From the Inside Out | Mark 7:1-23
1 Peter 1:5-7
who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
What I Believe is How I Behave
1. The Pharisees’ Belief & Behavior (vs. 1- 5)
2. The Problem With That Belief & Behavior (vs. 6-13)
3. The Real Problem With Our Behavior
Mark 7:1-4
Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly,[a] holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.[b] And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.[c])
Outward Ceremonial Rituals Needed to be Done to Be Cleansed- To Be Holy Before God
Mark 7:5
And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”
Legalism: Strict, Literal, or Excessive Conformity to the Law or to Religious or Moral Code.
Legalism Breeds a Self-Righeousness that promotes Prideful Comparison and Smug Judgmentalism
Religions Believe Works Work
Holding Traditions Equal to God’s Word
Mark 7:6-8
And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
Matthew 23:27-28
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Mark 7:9-13
And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)[a]— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Saved by Works- Undermines The Truth of Saved by Grace Through Faith Alone.
Believing Traditions Over or Equal to Scripture- Adding or Substituting to God’s Word Thus Abolishing It
Legalism that “Observes Scripture” but Miss The Point
Mark 7:12-13
then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Numbers 30:2-4
If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
3 “If a woman vows a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father's house in her youth, 4 and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand.
Mark 7:14-20
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.”[a] 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?”[b] (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.
Our Sinful Heart
Mark 7:21-23
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.”
What You BELIEVE in YOUR HEART About GOD will be Seen in Your OUTWARD BEHAVIOR Towards GOD
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Psalm 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right[a] spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.