Clean Inside

First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.

Matthew 23:26

This promise is tucked in alongside a challenge that Jesus was issuing the religious elite of his day. They were scrupulous about certain outward behaviors that would make them look good to those around them, but they were unconcerned about the state of their hearts. Jesus was pointing out that their emphasis was in the wrong place. He was calling them to a higher standard—cleanliness from the inside.

Jesus states a principle that when the inside is clean, the outside will become clean. The outside can’t ever get really cleaned up until the inner matters are dealt with.

Do certain behaviors and habits continue to plague you, no matter how often you try to stop them and resolve to do better? This happens to all of us. When we belong to Christ, we long for holiness in our outward behaviors because we have an inner barometer that is weighted toward righteousness. Sin unbalances us and makes us feel “off.”

Each of the behaviors we so want to change is the fruit produced by unrighteousness on the inside. If the inner root were gone, the fruit of it would be gone as well. When we put all the emphasis on an outward behavior and don’t think about the root of that behavior, we find ourselves chasing our own tails and repeating the same behaviors over and over again. Then we fall prey to the enemy’s attempts to discourage us. Or, like the religious leaders to whom Jesus addressed these words, we compensate with outward forms and traditions and find satisfaction in the mere appearance of holiness.

Because Jesus comes to reside in us, he has the power and access to work on our sins at their root. From within he cleanses and purifies us—making the inside of the cup and dish clean. The more we surrender to him in obedience and look to him for guidance and strength, the more we will find old behaviors and thought patterns disappearing and being replaced with healthy expressions of the Christ who indwells us.

Lord Jesus, cleanse me from the inside out.

Give up the struggle and the fight; relax in the omnipotence of the Lord Jesus; look up into His lovely face and as you behold Him, He will transform you into His likeness. You do the beholding—He does the transforming. There is no short-cut to holiness.

Alan Redpath(1907–1989), English evangelist, pastor, and author