30. The Word teaches that insofar as a person is not purified of his evils, the good that he does is not good, neither are his pieties pious, nor is he wise — and the converse — in this passage:
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous..., but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. (Matthew 23:27-28)
Woe to you...! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and intemperance. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. (Matthew 23:25-26)
Also in this passage in Isaiah:
Hear the word of Jehovah, you princes of Sodom; hear the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah: “What is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? ...Bring no more empty sacrifice; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moon and the Sabbath...— I cannot endure iniquity.... Your New Moons and appointed feasts My soul hates.... When you spread out your hands, (therefore, ) I will hide My eyes from you; even if you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil.... If your sins have been like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; if they have been red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:10-18)
In sum this means that unless a person refrains from evils, his worship is not at all good, and so neither are his works. For the passage says, “I cannot endure iniquity.” “Make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings.” “Cease to do evil.”
In Jeremiah:
Turn now everyone from his evil way and make your works good. (Jeremiah 35:15)
[2] That these people are not wise:
In Isaiah:
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent in their own sight! (Isaiah 5:21)
Again in Isaiah:
The wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their intelligent men.... Woe to those who are deeply wise..., and their works are done in the dark. (Isaiah 29:14-15) And elsewhere in Isaiah:
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek Jehovah! ...But He will arise against the house of evildoers, and against the help of those who work iniquity. For Egypt...is not God; and its horses are flesh, not spirit. (Isaiah 31:1-3) Thus is described a person’s own intelligence. Egypt means knowledge. A horse is the resulting understanding. A chariot is the resulting doctrine. A horseman is the resulting intelligence. Of these the passage says, “Woe to those...who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, and do not seek Jehovah!” Their destruction by evils is meant by Jehovah’s rising up “against the house of evildoers, and against the help of those who work iniquity.”
That these evils spring from their inherent nature, and so have no life in them, is meant by Egypt’s being man and not God, and its horses flesh and not spirit. Man and flesh mean a person’s inherent nature. God and spirit mean life from the Lord. The horses of Egypt are a person’s own intelligence.
There are many such passages in the Word regarding an understanding springing from oneself and an understanding received from the Lord, passages whose meaning can be seen only by means of the spiritual sense.
[3] That no one is saved by good springing from himself, because it is not good, is apparent from the following:
Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord, ” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father.... Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” But then I will declare to them, “I do not know you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity!” (Matthew 7:21-23)
And elsewhere:
...(then) you will begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us, ” and...you will begin to say, “We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.” But He will say, “I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.” (Luke 23:25-27) Such people are like the Pharisee who, standing in the Temple, prayed, saying that he was not like other people, greedy, unjust, lecherous, that he fasted twice a week and gave a tenth of all he possessed (Luke 18:11-14). They are also like the servants called useless servants (Luke 17:10).
