Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

Some people claim that it is impossible for man to see God. In order for those people to be correct, not making Jesus the liar, one would have to add a few words; it is impossible for man to see God in their carnal and sinful state.

Through repentance any person can become pure in heart. It becomes easier to understand what "pure in heart" means if we look at what it is to be impure in heart.

• Planning to harm or kill any of Gods children, or actually carrying out such acts, are the worst impurities a man can harbor in his heart.
• To lust after, or perform, sexual encounters with anyone with whom we are not legally married are gross impurities. It doesn’t matter if it is of different sex or same sex. If children are involved it is so horrible that it would have been better if the perpetrator would have been thrown of a pier with a millstone around their neck before conducting such gross wickedness.
• To rob anyone of their property, dignity, security, welfare, innocence, virtues, health, future, hopes, dreams, etc., for personal winnings or gratifications is not compatible with a pure heart.
• To worship, adore, admire, or desire anyone or anything in a way that should only be offered the One True and Living God makes our hearts impure. Why should God let us see him if our desire is for a rock-group, a writer, an actor, a philosopher, a painter, a painting, a graven image etc. It would make more sense if he would let us see the Mona Lisa, the Beatles, and Carl Marx.

When will the pure in heart see God? As we identify impurities of our hearts we can start the process of becoming cleansed from those impurities. We call this process "repentance". Through repentance we may qualify ourselves, not just to potentially see God, but to actually see him. Whether it will happen in this life, as it did to Adam, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Stephen, and others, or in the life to come, it will probably depend on whether or not God has a need to let us see him in this life or not.

Repentance is to sacrifice the things of the flesh. It doesn't necessarily come easy for anyone to do. If it did it wouldn't be a sacrifice! People who are not willing to make the sacrifice of denying the body all the pleasures that it desires without having an actual need for, they are the ones that will not see God.