What Makes People Not Clean?

What Makes People Not Clean
In religion, there are often many rules for what is clean and what is not clean. People apply this to food. Certain foods are declared unclean like meats, eggs or alcoholic beverages. They subject themselves to regulations – “do not touch, do not taste, do not handle…”
People also apply this to various washings. They do not eat or do not handle religious things unless they wash their hands in a special way, upholding the traditions of their fathers. This may be done for many reasons. Perhaps one reason is that this is one way of making oneself ritually clean before God.
But does the adhering to various washings and food rules make people clean before God? Do these help us in such a way that God hears and favors us?
The Lord Jesus answers this question. He says, “There is nothing that enters a man from the outside which can defile him.” He says, “the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.” “Defile”, of course, means ‘to make dirty.’
So what kinds of things come out of a person that makes him dirty? It’s those things from within. The Lord Jesus gives a list, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.” He concludes His talk by saying, “All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
So all the ‘dirt’ within, in our hearts, is what makes people not clean. Jesus says that this is the real problem with us. Our hearts are the real problem. There is nothing than can sanitize our hearts. Sadhu Sunder Singh described the problem in this way. He said that if we take a piece of black charcoal, we can use all kinds of soaps and cleaners. But even then, after we are all done, the charcoal is still black.
What will make a person clean? Only the Lord Jesus can make a person clean. We need to go to Him for cleansing. That’s why He died on the cross. He died on the cross for unclean people. That’s how much He loved the world. The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He [Jesus] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” He is the answer! He can make you and me clean!