Jhhemtyd Part 5: Outward Appearance Vs. Inward Reality

Their hope and trust is in what they do, not in Christ alone. And they may come to the end of their life not ever really knowing Christ for themselves.

They’ll be with those Jesus talks about who say, “Hey wait a minute! Let me in! I did all sorts of neat stuff in Your name. What’s the deal here? Why can’t I get in?”

And Jesus will reply, “I never knew you. Depart from Me.”

The second danger is that others see the hypocrisy and they decide to reject Jesus based on what they see in people who call themselves Christians but act anything like Jesus.

I’ve mentioned that time and time again since starting this series and many times before.

And I think that this is the main reason Jesus spends so much energy here beating these guys up about their hypocrisy.

You: Jesus says that real cleansing takes place from the inside out, not the other way around.

Look back at verse 26 –

“First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”

Jesus says that as we are cleaned up from the inside, then our outside will be clean because it reflects what’s inside.

So there’s really only one application from this portion of Scripture, isn’t there?

And that is to let God cleanse you.

From the inside out.

There are two main types of cleansing that Jesus and the Scriptures talk about.

1. The cleansing of our sins when we trust in Christ.

Colossians 2:13 –

When you were dead in your sins… God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.

The moment you come to Christ for that wonderful gift we call salvation, you re cleansed from all your past sins, no matter how great or small.

You are wiped clean and made a new person.

It’s as if you never sinned at all, according to God’s ledger. And it’s because of Christ doing this, you are given the gift of heaven when you pass from this earth.

If that was all that Christ had to offer us, that would be enough, but He offers us this second kind of cleansing:

2. The cleansing of our hearts when we submit to Christ completely.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 –

23 Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.

When we offer ourselves fully to Christ, God does a great work in us.

His Holy Spirit fills us completely and entirely. And He cleanses our hearts so that we’ll want Christ above all else, and we’ll want to live for Him above all else.

In other words, we give ourselves to Him. And He makes us holy.

That’s not to say you’ll live a completely sin-free life, but your desire to live a life of holiness will be paramount, because you want to honor Christ with your life.

The hunger and thirst for righteousness will be the dominate force in a Spirit-filled person’s life. (Keith Drury, Holiness for Ordinary People)

When you are cleansed like this, the tendency toward hypocrisy is lessened, and in the lives of many, completely erased.

You don’t need the mask anymore.

Going back to the milk illustration for a moment: