Clean All The Way Down

Summary

It is easy to look faithful on the outside while missing what God actually cares about most. In Matthew 15, Jesus confronts religious leaders who had elevated human traditions to the level of God's commands, using their practices to avoid genuine obedience. He makes clear that real defilement does not come from what touches our hands but from what is already inside our hearts. Our words, thoughts, and hidden attitudes reveal what is truly going on within us. No amount of religious performance can clean a heart that has not been honestly brought before God. Like David in Psalm 51, we cannot make ourselves clean. Only God can do that, and He is faithful to do so when we come to Him with honesty and humility.