Chapter # 7 Paragraph # 1 Study # 10
June 7, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(314)
1901 ASV
7:15 there is nothing from without the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.
7:16 [If any man hath ears to hear, let him hear.]
7:17 And when he was entered into the house from the multitude, his disciples asked of him the parable.
7:18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, [it] cannot defile him;
7:19 because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? [This he said], making all meats clean.
7:20 And he said, That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man.
7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,
7:22 covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness:
7:23 all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man.
- I. Jesus' "Critical Truth".
- A. Established as "critical".
- B. Declared as "Truth".
- 1. "Nothing is without of the man entering into him which is able to degrade him".
- a. The idea of the word translated "defile" is that of "degrade" in the sense that one is lowered in the estimation of God from "possession" to "not possessed".
- b. This idea of "being disowned" by God is unique to Israel because Israel was chosen by God and were "His people" and, for that cause, those within Israel could be rejected by Him for cause.
- c. The nations were regularly identified as "not My people" (Romans 9:25-26) so that they, technically, could not be disowned by Him having never been owned by Him. This does not deny God's "ownership" by virtue of the Creator's prerogative; it, rather, denies God's "ownership" within the terms of "redemption" and "restoration to a familial relationship".
- 2. "BUT the things out of the man proceeding is/are the things degrading the man".
- a. There is the anomaly in 7:15 of the verb "estin", being a third person singular, present indicative active, being the main verb for the "things proceeding out from" (ta ... ekporeuomena), being a plural nominative: this is a strange wedding of a plural subject being tied to a singular verb. The NASB (as well as the Authorized Version) translates "...the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man", rather than the more accurate "...the things ... is ...".
- 1) There is an implication here that, rather than a multitude of "things" which defile, there is a singular thing that produces all of the "things", and that it is that singular thing, that is already defiled, that produces all of the defiling activities.
- a) In all of the Scriptures, including the climactic text in Revelation 20:12, the "judgment" of men is a determination based upon what they have done (1 Peter 1:17), not what they have merely had pass through their cogitations.
- b) This is not to deny that these judgments will include those thoughts (Romans 2:16), but it is to recognize that the "sin that crouches at the door" (Genesis 4:7) is the same issue of James 1:15 wherein there is a time frame involved in "sin being "conceived" and "sin bringing forth death".
- c) It is also a declared fact that God's refusal to "own" a person will be based upon His evaluation of the things which they have done. They will be cast into the Lake of Fire as the "disowned of God" because of their deeds (Revelation 20:12).
- 2) In a word, then, Jesus is saying that men are already defiled at the level of "heart" and their actions prove that.
- b. Then, in harmony with this anomaly of 7:15, there is, in Jesus' explanation of His meaning, in 7:23, another example of the same kind.
- 1) This explanation is preceded by Jesus' separation of His disciples from the crowd by entering into a house, and their questioning Him about the meaning of the "parable".
- a) He responds by "saying" to them, "Are you thusly also without understanding?"
- b) He follows up by a second question; "Do you not know that all which proceeds into from without the man cannot make him 'disowned'"? His reasoning is that "...it does not enter into the heart, but into the colon, and exits into the privy".
- 2) In 7:23, there are two main verbs, "ekporeueomai" [translated "proceed from"] and "koinoo" [translated "defile"], that are both "third person singular", but which are also wedded to the plural nominative "ta" [translated "things"]. This is the same wedding of a plural subject of the verb to a singular noun that we saw in 7:15.
- 3) Thus, in Jesus' explanation, He again declares that there is a "single" root cause that produces the "plural" manifestations.
- a) Evil thoughts (oi dialogismoi oi kakoi): the reasonings which are evil. This is the initial point of "beginning"; all "sins" arise from this beginning point. Before any temptation can be effective, the "reasonings" must be twisted/corrupted.
- b. Fornications. Sexual sin, followed by two further issues.
- c. Adulteries. Sexual sin, followed by three further issues.
- i. Deeds of coveting.
- ii. Deeds of wickedness.
- iii. Deceit.
- d. Sensuality. Sexual sin, followed by four further issues.
- i. Envy.
- ii. Slander.
- iii. Pride.
- iv. Foolishness.
- c. In Jesus' words of explanation, He makes it very clear that the actual "problem" is not the list of severe wickednesses which He lists, but the condition of the "heart" that produces such things.
- 1) In the initial statement of 7:15 it appears that it is "the things proceeding out of the man" which degrade the man into the status of being disowned by God.
- 2) But, in the explanation, it is very clear that the heart is already "degraded".