It's a Heart Problem.

       As Jesus states in His sermon on the mount, it is the pure in heart who will see God (Matthew 5:8). This brings us to ask these questions. What is a pure heart, and is mine pure?  
      The heart represents the inner person, the seat of the will, the place where desires give birth to choices. According to Jeremiah 17:9 the heart is deceitful, and desperately sick. In other words, fallen man is evil at heart. We tend to fool ourselves about the choices we make and the things we do. We rationalize and do a pretty good job of convincing ourselves that we are not bad people. We can even fool ourselves into believing that God is pleased with us in spite of our sinful behavior.
     Our behavior is a good indicator of what is truly in our hearts. Clean hands and pure hearts go together (Psalm 24:3-4). Jesus said A tree is known by its fruit. In other words what is inside the heart of man is what comes out in his speech and actions (Matthew 12:33-35). A good man brings good out of his good treasure, while an evil man brings out evil.
     Jesus states this in another way when He said that it is the things that come out of a man that are what defiles him (Mark 7:20-23).
     From this it becomes evident that in and of ourselves we have no hope. We have a heart issue that we cannot fix. Our problem is selfishness. Watch an infant as it grows and fusses. Soon it becomes demanding, throwing tantrums if it does not get it's way. We think of this as normal behavior, and it is because we have all been born with this tendency to selfishness. As one grows older it manifests itself in rebellion to parents, lying, perhaps stealing, cheating in school etc. Get the picture?
     This is sin. It was passed down to us from Adam, and each and everyone of us eventually yields to it with a deliberate choice (Romans 5:12).
     We need new hearts! Our old hearts are incurably sick. The new birth is our only hope!