Inside or Outside
Mark 7:14-23
14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”[e] 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”[f] (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
First, an important definition of defile: means sully, mar, or spoil. In this case, Jesus references us being defiled in terms of us being spoiled in God’s eyes. This does not mean He does not love us, or instantly casts us aside, but that we are no longer able to be in His presence, because He is perfect in all things, and we are all corrupted by sin to our very core (until and unless we believe in Jesus and let Him do His work in us).
Yesterday we looked at this passage to see that nothing that has been done to us can defile us in God’s eyes. However, we are all defiled by the same thing. The sin and evil in our hearts.
We like to deny and minimize it, but if you look at Jesus’ list in verses 21-22, I know you are guilty of multiple things on that list (as am I). If nothing else we have at least great pride and foolishness to claim!
Tomorrow we will look at the good news that being defiled by our sin is not the end of the story, but today we mourn and repent of our sin.
Don’t minimize it, hide from it, or run from it. It is your sin that makes you guilty before our perfect God. So repent, turn from your sin, confessing it to God and to other faithful brothers and sisters, and see what happens in your heart. What the enemy tries to convince us will lead to our destruction actually leads to freedom and prospering life!
Take a few minutes this morning (or whenever you are reading this) to repent of your specific sins and ask God to forgive you and to help you leave your sin behind and run toward God with all the strength the Holy Spirit works within you.
