Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
The call to hear and understand was made openly to the multitude, declaring with authority the true meaning of sin and pollution. Defilement does not come from what goes into the mouth but from what comes out of the mouth. The declaration was plain, direct, forcible and brief, opening the Scriptures directly to the common people. Those ordinary hearers were eager to listen and far more receptive than their leaders. Because it was spoken in public, it enraged the ecclesiastical powers and silenced those seeking to destroy influence over the people, while punishment rests on leaders who turn the people from the path of rectitude.
Neglect of external, human-made ceremonies does not defile, because purity and impurity belong to the soul. What defiles comes from within the person, out of the heart, as evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness and blasphemies. Evil deeds, words and thoughts, and transgression of God's law, are what defile a person. Moral purity and improvement depend on right thinking joined with right acting, for evil thoughts destroy the soul. The converting power of God changes the heart and refines and purifies the thoughts, so that thoughts centered on Christ and brought into obedience produce wise and pure speech and a life able to rise above temptation.
The call to hear and understand was made openly to the multitude, declaring with authority the true meaning of sin and pollution. Defilement does not come from what goes into the mouth but from what comes out of the mouth. The declaration was plain, direct, forcible and brief, opening the Scriptures directly to the common people. Those ordinary hearers were eager to listen and far more receptive than their leaders. Because it was spoken in public, it enraged the ecclesiastical powers and silenced those seeking to destroy influence over the people, while punishment rests on leaders who turn the people from the path of rectitude.
Neglect of external, human-made ceremonies does not defile, because purity and impurity belong to the soul. What defiles comes from within the person, out of the heart, as evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness and blasphemies. Evil deeds, words and thoughts, and transgression of God's law, are what defile a person. Moral purity and improvement depend on right thinking joined with right acting, for evil thoughts destroy the soul. The converting power of God changes the heart and refines and purifies the thoughts, so that thoughts centered on Christ and brought into obedience produce wise and pure speech and a life able to rise above temptation.