This past Sunday our pastor talked about Hebrews chapter 7.

He mentioned that when Jesus started His ministry the Jews believed they were in good standing with God because they carefully followed the law, had a royal priesthood, gave proper animal sacrifices, ate the prescribed Jewish diet, and gave the exact amount of tithes the law called for.

They were doing all the right outward things God’s law had said to do and assumed they were therefore okay.

Then Jesus Christ came along and told them they were wrong because they were doing all the right and “clean” things on the outside – BUT – they hadn’t changed on the inside.

Instead of being humble before the Lord and following the law as an acknowledgement of God’s greatness and their position below Him, they were puffed up with pride at how well they were following the law and  presumed they were therefore of great importance.

They were being legalistic and giving external conformity without inner surrender, conformity, or submission.

In short, they had changed on the outside but not the inside.

When Christ was here on earth He, being fully man yet fully God, looked like everyone else on the outside – BUT – on the inside He was different than those around Him.

God asks the same of us.

God calls us to be different on the inside.

God calls for inner conformity, obedience, submission, honesty, integrity, and humility. Not because we are that great, but because Christ is and as Christians we are to model ourselves after Him.

1 Samuel 16:7 tells us that the Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

It is this inner part of us we are to pay attention to and work to bring in to obedience to Christ.

Yes, we are to dress modestly (more on that in another post!), but it’s not about what’s on the outside – it’s about what’s in your heart and who you are on the inside.

After explaining all of this the pastor asked these questions:

Continue reading