This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me

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Mark 7:1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables. 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 11 But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. 12 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; 13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. 14 And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: 15 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. 16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. 17 And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. 18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? 20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

I now ask this question: How does one become a Christian? Answer: One becomes a Christian by making a personal commitment to God to follow him. It is all about a personal commitment that you make to God. It is a promise. It is the same kind of thing one does when he marries someone. When you marry someone you make a commitment, a promise, to be faithful to that person for the rest of your life. When you make a commitment to God to follow him you promise to forsake the ways of the world and follow in his way of Goodness and Virtue for the rest of your life.

Being a true Christian is all about obedience. It is about avoiding all the different kinds of sins that arise in the wicked, foolish human heart — sins that characterize the world and its ways — and leading a virtuous good life. It is about living as Jesus instructed us to live: leading a honest, moral, godfearing life. See Adjectives describing a true Christian

It seems to me that I see great self-deception in all of the Christian denominations. I believe that in evangelicalism, Catholicism, and other Christian denominations I see an attempt to reduce Christianity to a matter of simply following some easily followed rites, rituals, ceremonies, or religious duties, a matter of just doing some acts that are easily done, much as the ancient Jews tried to equate obedience to God with following certain rituals. In the minds of many evangelicals just praying a certain prayer is sufficient to make you a Christian. Well, if that prayer represents an honest commitment to God that may suffice but there is a danger of it being a simple ritual, words only.

This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

There is a great deal of self-deception among religious people I think. I think a great number of churches are teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Ministers preach the doctrines that they were taught in seminaries. Different denominations teach different doctrines. I suspect these doctrines that are so strongly impressed into preacher’s minds in their seminaries of being mostly doctrines of man and not of God. A person may indeed think he is a Christian. But that doesn’t make one a Christian. A person can be self-deceived.

Just being active in a church and doing things the preacher wants you to do is not the essential part of being a Christian. That may be all the preacher cares about but it is not all that God cares about. The preacher may be more interested in increasing the size of the congregation and the amount of money coming in than he is about your spiritual welfare.

Mark 7: 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

It is all about the heart, what is in the heart.

Deception. Lies. We live in a world of deception and lies. Satan is into everything. He even gets into churches.

25 June 2022