Legally Impure
Scripture: Mark 7:5-8,21-22
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.” 6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ 8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition...For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
Observations:
The Pharisees were expert Bible students who had at least the entire first five books of the Old Testament memorized since they were 12!! They were not the guys to argue with about God's Word because they knew it backwards and forwards. However, despite all their knowledge about how to please God, somewhere along the way they had begun following the letter of the Law while igorning the spirit of it. This "legal" approach to God's Word did not lead them into a relationship with God, rather it did nothing more than make them very religious people. As with every religion they eventually developed their own "sacred" traditions, which they also followed to the letter of the Law. Unfortunately, in all of their religious rule following they lost the whole purpose God had given them His Word to begin with- living in relationship with Him that would lead others into relationship with Him. The Pharisees' religious traditions not only blinded them to the truth of Christ but also kept many others from ever even having a relationship with God.
Application:
Jesus made it clear that no amount of religious activity in an of it self can take the place of a relationship with God because it cannot effectively deal with the heart of the problem- the problem of the human heart. On the inside we all have some degree of "evil thoughts...wickedness...lustful desires...pride, and foolishness" that make us unacceptable to God, for which there is only one cure- Christ. No amount of Bible reading, church going, prayer praying, or any other "good" activity can substitue for a genuine relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It's when we start telling ourselves that we're alright with God because we did "X" that we begin to fall into the same trap that ruined the Pharisees of Jesus' day. Our relationship with God is not based on how many rules we can follow but about allowing the spirit of God's Word to cleanse our hearts from sin in full recognition of what Christ has already done for us and then seeking to live accordingly; not attempting to win God's approval but out of pure thankfulness to Him. It's only as we acknowledge our full dependence upon Him rather than ourselves that we position ourselves to live in relationship with Christ.
Prayer:
Father, forgive us for ever making it about rules or trying to do all the right things for the wrong reasons. We recognize our complete and total need of your grace and forgivness today and ask you to wash our hearts from the things that have defiled us. Keep us dependent upon You and help us to demonstrate our love and thankfulness to You in a life of obedient worship today. Amen.
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.” 6 Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ 8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition...For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
Observations:
The Pharisees were expert Bible students who had at least the entire first five books of the Old Testament memorized since they were 12!! They were not the guys to argue with about God's Word because they knew it backwards and forwards. However, despite all their knowledge about how to please God, somewhere along the way they had begun following the letter of the Law while igorning the spirit of it. This "legal" approach to God's Word did not lead them into a relationship with God, rather it did nothing more than make them very religious people. As with every religion they eventually developed their own "sacred" traditions, which they also followed to the letter of the Law. Unfortunately, in all of their religious rule following they lost the whole purpose God had given them His Word to begin with- living in relationship with Him that would lead others into relationship with Him. The Pharisees' religious traditions not only blinded them to the truth of Christ but also kept many others from ever even having a relationship with God.
Application:
Jesus made it clear that no amount of religious activity in an of it self can take the place of a relationship with God because it cannot effectively deal with the heart of the problem- the problem of the human heart. On the inside we all have some degree of "evil thoughts...wickedness...lustful desires...pride, and foolishness" that make us unacceptable to God, for which there is only one cure- Christ. No amount of Bible reading, church going, prayer praying, or any other "good" activity can substitue for a genuine relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It's when we start telling ourselves that we're alright with God because we did "X" that we begin to fall into the same trap that ruined the Pharisees of Jesus' day. Our relationship with God is not based on how many rules we can follow but about allowing the spirit of God's Word to cleanse our hearts from sin in full recognition of what Christ has already done for us and then seeking to live accordingly; not attempting to win God's approval but out of pure thankfulness to Him. It's only as we acknowledge our full dependence upon Him rather than ourselves that we position ourselves to live in relationship with Christ.
Prayer:
Father, forgive us for ever making it about rules or trying to do all the right things for the wrong reasons. We recognize our complete and total need of your grace and forgivness today and ask you to wash our hearts from the things that have defiled us. Keep us dependent upon You and help us to demonstrate our love and thankfulness to You in a life of obedient worship today. Amen.
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