We are chosen (Eph. 1:4-5; 1 Peter 1:1; 2:9); bought (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23); owned by our Master (Rom. 14:7-9; 1 Cor. 6:19; Titus 2:14); subject to the Master’s will and control over us (Acts 5:29; Rom. 6:16-19; Phil. 2:5-8); and totally dependent on the Master for everything in our lives (2 Cor. 9:8-11; Phil. 4:19). We will ultimately be called to account (Rom. 14:12); evaluated (2 Cor. 5:10); and either chastened or rewarded by Him (Heb. 12:5-11; 1 Cor. 3:14).

• Exegetical Fallacies, D. A. Carson
• The Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther
• The Gospel According to Jesus: What is Authentic Faith?, John MacArthur

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5:3

Luke says those who are “poor” are blessed, for they will posses the kingdom of God. Poverty for many is a cursed and unhappy experience. Many are pressed down by distress, yet they continue to swell inwardly with pride and cruelty. So Matthew more clearly expresses the intention of Christ by saying that the poor in spirit are blessed. Christ thereby pronounces that only those will be truly happy who, though chastened and subdued by afflictions, submit wholly to God and with inward humility come to him for protection.

Others say that those who are poor in spirit claim nothing for themselves. They are so completely emptied of confidence in the flesh that they acknowledge their poverty. But as the words of Luke and Matthew must have the same meaning, there can be no doubt that poor here also applies to those who are oppressed and afflicted by adversity. The only difference is that Matthew, by adding in spirit, confines happiness only to those who, under the discipline of the cross, have learnt to be humble.

In stating for theirs in the kingdom of heaven, Christ does not swell the minds of his own people by any unfounded belief, or harden them by unfeeling obstinacy, as the Stoics do. Rather, he leads them to the hope of eternal life and encourages them to be patient by assuring them that, by being poor in spirit, they will pass into the heavenly kingdom of God.

Only those who are reduced to nothing in themselves and who rely upon the mercy of God are truly poor in spirit, for those who are broken or overwhelmed with despair and murmur against God prove thereby to be proud and haughty in spirit.

Our responses to the unpleasant situations we find ourselves in over the course of our lives reveals to us the conditioning of our spirit. Will strife and adversity cause us to stumble or to run to Christ and hold fast onto him? Augustus Toplady penned the hymn Rock of Ages and conveyed this sentiment with the words “Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling”.

When the storms of life come a man may well ask of God “Why did this happen to me?” Sometimes it is the loss of friends or family through death, or the long term illness of a spouse or someone on whom we depend, who we look to for direction that can lead us to asking the question, “Why God? Why?”

There are two ways we can ask this question. The first is shaking our clenched fists at heaven in rebellion against God saying “Why did you let this happen?” In this form, the question is an accusation blaming God. Or we can fall to our knees in submission before our graceful God and say “Why is this happening God? I do not understand why. Please explain this to me.”

What would it take for you to become genuinely poor in spirit?