Matthew 15:17-20
17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
What are some of the things that a heart untouched by God unleashes? Thinking what is opposed to the good of His word and intentions (evil thoughts), hatred even to murder, lust even to adultery, perversion, stealing, lying, and defaming God (blasphemy). These all make us unclean before a holy, just, and angry God. But there is hope! Jesus offers to make us right inside with a new birth, creating us as a new person. This is not possible by religious acts such as washing of hands, church attendance, tithing, giving to the poor, and all other efforts of our own.
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