Subject: Worship and Sin - Mark 7-8

Mark 7:14-15 (ESV Strong's)
And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 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.”

Subject:  Sin and True Worship

In our society we are very much concerned, as Christians, about what people put into their bodies and what they do with some of the vices of this world (alcohol; tobacco; foods; drugs; etc).   The above teaching of Christ does NOT give us free reign to put into our bodies anything we want.   Too many other passages teach the holiness of the body; the offense of weaker brothers; and separation by appearance from the world.    Yet, we, like the Pharisees, can get rather ritual and legalistic, quite quickly about how to live our lives "holy" before God.   In the beginning of this chapter the Pharisees were concerned that the disciples of Jesus did not wash their hands, at all, before eating, much less in the ritualistic manner of the religious teachers of the day.  Jesus, in the above verses, is telling them that the things that "go into" a person are not what makes them defiled before God.   Jesus is teaching about spiritual holiness.  He is NOT teaching about health to your body; witness to the outside world; or, how to avoid offending a weaker brother.  Those teachings are saved for the teachings of the Paul, Peter and the rest of the Apostles.   What Jesus is teaching is that we are not sinners by what goes in, but what comes off our tongue, our through our attitudes, in our actions toward others.  Wash you hands and bath ten times a day.  But, to be angry in your heart is the real sin.   That defiles someone.  We are to allow Christ to purify us and change the actions of our heart.   Then we are to focus on treating our bodies as temples.   Purity of heart through faith in Christ proceeds what goes past the lips to the stomach.