And He said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
-Mark 7:20-23 (Words of Jesus)
- The issue Jesus is addressing is “what defiles a person”, which is crucial because if a person is “defiled” they must be cleansed before they can enter Heaven
- The religious leaders taught that what the people ate would defiled a person based on the Levitical Law; however, Jesus was proclaiming all food “clean”
- Jesus is making the point that it is not about your religious activity or what you eat (what goes in a person), it is about the condition of your heart, it is about the wickedness that comes out of a person that defiles them
- Just as religious ritual (or lack thereof) does NOT defile a person; religious rituals DO NOT cleanse a person of their “defilement” either
- We would be wise to consider what Jesus says defile us in these verses since He says these are “evil things”, and if we are guilty of any of them we are called to confess and forsake these things, trusting only in the Blood of Jesus to cleanse us from our unrighteousness
Yes. Wise!!