Discipleship is a Heart Issue

Well here we are again. Welcome back to our study of the book of Mark, Lessons in Discipleship. Last week, we started chapter 7 which opens up with the religious authorities once again coming to investigate Jesus’ ministry. But let’s be clear — this wasn’t a friendly visit. These religious authorities have long since make up their mind about Jesus. In fact, we learned back in chapter 3 that they were already plotting to kill Him. And here’s another important detail: these authorities came from Jerusalem — the religious headquarters. This wasn’t just a casual delegation. This was the theological elite, sent from the center of power, determined to confront Jesus and discredit His influence among the Jewish people. Which is exactly what they do when they show up. They accuse Jesus and His disciples of not following the proper handwashing procedure before they ate.

And this handwashing had nothing to do with personal hygiene — it was all about ritual purity. The Pharisees and scribes were accusing Jesus and His disciples of being ceremonially unclean because they didn’t wash their hands according to the traditions of the elders. In other words, they weren’t following the religious rules built on centuries of oral tradition, passed down from one generation to the next. But here’s the key: this handwashing requirement wasn’t found anywhere in the Old Testament. It was part of a man-made religion — a system obsessed with outward appearances of holiness while ignoring the real issue: the condition of the heart.

And this is exactly what Jesus is about to confront head-on. He’s going to teach both the crowd and His disciples that the religious leaders have it completely backwards. They were worried about external things — what might touch them, what they might eat — thinking those things could defile them. But Jesus flips the script. He says it’s not what goes into a person that defiles them, but what comes out.

And we need to understand — this would’ve absolutely shocked a Jewish audience. They were obsessed with handwashing, dietary laws, and doing whatever it took to stay ceremonially clean. But Jesus is about to call this man‑made religious system out for what it really is — a legalistic set of rules that completely missed the point of God’s law. The heart of the law was always to love God and to love one’s neighbor. Somewhere along the way, they traded that for traditions that looked holy on the outside but left the heart untouched.

Let me put it in a way that I hope sticks with you.

You can’t wash the outside good enough to clean up the heart.

This is what Jesus is getting ready to declare to the crowd and then teach his disciples. You see, it doesn’t matter how many rules you come up with to try and modify your behavior, it will never clean up the heart. Why? Because God has to do that. God cleans up the heart as we study HIs word and walk in fellowship with Him. You can never stack up enough commandments to stop people from sinning. You can’t. Why? Because we’ll just break them. Paul tells us in Romans that the very commandment not to do something actually stirs up the desire to do it. Think about it — you may have walked down the same hallway five days a week for twenty years and never thought about touching the wall. But put up a sign that says, “Wet paint — don’t touch” and suddenly you have the urge to touch it. That’s the effect God’s commandments have on our sin nature. And that’s why focusing on the rules never works — because the problem isn’t outside, it’s inside.

This is one of the most important truths I can teach you regarding growth in the Christian life. Don’t become a Christian and write down all the commandments you have to follow. No, get in the Bible and learn about the Lord. Learn about His goodness. Learn about all the things He has done for you, and let Him work on your heart. Then, over time God will transform you inwardly. Now, here’s the point. I’m not saying obedience isn’t important — because it is. What I telling you is the pathway to obedience is found by focusing on the commander not the commandments. Let me put it this way: God needs to transform the inside so that we can live obedient lives on the outside. Success in the Christian life is not trying really hard to be good. It is about God transforming us inwardly and learning to live enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit. And the key to all this is our hearts. Which brings us to the title of today’s lesson.

Discipleship is a heart issue

Discipleship is a heart issue. Why we do what we do is just as important to God as what we do. Let me say that again — why we do what we do is just as important to God as what we do. Yikes, right?

Here’s an example: if we come to church and use our spiritual gift just to get praise from people, then that praise is the only reward we’ll ever receive from God. Our motivations matter. We don’t serve for applause. We don’t serve to promote ourselves or to secure positions of honor. We serve out of love and gratitude for the One who first loved us.

Now, this is a tricky subject, because I’m not sure our motivations are ever completely pure. But as we study the Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us, something changes — we become more motivated by love for Christ and love for our brothers and less motivated to serve ourselves.

Discipleship is about inward cleansing and transformation. It’s the work the Holy Spirit does in us through the Word of God. Again, discipleship is a heart issue. Only God can clean up the inside — and that’s exactly what growth in Christ is all about. It’s not about outward purity or appearances; it’s about inner purity, the kind that only He can produce.

Ok, with that being said, we are ready to dig into today’s text. But before we do let’s go to the Lord in prayer.

Alright, here we go. Keep in mind, this passage comes right after the Pharisees accused Jesus of letting His disciples eat bread with “defiled — that is, unwashed — hands.” Starting with verses 14 & 15,

Mark 7:14–16 NKJV

14 When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand: 15 There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Notice how the Lord begins by saying, “Hear me, everyone, and understand”. Don’t miss the magnitude of these words. This is the voice of God crying out for man to listen. The Lord wants them to listen to direct revelation from God Himself. This is why I never approach scripture without asking God to enlighten my understanding. This is the word of God we are studying. This is revelation from God Himself given to us to understand, and oh what a revelation it is. Moving on to verse 15 he says, There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.

For the Jewish people, to hear Jesus say that “nothing entering a man from the outside can defile him would have rocked them to the core”. Their entire lives they had been taught that not keeping the traditions of the elders caused a person to become defiled. This legalistic system was ingrained in their culture. It was a part of their identity. It was a part of who they were and as we learned last week all of these traditions were about making sure the outside was clean. Think about what these religious authorities were teaching. You must wash your hands a certain way. There were rules about washing pots, couches, and taking baths after you returned from the market place. All of these things were designed to keep a person from becoming defiled. And even worse, they taught that if a person did all of these outward things then they were pleasing to God. But the sad reality is none of these traditions were in the Bible, and not a single one of these traditions had a shed of spiritual value. Why? Because you can’t,

You can’t wash the outside good enough to clean up the heart.

Let me say this in language closer to what the Lord uses. Being spiritual defiled is a inward issue. Everything that defiles a man starts from within, and comes out of a man. That is exactly what He says in verse 15.

Mark 7:15 NKJV

15 There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.

He says, “nothing that enters a man from outside defiles him; but the things which come out of him. You see, Jesus is saying all of this handwashing business and thinking that a person is defiled by what they eat completely misses the point. It’s not what goes in, its what comes out. Let me put it this way.

All sin originates in the heart

The major takeaway from this entire message is this: all sin originates in the heart, and cleaning up the outside will never fix the problem.

Now remember, Jesus is speaking to the crowds here. That means there were many unbelievers listening, but also some believers mixed in as well. And what He says benefits both groups.

For the unbelievers, His words should have been a wake-up call. The traditions of the elders could never provide eternal life, and they could never lead to righteousness before God. If the problem was inside a man, then all the washings, rituals, and baths were powerless because they didn’t purify the inside. Simply put, a works-based religion could not save them.

However, believers would have benefited from hearing this as well. Why? Because keeping a set of man‑made, legalistic rules could never please God either. Those rules had no power to address the real issue — the heart.

As Christians, we should never try to make up for our sins by performing a bunch of rituals. God doesn’t want that. When we sin, what He desires is that we confess our sins to Him and turn away from them. He doesn’t want us to keep repeating the same sins and then try to cover them up with outward religious activity.

That kind of response is nothing more than worshiping God with our lips while our hearts are far from Him. And that, Jesus says, is worshipping God in vain. And this is the very essence of manmade religion.

Ok, we need to forge ahead here so I don’t run out of time. So, Jesus had just proclaimed that it isn’t what enters a man that defiles him but rather what comes out, and He finishes by saying:

Mark 7:16 NKJV

16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”

When Jesus speaks to the crowd, He begins with a command to listen and understand, and He closes with a command to hear what He has just said. In other words: stand up and pay attention, people. A casual reading of this passage should make it clear that what the Lord just said is weighty. It was absolutely crucial for the crowd to stop, think long and hard, and wrestle with His words — because what He said challenged everything they had been taught growing up.

But here’s the thing: there’s an application here for us as well. On our discipleship journey, as we dig into the Scriptures, we’re going to face the same kind of struggle. God’s Word will confront traditions we’ve inherited, assumptions we’ve carried, and even habits we’ve justified. And when that happens, the question is: will we really hear what Jesus is saying, or will we harden our hearts? Sadly, many people will harden their hearts against the truth of God’s word because they are so attached to tradition.

If you hear nothing else this morning hear this. Long standing traditions are not the source of truth. The word of God is. And if the two don’t agree, the tradition must be abandoned, and believe me this is easier said than done. Ok, let’s move on.

Mark 7:17 NKJV

17 When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.

The first thing we need to notice is that the rest of this passage is a private conversation between Jesus and His disciples. Verse 17 says, “When He had entered a house away from the crowd”. Now remember what happened a few chapters ago. The religious leaders accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan, and from that point on, Jesus only spoke to the crowds in parables.

And what we see here follows the same pattern we saw back in chapter 4: Jesus gives a parable to the crowd, but when He’s alone with His disciples, He explains it to them.

Now notice — the disciples themselves are confused by what He just said. The second part of the verse tells us, “His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.” That little detail is important. It shows us that Jesus’ teaching didn’t just shock the crowds — it blew the disciples’ minds as well.

And here’s where the Greek helps us. The verb “asked” is in a tense that emphasizes continuous action. In other words, they didn’t just ask Him one quick question — they kept on asking. They were asking multiple questions about his teaching.

“You see, when Jesus taught this, it stirred up a lot of questions in the disciples’ minds. And that’s important for us to notice—because this is part of what it means to follow Him. Being a disciple of Jesus doesn’t mean you always have the answers. It means you’re willing to wrestle with hard truths and to keep asking until He gives you understanding.

Discipleship isn’t instant clarity—it’s a process. It’s a journey of learning, unlearning, and relearning as we walk with Him.” This is what the disciples are doing.

Now, let’s see how Jesus responds to their questions.

Mark 7:18–19 NKJV

18 So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?”

Jesus answer leads me to believe that they were asking questions about clean and unclean foods. They asked the same question I would have asked. “What do you mean nothing from the outside can defile a man? What about unclean foods? What if a person eats pork?” You see, their entire lives they had been raised under the dietary restrictions of the Law of Moses. Eating unclean foods like pork and shell fish were a big no no.

But notice, Jesus isn’t attacking the dietary laws or saying it was suddenly fine to eat whatever they wanted. He’s making a deeper point about what truly defiles a person. In the Old Testament, when a Jewish person ate unclean food, it wasn’t the food itself that made them unclean — it was their disobedience to God’s command. The real issue wasn’t on the plate; it was in the heart. The urge to break God’s law didn’t come from the food — it came from within. So, let me let me bring us back to an earlier point.

All sin originates in the heart

Jesus makes this crystal clear in verse 19. He says, whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?”

Ok, with the time we have remaining I want to do this. I want us to answer a couple of questions.

What is Jesus referring to when He speaks of the heart?

How do we clean up our hearts?

Let’s tackle the first question. When Jesus speaks of the heart He is obviously not referring to the physical organ that is pumping blood through our veins. No, he is speaking a spiritual truth here, and we should interpret it as such. You see, the heart refers to the inner man. It is where we think and make decisions.

In fact Proverbs 23:7 says, for as a man thinks in his heart, so he is. What does this mean? It means that who we really are is found deep within us. This is the place that nobody sees but us, well us and God. The heart of a man, who he really is, is found in our thoughts and desires. Let me put it on a slide to help everyone remember.

The heart refers to the inner man

So when Jesus talks about the heart, He’s talking about the real you—the thoughts, motives, and desires that drive everything else in your life. In other words, who we really are is not what people see on the outside, but what’s going on inside us. This is the part of us that nobody else sees—but God sees it perfectly. And he is not fooled by outward religion where our hearts are far from Him. And Jesus is getting ready to drive this home in the next few verses.

Mark 7:20–22 NKJV

20 And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.

“Let’s pause on verse 21 for a moment. Jesus says, ‘For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts.’ Now I want to stop right here at ‘evil thoughts’ for a moment.

This whole list of sins that Jesus names, flows out of the inner man, and it all begins with evil thoughts. In other words, everything that follows—adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts—these are all born out of evil thoughts.

All sin starts in seed form as a thought. And when those thoughts are left unchecked, they grow into sinful actions and attitudes. That’s exactly what we see in the rest of this list—what begins in the mind eventually shows up in outward behavior.”

Now here is what is interesting, after Jesus mentions evil thoughts, He lists twelve sins. The first six are plural nouns, pointing to repeated sinful actions, while the last six are singular nouns, describing settled sinful attitudes of the heart.” I put this on slides to make it easier to see.

First Six: repeated sinful actions Adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness

Let’s look at the first six sins which are, “adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness”. Again, these six sins are plural nouns which tells us something. These are repeated evil actions that men commit over and over. In other words, the evil thoughts became outward realities, and often times these turn into habits or sins that are repeated. This is how sin entangles a person. What begins as a thought becomes an action, and what is repeated as an action becomes a pattern of life.

“And just to make sure we’re tying this all together—what Jesus is describing here is an inner problem. So trying to fix it with an outward solution, like hand washings or ritual baths, does absolutely nothing.

Let me say it even stronger: no religious tradition, no ritual, no amount of outward activity has the power to purify the inner man. That is simply not God’s pathway to sanctification. His work of transformation always begins on the inside and then flows outward.”

Now, before we talk about how the Lord actually transforms us inwardly, let’s look at these last six sins Jesus names: deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.

Last Six: settled sinful attitudes Deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness

Here’s something interesting—this second list is made up of singular nouns. Why? Because these aren’t describing repeated outward actions like the first list. These are settled attitudes of the heart.

Take ‘an evil eye,’ for example. That’s most likely an expression for envy. Envy isn’t so much a repeated action as it is a posture of the heart—an attitude we harbor inside. The same is true with blasphemy. Blasphemy can be directed toward God, but it can also be directed toward another person. In that case, it means slander. And I bring that up because slander is something that too often creeps into the church. But make no mistake—it is an evil attitude of the heart, and it must be turned away from.”

Ok, I don’t have time to go into detail about each of these 12 sins, but we may go more in depth on these on Wednesday night. So, come join us.

Then in our last verse Jesus gives us a summary statement. Where He says,

Mark 7:23 NKJV

23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

Here’s what I want us to realize as believers: this teaching should a profound impact on how we live out our Christian lives. It is not okay to let sinful actions and attitudes rule our hearts and then run around the church serving, thinking that all of our religious activity somehow makes up for it.

God is not impressed with busy hands if they’re attached to a divided heart. Religious activity can never cover up spiritual impurity. What He desires is not more rituals, but a heart that is cleansed and transformed by His Spirit.”

Busy hands can’t cover up a dirty heart

Ok, I only have a few minutes left let’s talk about the solution to our inner heart problem. In other words, let’s answer the second question I brought up earlier.

What is Jesus referring to when He speaks of the heart?

How do we clean up our hearts?

Now before I give my answer I want everyone here to realize that I have spend years on this question. Part of my own testimony involves stumbling in habitual sin and addiction, and before I took over as the Lead Pastor here I was Legacy’s recovery pastor. So, I want you to know I have prayed, studied, researched, prayed, and then studied some as I tried to answer this question. In fact, I would say that answering this question has been one of the goals of my ministry efforts over the past fours years or so. Now if you have studied with me for any amount of time this is going to be review for you. I teach this stuff all the time, but if you are visiting or haven’t heard me teach much please hang on to what I’m about to tell you.

Only God can transform our inner lives

You see, whenever we run into a problem in life, our default mode is to try and fix it ourselves. That’s what we’ve been taught from the time we were young: ‘I can do anything if I just put my mind to it.’ And so when we start wrestling with sin, we approach it the same way.

We say, ‘Alright, I’ve started drinking too much—I’ll just quit.’ So, it could be a repeated action like drunkenness, or it could be a settled attitude of the heart like hatred, envy, or jealousy. But whatever the sin is, our instinct is to say, ‘I’ll stop. End of story. I’ve got this.’

But let me be clear—that is not the solution. There is no way to willpower your way out of a sin problem. You might hold it together for a while, but old habits die hard. And if you’re depending on sheer willpower or just trying harder to behave, sooner or later you will stumble.

The truth is, sin is not defeated by human determination—it is only overcome by divine transformation.”

Sin is not defeated by human determination—it is only overcome by divine transformation.

So what is the answer? How does God transform us? Let me give you a verse that I teach all the time.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Believe it our not. This verse has the the answer to the inner cleansing question. This verse tells us how God cleans up the heart. Paul says, “But we all, with unveiled face”. When Paul mentions unveiled faces here he is speaking of believers. Then he says that believers are, “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord”. It is critically important that we understand what this part of the verse mean. Paul says we are beholding the glory of the Lord “as in a mirror”. What is the mirror? What do we look into that shows us who Jesus is? Where do we go to learn about who God is? We go to the Bible. You see the Bible acts like a mirror when we study it. Its pages reflect God’s glory so that we can see who He is. God’s word is how He reveals Himself to us. So Paul is saying that when believers study the word of God, it is acting like a mirror showing us the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And amazing as that is that is not all. God’s word has a purifying effect on our inner man. It has a transforming effect on our hearts. Paul says that when we behold the image of Jesus on the pages of Scripture, we are being transformed into that same image. Don’t miss this, Legacy—when we look into that mirror, we are not just seeing Christ, we are being shaped into His likeness.

Legacy don’t miss this.

When we study our Bibles we are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ

When we study our Bibles, we are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. If that doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what will. This is how our hearts are cleansed and renewed—not by rituals, not by willpower, but by learning of Jesus, by beholding His image in the Word, and by letting the Holy Spirit transform us little by little as God reveals Himself to us.”

“Here’s the final takeaway, and then we’re done.

When we try to deal with sin by simply modifying outward behavior, we’re going about it the wrong way. That’s like trying to scrub sin off in the shower—it only cleans the outside. And that’s exactly what religion does: it tries to polish the surface while leaving the heart untouched.

But that isn’t what God wants. He wants to transform us completely, and cleanse the source of the problem—the heart. So let Him do that. Go to Him daily prayer. Confess when you stumble. Study His Word so He can transform you inwardly. Live in fellowship with other believers so they can encourage you along the way.

Don’t be religious. Be transformed by the power of God. Amen.

Let’s pray.