We tend to take the Beatitudes and turn them immediately into "here's what you need to do, how you need to think, how you must act" to get God's blessing.
Be poor in spirit, be meek, be a peacemaker, etc., and then God will grant you entry into the Kingdom.
But doesn't this call into question our core evangelical profession that we do not in any way earn our salvation?
That Jesus came to seek the lost sheep? That he came as a physician calling those who were sick?
Think about it.
If we read "Blessed are the poor in spirit" as "blessed are those who recognize their own spiritual poverty" for "theirs is the Kingdom of heaven", then we are saying, point blank, HERE is the key to unlocking your salvation.
As far as I can tell, "repent" is the only action directly associated with the arrival of the Kingdom in someone's life.
And even then, repentance is the response to the arrival of the Kingdom, not some internal mindset that draws it out in the open.
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