Blessed are the poor in spirit...

[devin553344]

What does this mean? To be poor in spirit.

Is it meaning God's spirit?

Or is it referring to being made in spirit as a poor spirit child and therefore not great upon the earth in wisdom and knowledge, etc.

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

 

[Blade]

"destitute, spiritually poor, either in a good sense (humble devout persons) or bad."

One version says "Happy the poor in spirit -- because theirs is the reign of the heavens."

Another ""Blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually helpless. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them"

Another "God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs."

 

[topher694]

Short version, (studied this a while back)... the "spirit" here refers to the spirit of the world, not the spirit of God. So, "blessed are those who give little weight to the ways of the world" might be a good way of looking at it.

 

[Pethesedzao]

What does this mean? To be poor in spirit.

Is it meaning God's spirit?

Or is it referring to being made in spirit as a poor spirit child and therefore not great upon the earth in wisdom and knowledge, etc.

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

It means that in our original state we have nothing but solely trust and lean on Jesus Christ alone. At conversion we become rich because of the DeBuaRe

 

[Cement]

One way I learned to figure out the meaning of something is often to apply the opposite of something. In this case God clearly opposes the Proud but regards the Lowly.

Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.
Psalm 138:6
Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.
Proverbs 3:34
A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
Proverbs 29:23
And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Matthew 23:12
He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
Luke 1:52
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
James 4:6
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
1 Peter 5:5

 

[devin553344]

Short version, (studied this a while back)... the "spirit" here refers to the spirit of the world, not the spirit of God. So, "blessed are those who give little weight to the ways of the world" might be a good way of looking at it.

You believe the world has a spirit, could you scriptural prove that? Or do you mean the spirit of Satan, such that then possessed people don't go to heaven?

 

[devin553344]

It means that in our original state we have nothing but solely trust and lean on Jesus Christ alone. At conversion we become rich because of the DeBuaRe

What is DeBuaRe? I couldn't find any reference on the internet.

 

[devin553344]

One way I learned to figure out the meaning of something is often to apply the opposite of something. In this case God clearly opposes the Proud but regards the Lowly.

Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.
Psalm 138:6
Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.
Proverbs 3:34
A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
Proverbs 29:23
And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Matthew 23:12
He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
Luke 1:52
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
James 4:6
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
1 Peter 5:5

But it just says "poor in spirit". If I try to add humble or proud to that I'm making up my own scripture perhaps? Need help understanding that idea.

 

[maintenance man]

What does this mean? To be poor in spirit.

The poor in spirit are those who have no merit or righteousness of their own on which to stand before God.

 

[topher694]

You believe the world has a spirit, could you scriptural prove that? Or do you mean the spirit of Satan, such that then possessed people don't go to heaven?

No the world doesn't have a spirit. What I mean is not a tangible spirit like we have a spirit, or God is a spirit, but more as defining the qualities of something, like, "we come together in the spirit of cooperation"

If you wanted to associate it with a tangible spirit, the Bible calls the devil the "ruler of this world", and I think that would be analogous.

Also note, it isn't a reference to heaven, it's a reference to blessing that points to the Kingdom of God. So those who don't do things the worlds way will see the blessings of God and be demonstrators and ambassadors of His Kingdom to others.

 

[childeye 2]

What does this mean? To be poor in spirit.

Is it meaning God's spirit?

Or is it referring to being made in spirit as a poor spirit child and therefore not great upon the earth in wisdom and knowledge, etc.

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

Yes, it means God's Spirit, and poor means in the worldly sense of lacking carnal comforts and riches. So it reads, "The poor people are blessed in God's Spirit".

James 2:5
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

Luke 6:20
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

 

[Pethesedzao]

What is DeBuaRe? I couldn't find any reference on the internet.

It is something that the Spirit revealed to me several years ago. Stands for the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of my LORD and Saviour and I prefer to celebrate it instead of Easter...

 

[tdidymas]

What does this mean? To be poor in spirit.

Is it meaning God's spirit?

Or is it referring to being made in spirit as a poor spirit child and therefore not great upon the earth in wisdom and knowledge, etc.

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

I think it is a statement of accommodation to our perspective. If I realize that I am spiritually bankrupt, then I will seek for God to make me spiritually rich. Whenever we gain knowledge about God's holiness and compare it with the unholiness of ourselves, we then see that we are spiritually poor. On the other hand, if I think I'm righteous or basically good, I won't see my need for the Savior.
TD

 

[mark kennedy]

What does this mean? To be poor in spirit.

Is it meaning God's spirit?

Or is it referring to being made in spirit as a poor spirit child and therefore not great upon the earth in wisdom and knowledge, etc.

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

When Jesus begins his innaural sermon with the beatitudes, he is talking about discipleship. As a sinner you come to God poor, pityful, blind and naked. The most miserable of beggars. This is simply the mind of a repeantant sinner. After that the sinner mourns, become meek rather the proud and boastfull, hungering and thirsting after righteousness. The rest are more practical, the pure in heart become peacemakers and face persecution like the peophets who were before them. Now Jesus did speak as if the poor were at an advantage, James says a lot of the same things. Looking at Roman 1-3 and various other doctrinal discussions this ia a picture of true repentance, it's the gateway to the gospel and the narrow path that leads to life.

 

[fhansen]

What does this mean? To be poor in spirit.

Is it meaning God's spirit?

Or is it referring to being made in spirit as a poor spirit child and therefore not great upon the earth in wisdom and knowledge, etc.

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

The lowly, the meek, the foolish things of this world are also the least valued and the most degraded and rejected. Humility comes easier for them. And that state makes them much more open to God, much more malleable. The winners lose and the losers are exalted in Christianity.

 

[devin553344]

The lowly, the meek, the foolish things of this world are also the least valued and the most degraded and rejected. Humility comes easier for them. And that state makes them much more open to God, much more malleable. The winners lose and the losers are exalted in Christianity.

Yeah, that I did notice about Christianity, it's not a "cool" thing to the prideful.

 

[sungaunga]

Good question OP.

Being poor in spirit is realizing your spiritual poverty. This is significant. It's the first thing said, first thing recorded in terms of actual preaching from Jesus. Why does He begin with this? Because it is the fundamental characteristic of the Christian. All other characteristics flow from this one. This is where everything starts.