30. The Word tells us in the following passage that to the extent that we are not purified from our evils, any good things we do are not good, any devout deeds are not devout, and we are not wise; but the reverse is the case if we are purified.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you make yourselves like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful outwardly, but are inwardly full of dead people's bones and filth of every kind. Even so, you look righteous outwardly, but are inwardly full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe to you, because you cleanse the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and excess. Blind Pharisee, cleanse the inside of the cup and the plate first, so that the outside of them may be clean as well. (Matthew 23:25-28)
Then there are these words of Isaiah:
Hear the word of Jehovah, you princes of Sodom! Hear the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! What use to me are your abundant sacrifices? Do not keep bringing worthless offerings! Incense is an abomination to me, your new moons and Sabbaths. I cannot abide iniquity. My soul hates your new moons and prescribed feasts, so when you spread forth your hands I hide my eyes from you. Even though you multiply your prayers, I am not listening - your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves! Purify yourselves! Take away the evil of your deeds from before my eyes! Stop doing evil! Even if your sins have been like scarlet, they will become white like snow; even if they have been red, they will be like wool. (Isaiah 1:10-18)
Put briefly, this is saying that unless we turn our backs on evil deeds, none of our worship is any good. The same holds true for everything we do, since it says "I cannot abide iniquity; purify yourselves; take away the evil of your deeds; stop doing evil." In Jeremiah,
Turn back, all of you, from your evil way, and make your works good. (Jeremiah 35:15)
[2] These people are not wise, either. See the following from Isaiah:
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and intelligent in their own estimation. (Isaiah 5:21)
Again,
The wisdom of the wise will perish, as will the intelligence of the intelligent. Woe to those whose wisdom is profound and whose deeds are done in darkness. (Isaiah 29:14-15)
And yet again,
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and who rely on horses, who trust in an abundance of chariots and in the strength of riders, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel and do not seek Jehovah. He will rise up against the house of the malicious and against the aid of those who work iniquity, because Egypt is not God, and its horses are flesh, and not spirit. (Isaiah 31:1-3)
That is how our own intelligence is described. Egypt is mere facts; a horse is our understanding of those facts; chariots are religious teachings based on those facts; and riders are the intelligence we develop as a result. Of these qualities we read, "Woe to those who do not look to the Holy One of Israel and do not seek Jehovah." "He will rise up against the house of the malicious and against the aid of those who work iniquity" means the destruction of these qualities by evils. "Egypt is human, not God, and her horses are flesh, and not spirit" means that this understanding comes from our own sense of self-importance and that therefore there is no life in it. "Human" and "flesh" are our own sense of self, and "God" and "spirit" are life that comes from the Lord. The horses of Egypt are the intelligence that we claim as our own.
There are many similar passages in the Word whose focus on self-derived intelligence and intelligence that comes from the Lord can be seen only through their spiritual meaning.
[3] We can see from the following passages that none of us can be saved by means of good works done by ourselves, because they are not good.
Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord, " will enter the kingdom of the heavens, but those who do the will of my Father. On that day many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, haven't we prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many great things 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 in another passage,
Then you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, "Lord, open the door for us!" Then 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 where you are from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity." (Luke 13:25-27)
They are in fact like the Pharisee who prayed, standing in the Temple, saying that he was not greedy, unjust, or adulterous like other people, but fasted twice a week and gave tithes of all he possessed (Luke 18:11-14). They are also the ones called "worthless servants" (Luke 17:10).
