Spiritual Defilement from Within
Text: Mark 7:14-23 | December 8, 2019
Our study this week is a continuation of last week’s passage, where the Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” (7:5). Jesus didn’t fully answered their question in our previous study (7:1-13); instead, Jesus indicts them for their hypocrisy of placing man-made traditions above God’s word and expected people to follow their teachings (7:6-13).
In our passage today, Jesus gives the answer to the question posed by the Pharisees (7:5). The Pharisees thought that the source of spiritual defilement is external (7:3-4). They believed that they would be spiritually unclean (defiled) by eating with “impure” hands. However, Jesus says, “Whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated” (7:19; cf. 7:15). The issue is not external, but internal. It is an issue of the heart (7:19).
The heart is the seat of our emotions, attitudes, affections, desires, etc., and if the heart is corrupt, what flows from it is also corrupt (see also Matthew 7:17-20; 12:34; Job 14:4; Proverbs 4:23; Jeremiah 17:9). Jesus listed the evils that proceed from the heart in Mark 7:21-22: “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, [22] deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.” Unless we are given new hearts, nothing we do can purify us spiritually.
For the entirety of the lesson, please see the attached manuscript of the message.
Reflection:
- We often hear people say that man is basically good but occasionally do bad things. The Bible tells us the exact opposite. We do evil deeds because our hearts are evil. Out of our hearts proceed all sorts of evil (see the list above from Mark 7:21-22). No matter what we do, we cannot purify our hearts, and we must be given a new heart. We cannot earn salvation by our own works; we have to repent and turn to Christ. And when we do that, God gives us a new heart and a new nature. Ezekiel 36:26 says, “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.”
Question:
- Romans 3:12 says, “There is none who does good, there is not even one,” but there are many non-Christians that we consider as “good” people who do good things. How can you explain that? (Read Isaiah 64:6).
Answer:
- There is no denying that both Christians and non-Christians alike can do good and even noble deeds. However, Isaiah 64:6 tells us that “all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.” In that sense, even our good works are polluted. It is common to hear people say things like, “It makes me feel good to volunteer at this charity.” Or some people do good to try to earn God’s favor. The truth is that without God, nothing we do is acceptable to God; it is unclean, like a filthy garment (much like the Pharisees, who thought external ceremonies and rituals made them righteous and acceptable to God). Consider what Charles Spurgeon said, “Brethren, if our righteousnesses [sic.] are so bad, what must our unrighteousnesses [sic.] be?”