The Danger of Baseless Morality
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Readings:Lent is a 40-day period of penance, reflection, and fasting observed by many Christians, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending before Easter Sunday. It commemorates the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert, and believers often use this time to prepare spiritually through prayer, self-denial, and acts of charity. The season emphasizes repentance and renewal, culminating in the celebration of Jesus' resurrection on Easter. Although we do not formally celebrate lent and Ash Wednesday, we do well to follow the readings that go with it; 2Tim3.16
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
“When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it,
you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name to dwell there.
And you shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’
Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.
“And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor.
Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.
And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders.
And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God.
And you shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”Psalm91.9-16
Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—
no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ ”
And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time,
and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.
If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”
And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’ ”
And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,
for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’
and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”
And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Big Idea: Morality without Christ leads to disaster.
Recap:
Maligning Jesus;
Jesus healed a mute man.
The “propaganda press” against Jesus was that they were saying he cast out demons by Beelzebul.
Jesus pointed out the bad logic of this assumption: “Every Kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.”
Rather, Jesus said, if he has cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon them.
He is a stronger one than Satan, and overcomes him.
Whoever is not with Jesus is against him. Even those who say they are agnostic, and are not agains Jesus are his enemies. You are either with Jesus or against him.
Today’ passage:
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’
And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order.
Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!”
But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
The Danger of Baseless Morality:
Many people, both religious and non-religious, endeavor to straighten up their lives by removing some vice.
Addicts go through multiple rounds of treatments. (Examples: Alcohol, drugs, porn, bad eating habits, etc)
But what happens to someone who clears out one bad habit, but fails to replace it with something good, something wholesome?
They will end up replacing one bad habit with worse habits. Example: a person who struggled with substance abuse, but got hooked on gambling.
It is true in the case of moral choices. But the situation becomes far worse when we realize that this is more than mere morality, this has to do with the spiritual condition.
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’
We are not told the mode of the unclean spirit going out of a person, but clearly Jesus is not referring to the demons he casts out. When Jesus casts out a demon, the work is complete. The demon cannot return.
But there were Jewish Exorcists; he may be referring to this.
Or, he may be referring to someone who had made the decision, on their own, to rid themselves of some vice or sin.
The unclean spirit goes through waterless places. It was a common belief in that culture that deserts were a place of evil spirits, desolate places represent spiritual death.
After this wandering, the evil spirit finds no place to rest, and says “I will return to my house from which I came.”
The spirit considers himself to be the owner of the person he inhabited. Demon possession: A demon not only takes up residence, it takes ownership.
Remember the parable Jesus gave: “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.”
Satan (and his demons) are the strong man in this parable. Jesus is the stronger one who attacks and overcomes him.
A true “Takeover” by Jesus is permanent. But outside of God’s power, no one can permanently rid themselves of the demonic oppression and sin within them.
The person who attempts to become moral on their own may have some apparent success for a time, but herein lies the danger. People can be very moral (in their own understanding) and yet be completely void of the things of God:
Think of types of morality today that people have that they feel superior in (virtue signaling):
Environmental (Can be good, but becomes a religion in itself for some)
Showing love (by which is meant tolerating all sin. This sort of morality is a worldly sort)
Or it could be simply a person trying to do self-improvement, but outside of the power of God in their lives, and the Holy Spirit residing within, they really are powerless to become what God has called them to be.
In fact, a great danger lies in someone thinking they are moral: The person who thinks they are moral sees no need for a savior.
So even one who follows the law of God, such as Paul said he did, remains in darkness because the outward morality has not been driven by inward repentance.
This was a danger for the Pharisees: They did much that made them feel they were superior in living godly lives, but it was devoid of a real change of heart. (Reformation without regeneration)
In Matthew 23, Jesus lists many “woes” to the Pharisees:
They preach but do not practice.
They ties heavy burdens on people (rules and regulations)
They do deeds to be seen
They love being adored for their righteousness
They shut the door of heaven
They travel across sea and land to make a proselyte, and they make that one worse
They tithe with great precision, even from the herbs of their garden, but neglect justice and mercy and faithfulness.
On and on the list goes, the point is that there is great danger in reformation without regeneration. One can appear to have reformed their life, but without the regeneration of the Holy Spirit they are lost.
In fact, it is worse for a person to have reformed themselves (in their own mind) than to have never reformed at all. The one who never attempts to reform themselves at least is not under the illusion that they have made themselves good. The one who never reformed may still respond to the grace of God found in the gospel, but who will receive the gospel when they already see themselves as good?
So the demon has wandered, now it has said, I will return to my house. Next: Luk11.25-26
And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order.
Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
The person with morality outside of Christ has attempted to reform himself. Outwardly, this may appear to have been successful. But inwardly, they are still lost. Not only lost, but worse off.
Pilgrim’s Progress: Mr. Worldly Wiseman directs Christian to the village of Morality. He suggests that in Morality, Christian will be able to shed his burden through moral effort and good behavior, implying that adherence to laws and societal norms (as taught by Legality) will bring peace and ease. He contrasts this with the dangers and discomforts of the road to the Cross, urging Christian to choose this more "reasonable" option instead.
However, this advice is later revealed to be deceptive. When Christian follows it and heads toward Morality, he finds the path increasingly difficult, with the hill (symbolizing the Law’s impossible demands) threatening to crush him, showing that Mr. Worldly Wiseman’s promises are hollow and misleading. Evangelist later explains that Legality and Morality cannot truly remove the burden of sin—only the Cross can do that. Thus, Mr. Worldly Wiseman’s depiction of Morality is a false hope, rooted in human effort rather than divine grace.
More blessed than Mary:
As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!”
But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
The highest praise: May your mother be blessed, because you are a blessing.
Jesus is not correcting her, but rather he is improving upon her statement. “Much more, or even more are they blessed, who hear the word of God and keep it!”
Yes, Mary was blessed (As she stated in the Magnificat). However, real spiritual blessing is in store for those who hear the word of God and keep it. Last week I read from Psalm 119 through verse 16. (The man who is delighted in the law of God) Let’s look at some more of that chapter:
Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word.
Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.
I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!
My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.
You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments.
Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies.
Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.
My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!
When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes!
Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!
Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law!
I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!
Summary: Do not rely on your morality for salvation. Reformation without regeneration ends in spiritual death. Instead, you will be blessed if you hear and do the word of God. Above and beyond the written statutes, though is the obedience to the gospel itself.
Jesus does not invite belief, he demands it:
I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Unless you believe the gospel itself, all your morality is only making you worse off. But if you believe (in other words, hear and obey) you will be blessed.
