Jesus, in some of his Beatitudes in Matthew 5 makes direct and indirect inferences that the righteous will see God. This is expressed in various ways in the following passages:
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely hon my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
But then, there is this passage which doesn’t mention righteousness as a way to God:
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
The “spirit” here can refer to Isaiah 61:1-2 which says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be,
declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: HE WHO IS HUMBLE AND CONTRITE IN SPIRIT AND TREMBLES AT MY WORD.”
If being “poor in spirit” would mean being lacking in the Spirit of God or any knowledge thereof, it would seem that anyone who does not have that spirit in them can occupy the Kingdom of Heaven. There may not be many people out there at this point, though, who are truly ignorant of anything to do with God. What of those who know something about God, but through lack of means find it hard to walk a straight path?
Who would be poor in spirit? Would it be someone who holds up a convenience store to get money to feed their family? Would it be someone who robs a bank to pay for their spouse’s medical bills that they can’t afford? Would it be someone who has dementia and calls Jesus every horrible name they can think of?
Isaiah 6:5 says, “And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’”
Psalm 40:17 says, “As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!”
Would these passages refer to a poor and needy person who robs someone else? We are all accountable for our own sins, but if a person is convinced they’re overwhelmed would that make them poor in spirit? If a person lacks reasoning facilities, would that make them poor in spirit?