| Matthew 5:27-32 27 You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that whoever looks on a woman with lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.4 [From the Word of the Lord within: "A man must learn control of his body. Mankind's failure—sexual immorality."] 29 If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your body parts should perish, rather than your whole body should be cast into hell;5 [Looking on a woman with lust, committing adultery, is serious sin that leads to Hell. However, Jesus doesn't want us to maim ourselves; He wants us to come to Him so He can purify us through obedient faith to the commands we hear Him speak to us as we wait on Him in humble silence.] 30 And if your right hand offends you, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your body parts should perish, rather than that your whole body should be cast into hell. 31 It has been said that whoever puts away his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. 32 But I say to you that whoever puts away [divorces] his wife, except for the cause of [her] sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. | |||||||||
5 Notice, just after he tells us that looking at a woman with lust for her is committing adultery in our hearts, he tells us in the very next verse if our eye causes us to sin to pluck it out. This is how serious sexual lust is. For this you know, that no sexually immoral, impure person, or covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. Eph 5:5,6. But, he doesn't want us to maim ourselves. He is only illustrating how serious continuing to sin is, (see also Mat 18:8-9, Mark 7:21-23). Jesus is desperately trying to tell us that to enter the Kingdom and escape hell, sin has to go. He knew false ministers with false gospels promising freedom to continue to sin would arise after he left. Changes in our heart through the missing cross to purity can take away the desire of the hand, foot, and eye to cause us to sin.
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