This Proverb says, “Who can say, I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from sin?” The short answer is, ‘nobody can.’ The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The Bible also says, “No one is good, no not one.”
There are some people in religion who think they are good. They do not see themselves as sinners. They do not see their own rottenness. Perhaps this is because of their status in their religious organization.
When Jesus was on the Earth 2000 years ago, He condemned the self-righteous religious officials. He did not condemn those acknowledged their sin. Rather, Jesus had compassion for them. These people were more receptive to Jesus than were the religious officials.
Jesus called the religious people ‘whitewashed tombs.’ They were clean on the outside. However on the inside they were rotten. These were the people who rejected Jesus. They were not receptive to His teaching. Additionally, Jesus was a threat to their religion. So, they had Jesus murdered.
In Jesus’ day, formal religion led people away from Jesus. Unfortunately, former religion still leads people away from Jesus.
The Bible characterizes Jesus as the living Word of God. Therefore, we should look to the Word of God instead of religion for guidance.
