FIVE QUESTIONS REGARDING REAL FAITH
Matthew 15:1-2 (NIV) Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
Matthew 15:3 (NIV) Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?
1. Do You Put Self Ahead of Scripture?
Why you do something matters more than what you do.
Matthew 15:4-6 (NIV) For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
Matthew 15:6-9 (NIV) they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Proverbs 14:12 (NLT)
12 There is a path before each person that seems right,
but it ends in death.
If you have real faith, scripture will be more important than self.
2. Are You More Talk Than Action?
Matthew 15:7-8 (NIV)
7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
James 2:17 (NIV) In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Faith is active.
Proverbs 14:23 (NIV)
23 All hard work brings a profit,
but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Success is active.
1 John 3:18 (NIV) Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Love is active.
If you have real faith, your actions will speak louder than words.
3. Are You Easily Offended?
Matthew 15:10-12 (NIV)
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
Filter your offenses.
Who are they?
Proverbs 19:11 (NIV)
11 A person’s wisdom yields patience;
it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.Who am I?
Psalms 119:165 (NIV)
165 Great peace have those who love your law,
and nothing can make them stumble.What is true?
James 1:19-20 (NIV) My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
If you have real faith, you will filter your offenses.
4. Is Your Life Headed In The Right Direction?
Matthew 15:13-14 (NIV) He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
You direction will be determined by your devotion.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to Him,
and He will make your paths straight.
If you have real faith, you will trust in the Lord.
5. Is the Outside More Important Than the Inside?
Matthew 15:16-20 (NIV) “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
If you have real faith, you will focus on your heart.
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