THE CHALLENGE FOR INTERNAL PURITY

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.” (Matthew 23:25 KJV)

One of the deepest deceit of our times especially in the body of Christ is christians who have all the outward appearances of true Christianity but internally are dirty. This was an issue Jesus addressed in his days and continues to be important to date. The challenge is to ensure that what we are internally synchronizes with what we are externally. Most of the times, we see people who demonstrate the appearances of growth and are busy doing things in the church but in reality they are empty internally. They are producing fruits which they do not have the seed in themselves to produce those fruits.

The risk of such a life lie in the following:
The unclean-in-the-inside Christian professes to a life he does not live. People are easily deceived by it and many fall from the leadership of such people. They are blind but somehow claim that they can actually see and are leading people astray. May God deliver us from such false leaders in Jesus name, Amen.
This attitude shows a two-facedness that is unwelcomed in the kingdom. Integrity is not assured and the vicious circle of deceit continues to widen as we relate with such people. Their words, actions and testimonies do not line up with their fruits.

As I ponder over these, I wonder why we can be clean outside but not inside. The real essence in us is our internal state because out of the fullness/cleanness of the heart, the mouth speaks: our actions demonstrating our internal state. Those with unclean insides must have learnt the traditions and mechanically exhibit attributes of the cleansed. Yet the one who is clean on the inside is affected by the Word of God and Jesus living inside the person causes the true life to be lived.

We are therefore welcomed into a life where we should allow Jesus in our inside: guaranteeing our cleanliness while our outside is influenced by what goes on in our inside. May God help us live out the fullness of the Christian life. May your expectations of me be met as I depend on you. I detest two-facedness. I take up my cross and live today clean on the inside as well as outside too, Amen.