Matthew 23:25-26

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean." In my opinion, this passage is the epitome of the human dilemma in relation to the sin of man and his consequential separation from God. It is one of the most recognizable quotes of Scripture known within the Christian church, yet it undoubtedly haunts the spiritual walk of each and every follower of Jesus. For me, this verse has recently become a cornerstone in my personal relationship with Christ and perhaps the greatest warning of Scripture that I adhere to today. Of course, the metaphor Jesus is using with the cup and plate are symbolic of the state of our hearts, minds and spirits. The outside of the cup could be better defined as our mask, the object most used to cloak who we really are underneath. As is custom with Jesus though, He always goes after the heart and uses this imagery to make a profound point that we cannot continue to knowingly live in a state of sin yet present ourselves publicly as "worthy of the lamb who was slain" (Revelation 5:12). It is not consistent with the proclamations of Scripture and it certainly is not what the apostle Paul meant when he said, "Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness" (Romans 6:13). We must be willing to address the state of our flesh if we are bold enough to proclaim that we have been "washed in the blood of the lamb" (Revelation 7:14) and willing to accept the consequences of our actions if we truly believe the absolute truth of Scripture and are willing to apply it in our private lives. One of the things I love most about Jesus is that when he drives home a point, He does so on more than one occasion in order to emphasize its importance from God's perspective. The gospel of Matthew records such an instance. Here, Jesus addresses this conflict of inward versus outward purity once again. "And he called the people to him and said to them, 'Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person... Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander'" (Matthew 15:10-11,17-19). Do you notice the list at the end of that passage? It is a compilation of sinful actions AND thoughts. Therefore, we are not exempt from breaking God's law if we do not act on our thoughts. It is clear that Christ is not just concerned with outward manifestations, but more importantly the root of the problem that begins within the spiritual battlefield of the mind, infiltrating the heart, and taking captive the soul. He clearly stated his point within the following passages: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire" (Matthew 5:21-22). "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28). "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, 'Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King'" (Matthew 5:33-35). "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, 'Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you'" (Matthew 5:38-42). You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you'" (Matthew 5:43-44). Based upon these direct teachings from Jesus Christ, there is no room for doubt that the inward workings of our flesh are absolutely the sins we must address in order to live for righteousness unto our God and Father. But how do we accomplish this? 1 Peter 2:24 answers this question plainly: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." How simple a truth from God, yet emphatically convicting! The whole solution is fairly simple in logic yet astronomical in spiritual scale and measure. Nonetheless, we must be willing to die to ourselves in order to experience a true and God-honoring personal relationship with Jesus Christ. A friend and counselor pointed out that absolute truth to me two weeks ago in a counseling session, and frankly it shook me to the core. You see, for years I was under the influence that a habitual sin addiction I had long suffered from was contained and compartmentalized from the rest of my life. Which meant in order to obtain true victory over that particular sin, I simply needed to put parameters in place that safeguarded against it, therefore containing the sin and destroying it. But the problem never stopped and ironically it morphed into a greater sin that spiraled me down into the pit of hell itself and almost killed me and those I love most. I have come to understand the reason why now through the storm of personal injury against God and others. Love of self that equates to love of sin is the method that Satan uses most effectively to destroy our relationship with God and others. Left untreated, it will corrupt your thoughts and actions far beyond the scope and scale of any particular habitual sin you are most bent against, this I know firsthand. It will bind itself to fabric of your being and manifest itself within a myriad of greater issues, typically pride and selfishness. Meaning the road to restoration begins with the spiritual discipline of humility, brokenness over sin and genuine repentance to God and all those you have sinned against. I have learned the hard way that not addressing the root issue of sin in my life (love of self) is truly the leading cause of death for all of us and the ultimate point of Jesus' admonition in Matthew 23:25-26. No doubt you can feasibly continue to focus solely on trying to solve the outward sin issues in your life but if you do not address the inward self, you are merely inviting Satan and his demons a first class ticket into your life. The danger and warning are admonished in Scripture: "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation" (Matthew 12:43-45). Rest assured though that God is in control and will never allow us to face a trial alone. For if we trust in Him and allow his Holy Spirit access to our hearts and minds through fervent prayer and time spent studying God's Word for the purpose of Biblical application, He will transform us from the inside out as He is doing to me and will make us stronger than ever before, because we are choosing to build our foundation of faith upon Him and that rock cannot be shaken. "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it" (Matthew 7:24-27).