Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
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: whereas the "commandments of men" (Titus 1:14) forbad certain things as if impure intrinsically. "To the pure" - i:e., those purified in heart by faith (Acts 15:9; 1 Timothy 4:4); all outward things are pure; open to their use. The impurity of the impure is communicated to all outward things that they use. Sin alone touches and defiles the soul (Matthew 23:26; Luke 11:41).
Nothing pure - either within or without (Romans 14:20; Romans 14:23). Mind - their mental sense.
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 the source of the errors opposed in the pastoral letters (1 Timothy 1:19; 1 Timothy 3:9; 1 Timothy 6:5).