be understood as he makes progress in divine things. The fact that he is a joint-heir with Jesus, the sinless Son, is one way of estimating how much he has as a member of the kingdom of God. He also received the Holy Spirit as his indwelling Companion, Comforter and Sanctifier, to be with him all the way until he reaches his heavenly destination. No doubt, you can think of other blessings that were given to you at conversion when God welcomed you into his kingdom. But knowing we had been given them at conversion would have helped us become poor in spirit because we recognised our unworthiness at receiving such spiritual riches.

Second, what riches of the kingdom do they have as Christians as they live for God? Again, numerous blessings of the kingdom can be suggested. They can pray to God as their heavenly Father and they have all the promises in the Bible for their comfort and joy, promises that cover every area of life. The Lord guides them through life and protects them from spiritual dangers, one they realise happens often. They meet with other family members to feed themselves on the things of God and consider the marvellous inheritance that will be theirs. But those blessings are only some of the many that are theirs in this life. It is good to consider them and others in order to realise afresh how rich we are. But knowing we have been given them will make us poor in spirit especially as we consider the remaining sinfulness that marks us day by day.

Blessing of humility

Humility is a marvellous grace. The phrase ‘poor in spirit’ is not an easily understood concept in our society, so when we come across it we should think of humility. It is the personal trait that Jesus highlighted about himself when he said that he was gentle and lowly in heart, and it is essential to Christlikeness. It reveals that we have grasped to some extent the greatness of God, his fact that he is infinitely above us, that no matter how high we get in the things of God we are always small in comparison to him. It also indicates that we are experiencing the grace of God in this life, that his mercy and faithfulness are appreciated by us as a daily reality. And it should be the expectation we have of the glory of God that will be ours when we are with Jesus for ever, in the place where those who were poor in spirit here will be perfect in holiness there for ever.