Inner Purity

“it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” – Matthew 15:11

In Matthew 15: 1-20 Jesus teaches about inner purity, and in this scripture above He is very clear about how inner purity can be defiled … by the words that come out of our mouths. But it isn’t until verses 16-20 that Jesus truly explains to His disciples what He means.

“‘Don’t you understand?’ Jesus asked him. ‘Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes out of the body. But evil words come from an evil heart and defile the person who says them. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands could never defile you and make you unacceptable to God!'” – Matthew 15: 16-20

Christ shows that the defilement we should fear, is not from what enters our mouths as food, but from what comes out of our mouths, which shows the wickedness of our hearts. Nothing will last in the soul but the regenerating graces of the Holy Spirit; and nothing should be admitted into the church but what is from above; therefore, whoever is offended by a plain, seasonable declaration of the truth, we should not be troubled at it. In this passage the disciples ask to be better taught as to this matter.

“Where a weak head doubts concerning any word of Christ, an upright heart and a willing mind seek for instruction.”

It is the heart that is desperately wicked,

Jeremiah 17:9, “for there is no sin in word or deed, which was not first in the heart.”

They all come out of the man, and are fruits of that wickedness which is in the heart, and is wrought there. When Christ teaches, he will show us the deceitfulness and wickedness of our own hearts; he will teach us how to humble themselves, and to seek to be cleansed in the Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness.

Instead of being so consumed with dieting and watching what we eat, God is calling us to become more consumed with what is really causing us to be unhealthy, the hidden evil within our hearts.

God Bless!

The Great Purge

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” (John 15:1-3)

These words being inserted in this scripture relating to the vine and branches, and the pruning and purging of them to make them fruitful, are thought, by the learned Dr. Lightfoot, to be an allusion to the law in Leviticus 19:23; by which the fruit of trees, for the first three years, were accounted uncircumcised or unclean, and in the fourth year fit for use; the apostles having enjoyed the ministry of Christ, and been his disciples about such a time. Though the “already” in John 15:3 seems to refer to the removal and taking away of that withered and unfruitful branch, Judas. Christ, in John 13:10, had told his disciples, that they “were clean, but not all”, because the betrayer was among them. But Judas being discovered by Christ, and ordered to leave, left the disciples and Jesus and continued with his wicked plans. And now, Christ could say of them all, that they were clean: which could then represent their regeneration and sanctification, in which their hearts were sprinkled with clean water; were washed with the washing of regeneration; were purified by faith in the blood of Christ; and were given pure principles of grace to be formed in their souls. The Gospel of Christ was the instrumental means of these happenings and their justification by the righteousness of Christ, by which they were justified from all sin; and were all fair, and without spot; which was through the Gospel of Christ revealing his righteousness to them, or through the sentence of justification He, by his Spirit, passed upon their consciences.

This passage is so powerful because it reminds us that we aren’t perfect, but every time Christ is with us we are under a process of purifying by His instructions. Thus, now that it is a new year we need to do some purging to release ourselves from the clothes and shoes we have piled up in our closets that we haven’t worn in years, the old perfumes and colons that are half full, the old school papers that don’t apply to our current studies, etc. But most importantly, we need to get rid of people that aren’t positively adding to our lives, fear that has kept us stagnate for the last few years, old hurt from a past relative or friend … We need to forgive, let go, and move on. After all, the best way to get over a fear is to face it.

Be Free. Be Clean. Be Pure.