Thoughts of the Heart – Part 2

Mark 7:20-23 “Jesus said, ‘What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All there evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’”

Continuing in this short study on the human heart in Mark chapter 4, at various points in the four Gospels, Jesus challenges superficial notions of sin that restrict transgression against God and man to external actions and violations of the letter and intent of the law, both sins of commission (that which we did in thought, word and deed but should not have) and sins of omission that which we did not do in thought, word and deed but should have). In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21-30), for example, Christ corrects erroneous interpretations of the Ten Commandments that limit violations of God’s laws against murder and adultery to actual killing of a person and having physical sexual relations with someone who is not one’s spouse, respectively). Jesus’ teaching shows that while there commands do forbid such things, we have not truly kept them if we freely engage in those things from which actual murder and adultery spring ... thoughts from the heart of man. If we hate others or look upon and lust after others in our heart, we have broken those commandments and sinned, even if we never actually kill anyone or engage in sex with someone besides our spouse. Fornication (sex outside the context of marriage) is likewise violated and sin, when we lust after a single person. Jesus’ encounter with the scribes and Pharisees reveals sin being more than skin deep.

James 1:14-16 “Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.”

Ultimately, the Lord Jesus Christ explains, cleanness before the eyes of God is primarily an interior matter. The state of one’s heart determines one’s cleanness and purity, for the heart is the origin and “root cause” of all uncleanness. Before any sinful deed can be committed, it must be first conceived in the heart, which is here viewed as the controlling aspect of all that a person thinks and does. Saying or doing something, or not saying and doing something have no inherent bearing on the state of the heart. People have been known to speak and act with “hidden agendas” or “impure feelings” in order to give a false impression to others of honesty, and integrity, which, in reality, points to their pervasive sinfulness and not the markers of one’s moral purity. By knowing our sinfulness before a just and holy God, we then can realize the need to repent and accept the mercy and grace of God in the gift of the blessed Redeemer and Savior of the world, Jesus Christ at the foot of the cross, who is in the heart transformation and life-changing business; from ungodliness to holiness and from sin to righteousness.

1 Samuel 16:7b “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

In summary, the Lord Jesus reminds us that sin is fundamentally a heart problem. Holy words and actions flow from sanctified hearts that have been “set free” from the bondage of sin; “born again”, hearts transformed, “set apart” for God and cleansed by the Holy Spirit. We cannot do it on our own. We cannot buy it or earn it by good works and by our sins that come out from the thoughts of our heart, we surely do not deserve it. Make no mistake, we cannot excuse external acts of sin by saying our heart was in the right place, for when one’s heart is in the right place, one does not sin externally. Nevertheless, we must recognize that sin and holiness are fundamentally issues of the heart. Anyone can fake holiness before other men and women, but God is never fooled. Let us pray that our hearts would continue to be cleansed so that we might walk in true holiness before the Lord.

2 Timothy 2:15,19 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

Blessings in Christ.