Mark 7:21-23

Now the Greek word translated licentiousness here means outrageous conduct, indicating that licentious behavior extends beyond sin to encompass a disregard for what is right and the well-being of others, which is exactly the direction that our society has been heading.

So let us add the concept of "license" (from which licentiousness comes) to liberty and freedom. In general terms, freedom, liberty, and license refer to "the power or condition of acting without compulsion." That is the way they are similar. However, freedom has a broad range of applications, from total absence of restraint to a sense of not being unduly hampered or frustrated. So Christ died to set us free from sin, not free to do whatever we want, because that would lead back to slavery to our selfish desires. Thanks to Christ, we are now free and able to do what was impossible before and live unselfishly.

Mark 7:19-23

Take notice of that. "Enters the heart." Do you suppose that the works that we are to do have something to do with the heart? The mind, that which drives us, that which motivates us, that which inspires us, that which moves us, that which gives us our point of view.

There is a very powerful, straightforward indication that the works that Jesus is looking for involve the things appearing in verses 20-22. Those things having to do with the heart.