15. all things--external, "are pure" in themselves; the
distinction of pure and impure is not in the things, but
in the disposition of him who uses them; in opposition to "the
commandments of men"
(Tit 1:14),
which forbade certain things as if impure intrinsically. "To the pure"
inwardly, that is, those purified in heart by faith
(Ac 15:9;
Ro 14:20;
1Ti 4:3),
all outward things are pure; all are open to, their use. Sin alone
touches and defiles the soul
(Mt 23:26;
Lu 11:41).
nothing pure--either within or without
(Ro 14:23).
mind--their mental sense and intelligence.
conscience--their moral consciousness of the conformity or
discrepancy between their motives and acts on the one hand, and God's
law on the other. A conscience and a mind defiled are represented as
the source of the errors opposed in the Pastoral Epistles
(1Ti 1:19; 3:9; 6:5).
JFB.
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