Salvation is an inside job

Mark 7:1-23

Sometimes a used car salesman will clean up the outside of a car to distract potential buyers from engine problems. Likewise, the religious establishment of Jesus' day thought their rituals made them acceptable to God. Jesus told them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight." (Luke 16:15)

Religious groups can fixate on surface issues the Bible says nothing about: playing cards, dancing, movies, etc. They confuse keeping rules with holiness and godliness.

Surface issues reflect a reliance on culture over Christ. Some churches battles begin because of cultural bias rather than spiritual conviction. They continue from each person's desire to be right. They involve music styles, proper use of space, which Bible to use, etc.

Jesus teaches us to understand spirituality as an internal rather than an external matter. We are not saved from the outside in. It is not money, politics, the right diet, nor dressing a certain way. We must look to the “heart” as the source of righteousness not how well we follow man-made rules. He said, “Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” (Mark 7:15)

Jesus lists the evil intentions that flow from the human heart. It’s a catalog of evil: sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, slander, arrogance and folly. Jesus is saying that every human heart is a fertile breeding ground for evil.

Even if pornography weren’t a $10 billion a year industry there would be sexual immorality. Pornography isn't the cause, it’s a symptom of what’s inside the human heart. Even without violent video games, people would still be drawn to acts of hatred and violence.

Sometimes Christians believe that programs & laws are the answer but Jesus is saying that sin isn't created by our environment. It hides within each human heart. The prophet Jeremiah said, "The heart is deceitful and sick beyond cure; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)

We must take an inside-out approach to sin. Unless the human heart undergoes a radical transformation, all the outward efforts and legislation won’t be enough. The human heart is where the change needs to begin and only Jesus Christ can transform the human heart.

Turn away from culture, politics, power plays, games, personal vendettas & feuds turn to Jesus who said “I am the truth and the life, NO ONE comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

The Lord of the Sabbath

Mark 2:23-28

The religious establishment believed that they could please God by developing and following a strict set of rules. This caused them to, not only, miss the true intent of God's law but, also, led to conflict with Jesus and his disciples. One clash occurred when the hungry disciples picked and ate some grain on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-24). Old Testament law prohibited working on the Sabbath but that did not extend to picking a handful of grain to satisfy immediate hunger.

The Pharisees were very religious people whose strong desire to keep the law led them to build a hedge around the law. Deciding that it was best to err on the side caution to prevent Sabbath breaking, They banned 1500 acts on the Sabbath.

Rules seem to make life easier but they short-circuit thinking and, sometimes, lead to bad decisions. A deacon told me that he had once approached a young man in church and told him to remove his ball cap or leave. The young man felt humiliated and left. The deacon later learned that the young man was undergoing treatment for cancer and had lost most of his hair. He regretted enforcing that rule.

Jesus taught that God's law must be applied with compassion and reminded the Pharisees that King David once took sacred bread that was to be eaten only by the priests and gave it to his men (I Samuel 21:1-6). David was justified because his need for food was greater than keeping the ceremonial law.

Meeting human need and compassion takes precedence over custom, ritual, ceremony and tradition. God says, "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6).

The Sabbath is God’s idea. God created everything in six days, and he rested on the seventh, and made it holy. (Genesis 2:2) God didn’t need to rest because he was tired. He rested because he was done.

“Sabbath” means rest. God created us to need rest for our bodies and refreshment for our spirits every seven days. The Law prohibited menial work but the Pharisees prohibited all work; even good work. The Sabbath was not meant to restrict necessities. The Sabbath was made to serve man not for man to serve the day. (Mark 2:27) The day had become a burden instead of the blessing it was meant to be.

The wrong question to ask is “What is allowed or not allowed on the Sabbath? – Can you eat out? go to the movies? watch or play sports?”

That question makes Sabbath rules more important than the Sabbath itself. Don’t worship the day or “rules;” worship the Lord of the Sabbath.

The Lord of the Sabbath offers true rest to whosoever comes to Him.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Matthew 11:28-30