Many of us preface our prayers and worship with a moment of asking God to "cleanse us from all defilement of flesh and spirit by the blood of Jesus." What, exactly, are we asking for? What do we expect to occur if this defilement is removed? Generations of preachers have said defilement is things such as lying, bad thoughts, dirty jokes and many other things we do that we shouldn't have done. We are convinced that certain actions are inherently dirty. We attach spiritual/moral/ethical dirtiness to certain activities. But there is something more fundamental to the nature of defilement than what we do or say or think.
As in all spiritual matters, Scripture is the final word. Jesus speaks specifically to the issue of defilement, and we must understand what Jesus says about it.
This issue determines how we think of ourselves to be holy or unholy, and it determines how we judge others to be either holy or unholy. What is it exactly, that makes a person impure or unholy? If we cannot answer that question correctly then we cannot make a correct estimation of our own holiness, let alone the holiness of another person.
Does the Bible teach what we universally assume about purity: i.e. that it is primarily a matter of outward actions. Are certain actions inherently dirty? This issue is absolutely crucial to our understanding of Christian liberty. Please read carefully and prayerfully. The more so if you begin feeling a bit uneasy about some of our observations.
What Proceeds Out Of The Mouth Defiles The Man.
While in debate with Jewish leaders over His disciple's practice of eating without washing their hands, Jesus said, What proceeds out of the mouth defiles the man, (Matthew 15:11). In the previous verse Jesus says, Hear me and understand. This phrase, like, verily, verily I say to you, and he that has ears, let him hear, says to the hearer, Listen to me very carefully; I am about to say something absolutely fundamental and you must understand it. do not miss this! Here it is: It is not what goes into one's mouth that defiles him, but what comes out of the mouth defiles him. Their diligence in washing their hands was not a matter of removing physical dirt, but a matter of spiritual/ moral cleanness. It was a holiness issue. To them holiness consisted in acts one might do or not do. So Jesus explained: things that come from the heart defile the man, (Matthew 15:17-20 cf. Mark 7:21-22). Defilement is not a matter of what is external. Unholiness does not consist of actions. What "defiles" is what is in the heart. A mere act, of whatever character, is neither holy nor unholy considered by itself. Morality is not in the nature of the act itself but in what is in the heart of the actor.
Our heart is the source of all evil deeds. God judges our deeds according to what He finds in our heart. God's primary question is not What did you do? but Why did you do it? The evil attached to external action depends on the motive of the one doing it. And good deeds are not good if they arise from legalism or if done from improper motives. God judges actions to be clean or unclean, holy or unholy, good or evil, not on the basis of the inherent nature of the deed but on the heart of the doer.
Learning this truth is crucial to our spiritual survival health. Churches are full of people who struggle with personal spirituality and their relationship with God. They have done, and occasionally still do, things that make them feel dirty and nasty, and they therefore believe God disapproves of them. This mindset is a barrier to prayer, praise and worship. This faulty self-judgment manifests itself in faulty judgment of others and has been directly responsible for countless church divisions.
God judges motives before He judges actions, and He grants mercy and grace to us when we do wrong things, if our hearts do not lean toward sin. For example, some sinful deeds may not count against us if God sees that our intention was not to dishonor Him or to hurt another person. God mitigates sin with grace, for those whose hearts are right. A vivid example of this is seen in His own mitigation of His indisputable law: Thou shalt not kill & whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, (Exodus 20:13; Genesis 9:5, 6). Notice that God says, If a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death, (Leviticus 24:17). His law on this cannot be more precisely and emphatically stated. Yet God provided cities of refuge for those who killed without malice, (cf. Numbers 35; Joshua 20, 21; 1 Chronicles 6). Killing another human is the worst thing one could ever do to them. It is the ultimate breach of God's fundamental law of love for others. Yet God's first look is not at the act of taking another's life. His first concern is the motive of the killer. Thus one may violate an explicit command and not be condemned by God, if one's heart is right with God. Have you ever done something you knew at the time was a sin, yet you did it not rebelliously, but rather succumbed to weakness, spiritual inattention, or the pressure of circumstances, etc.? When we do such things our conscience fills us with shame and guilt based strictly on the action itself. But we should not lose our joy in the Lord and our confidence in His love for us on the mere basis of actions. If we know that He looks into our heart and sees that we love Him and that we wish to not do things that displease Him, then we can get off the spiritual roller coaster and stand on solid ground knowing that our relationship with God is not in jeopardy every time we do, say or think something wrong.
When we can finally stop beating ourselves up because of those things, then we can also stop beating up our brethren when they do wrong things. If we can get this right, the church will be at peace because saints will have stopped pointing fingers at each other for external failures, whether actual or imagined. When we learn that God gives grace even when we do things obviously wrong, then we can give grace to others when they do such things, and we can love, forgive, accept and heal each other. We can stop judging each other. We can stop dividing the church.
A right heart receives grace even in the face of wrong deeds. Do we understand that grace can operate only where there is true sin? Grace exists only where judgment and condemnation ought to come because of sin, but instead God grants mercy and forgiveness. If the heart is right, God provides mercy and refuge for one whose actions are dreadfully wrong. Let's say it one more time:
God measures guilt not by the deed itself but by heart motivation behind the deed.
Learn this and your personal walk with God will take giant leaps forward.
Learn this and your relationship with other saints will become a blessing rather than a curse.