The Open Door

The world defines religion for us as basically doing good things – helping the community – trying to do what is right . . . but religion never takes “THE HEART” of man into account . . .

Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

What this verse means – is that when God looks at our lives – He skips over “our behavior” or what WE DO in life – and the FIRST thing that God 

looks at concerning our lives “BEFORE” He looks at our conduct – is the attitude (or the condition) of OUR HEART . . . “For with THE HEART” man believeth unto righteousness” means {that how we THINK} is actually a better indication of what kind of person we are – than what WE DO or how we behave. 

In other words if our heart is not right – then we can do “the right thing” for the wrong reason.  And what we learn from the scriptures – is that God

judges our lives – not necessarily based upon our actions . . . but God also takes into account how we think in OUR HEART.

Matthew 23: 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

This describes a dirty pot or pan . . . the lid is put on the pot – the outside is scrubbed and polished so that it shines like a new penny . . . but when you

take the lid off to use the pot you find out that the inside (the part of the pot that you use) has never been cleaned – it is full of mold and baked on food that has spoiled and began to smell bad . . .

This is what religion does to our lives and to our churches . . . religion makes us clean on the outside – but we don’t use the outside of a cup or platter . . . the important part is the INSIDE.

Likewise God tells us that it is not the outward appearance of our lives (things that we do) which are important . . . but rather it is our HEART that God seeks to “make clean” – and He does this through “faith and repentance”. 

What God tells us in this next verse deals with which part of the pot (our life) that we should clean first.

26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is “within the cup and platter” that the outside of them may be clean also.

As men we do not improve our lives by becoming “active” in religion . . . we do not improve our lives by avoiding the “thou shalt nots” of the TEN commandments . . . As men the only way to improve our lives is to “admit” our guilt – to become broken hearted regarding how (through

our sins) we have caused Jesus to suffer.  Faith is what gives us access to God’s promised forgiveness . . . faith is what opens the door.

But an open door serves no purpose – if we refuse to step through it . . . we can believe in God – we can even believe in God’s judgment . . . but if we

never ACT on that faith – if we never walk through the door . . . then we will “go to hell” taking this type of belief in God with us.

Now the parallel that this type of faith has with religion is this . . . When God reminds us that we are sinners in need of savior . . . When God

teaches us that Jesus died on the cross for our sins . . . when God’s Holy Spirit convicts our heart and (through this conviction) we become aware 

of the “BURDEN of guilt” which our sins have brought into our heart – this knowledge is NOT intended to motivate us to try to start living better lives as we become more active in religion . . .

The purpose of the burden which God places upon our heart in this manner – is to remind us of just who we are . . . the burden of guilt that is present

in OUR HEART is to offer proof that we are guilty – it is to offer proof that the blood of Jesus Christ is literally dripping from our hands . . . and the 

fact that we start trying to “do better” will not wash the blood of Jesus off of our hands and take the guilt away from our heart . . . This is what Jesus 

was referring too in Matt 23: 26 when He said cleanse FIRST that which is “within” so that the outside may be clean also.  If we are among those present today – who are trying to live a good life . . . we are trying to do 

this because we have knowledge of God . . . we have faith in The Bible – and we believe in God’s judgment . . . the fact that we have chosen to 

worship God today – is proof that we believe these things . . . BUT – an open door serves no purpose until we step through it . . . the faith that we 

have described which motivates us to “try to do better” in religion falls short in one key point . . . and that is commitment.  Notice the lack of genuine (heart felt) commitment in the lives of these scribes and Pharisees

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres (well-kept graves) which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

 A well-kept grave with an expensive head-stone is impressive to look at . . . but inside that grave is a dead body that is being eaten by worms . . .

28 Even so ye also (your lives, they) outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within (your heart where God is able to see) ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Religion is not proper worship . . . religion is not a substitute for salvation – and religion is certainly not a substitute for Christianity. 

To have a “change of heart” is to repent . . . this is what it means to step through that door which faith has opened for us . . . Faith opens the eyes 

of the lost man to the promise of God’s salvation . . . but sorrow – guilt – regret – a desire to please God are things which will cause “the lost man” 

to step through that doorway.  The same thing is basically true regarding “the journey” which only a few of God’s children make – as they step out of religion and enter into the place of “true worship”.

“Worship of God” is not what saves us – salvation is not found in this church (or any other type of church) salvation is found when a sinner 

makes the choice in HIS HEART to stop seeking God through religion – and to simply “stop trying” and to come to God as you are right now . . . 

and that is - as a sinner with the blood of Jesus still fresh on your hands (not trusting in your religion but) “TRUSTING in Jesus” to save you in spite 

of all of your faults . . . This is a picture of salvation – and to those of us who have already been saved – My point - is that it is “not possible” for 

us to worship properly – it is not possible for us to become a “True Worshiper” without this vision of seeing ourselves as a sinner whose 

hands are still stained with the blood of our savior (instead of looking at ourselves) as a good deed doer that is active in religion.

If we are proud of the lives that we live and what our efforts we mean to our church . . . then we are religious and we are unable to worship until we clean up what is within.

Back in the 70's the promotion of non-stick cookware was a big thing . . . Since the Garden of Eden the "non-stick" heart has been promoted by Satan.  

A heart that is coated with PRIDE - is a heart where God's Word will not be able to stick and bring about a change in that man's life.  Clean that which is WITHIN first - chip off the coating of pride so that God's Word will stick to your heart and change your life.