3. WHAT IS THEIR SENTENCE? 15-16 a. A fundamental error. After just mentioning Jewish myths and false commands of people, Paul cites this axiom of truth, “To the pure all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure.” Those that are pure are believers and those that are not pure are unbelievers. The pure is made so by the grace and mercy of God through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. This should make our minds go right to Matthew 15:11 where Jesus said that what goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them. Paul says in Romans 14:14, “I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.” Again in 1 Timothy 4:3-5, “who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” God told Peter in Acts 10 “What God has made clean, do not call common.” So whatever this false teaching was it included calling things that God had created defiled or unclean in and of itself. Paul says, there is nothing unclean in itself. What defiles is what is already in the person; the sinful nature. Certain foods are not evil, but gluttony is. The human body, sexuality, and marriage are not defiling, but the way that a corrupted human mind may use it and twist it is what is defiling. A Christian is called to use all that God has placed in this world for the glory of God. The unbeliever can’t because their minds and consciences are defiled. The way an unbeliever thinks, their understanding is corrupted. Things defile them because they don’t know how to use anything for God. Their understanding and knowledge are faulty. Not only that but their conscience, their moral compass, is broken. Their morality is tainted and corrupted by sin. So everything is defiled to them because their intellect and morality are corrupted. b. Detestable, disobedient, unfit. Because an unbeliever is defiled in both mind and conscience, what they say and do is defiled as well. They might very well profess to know God, but that is a lie because what they do, how they live, tells a different story. Their works deny the very God they say they believe. They might do many mighty works in the name of God but in the end, Jesus will tell them to depart because they are workers on iniquity. They are detestable or abominable. They are an object of hatred. They are disobedient or unable to be persuaded. They refuse to follow the truth of God’s word. In the end, they are rendered unfit for doing any and all kinds of good. Their impurity, their defiled understanding, and their conscience leave them unable to perform even the smallest act of good. This is a clear example of the doctrine of total depravity. 3. WHAT IS THEIR SENTENCE? 15-16 a. A fundamental error. After just mentioning Jewish myths and false commands of people, Paul cites this axiom of truth, “To the pure all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure.” Those that are pure are believers and those that are not pure are unbelievers. The pure is made so by the grace and mercy of God through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. This should make our minds go right to Matthew 15:11 where Jesus said that what goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them. Paul says in Romans 14:14, “I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.” Again in 1 Timothy 4:3-5, “who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” God told Peter in Acts 10 “What God has made clean, do not call common.” So whatever this false teaching was it included calling things that God had created defiled or unclean in and of itself. Paul says, there is nothing unclean in itself. What defiles is what is already in the person; the sinful nature. Certain foods are not evil, but gluttony is. The human body, sexuality, and marriage are not defiling, but the way that a corrupted human mind may use it and twist it is what is defiling. A Christian is called to use all that God has placed in this world for the glory of God. The unbeliever can’t because their minds and consciences are defiled. The way an unbeliever thinks, their understanding is corrupted. Things defile them because they don’t know how to use anything for God.