Verse 15

There is nothing outside of a person that can defile him by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles him.”

Referenced Verses

  • Mark 7:18-23 : 18 He said to them,“Are you so foolish? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him? 19 For it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and then goes out into the sewer.”(This means all foods are clean.) 20 He said,“What comes out of a person defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. 23 All these evils come from within and defile a person.”
  • Matt 12:34 : 34 Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart.
  • Matt 15:16 : 16 Jesus said,“Even after all this, are you still so foolish?
  • Lev 11:42-47 : 42 You must not eat anything that crawls on its belly or anything that walks on all fours or on any number of legs of all the swarming things that swarm on the land, because they are detestable. 43 Do not make yourselves detestable by any of the swarming things. You must not defile yourselves by them and become unclean by them, 44 for I am the LORD your God and you are to sanctify yourselves and be holy because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any of the swarming things that creep on the ground, 45 for I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, and you are to be holy because I am holy. 46 This is the law of the land animals, the birds, all the living creatures that move in the water, and all the creatures that swarm on the land, 47 to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between the living creatures that may be eaten and the living creatures that must not be eaten.’”
  • Prov 4:23 : 23 Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it are the sources of life.
  • Acts 10:14-16 : 14 But Peter said,“Certainly not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and ritually unclean!” 15 The voice spoke to him again, a second time,“What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!” 16 This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into heaven.
  • Acts 10:28 : 28 He said to them,“You know that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile, yet God has shown me that I should call no person defiled or ritually unclean.
  • Acts 11:8-9 : 8 But I said,‘Certainly not, Lord, for nothing defiled or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth!’ 9 But the voice replied a second time from heaven,‘What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!’ 10 This happened three times, and then everything was pulled up to heaven again.
  • Acts 15:20-21 : 20 but that we should write them a letter telling them to abstain from things defiled by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood. 21 For Moses has had those who proclaim him in every town from ancient times, because he is read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
  • Rom 14:17 : 17 For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
  • 1 Cor 10:25 : 25 Eat anything that is sold in the marketplace without questions of conscience,
  • 1 Tim 4:3-5 : 3 They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creation of God is good and no food is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. 5 For it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer.
  • Titus 1:15 : 15 All is pure to those who are pure. But to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
  • Heb 9:10 : 10 They served only for matters of food and drink and various ritual washings; they are external regulations imposed until the new order came.
  • Heb 13:9 : 9 Do not be carried away by all sorts of strange teachings. For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not ritual meals, which have never benefited those who participated in them.