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Mark 7:15 |
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There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
Note 9 at Mr 7:15: This statement looks like it is in direct opposition to Le 11:40, 22:8; De 14:7-8, 12-19, 21, and other Old Testament passages. However, Col 2:16-17 reveals that all of these Old Testament dietary laws were shadows (or pictures) of spiritual truths that would become realities in the New Covenant. These Pharisees (as well as many Christians today) missed all of the spiritual significance of these laws and saw only the physical act.
The real spiritual meaning that these Old Testament dietary laws pictured was that we are supposed to be holy (separated) unto God in everything, even what we eat. The New Testament scripture that corresponds to this is 1Co 10:31: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Under the Old Testament Law, it was forbidden to eat or to touch certain animals (Le 11 and De 14:3-21), not because there was anything wrong with the animals but to illustrate the point of being separated unto God and to serve as a constant reminder of this separation. Under the New Testament, we see that no animal is, or ever was, unclean of itself (Ro 14:14 and 1Ti 4:1-5). The Old Testament designation of certain animals as unclean was purely symbolic, and this is why Jesus could make this statement.
Jesus' statements here refer to more than just the Old Testament clean and unclean beasts, however. He said that nothing that enters into us through our mouths could defile us. However, this statement cannot be interpreted as condoning any type of abuse we would like to give our bodies, such as gluttony, drug abuse, etc. Rather, Jesus was simply explaining that the condition of our hearts should be given preeminence over our physical bodies. Our hearts control our bodies (Pr 23:7), not the other way around. Sin doesn't make our hearts corrupt, but our corrupt hearts make us sin. God looks on our hearts (1Sa 16:7), and our cleanliness or defilement in His sight is dependent solely on whether or not we have been made clean in our spirits by the blood of the Lamb.
