14 And having called near all the multitude, he said to them, 'Hearken to me, ye all, and understand; 15 there is nothing from without the man entering into him that is able to defile him, but the things coming out from him, those are the things defiling the man.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Mark 7:14-15
Commentary on Mark 7:14-23
(Read Mark 7:14-23)
Our wicked thoughts and affections, words and actions, defile us, and these only. As a corrupt fountain sends forth corrupt streams, so does a corrupt heart send forth corrupt reasonings, corrupt appetites and passions, and all the wicked words and actions that come from them. A spiritual understanding of the law of God, and a sense of the evil of sin, will cause a man to seek for the grace of the Holy Spirit, to keep down the evil thoughts and affections that work within.