If your right eye causes you to stumble

If your right eye causes you to stumble

Scripture:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Matthew 5:27-30

Observation:

After dealing with the issues of anger, insulting and the importance of reconciliation, the Lord moves on to deal with the personal purity of the mind. The 7^th of the 10 commandments declares “Thou shall not commit adultery” referring to the actual act itself. However, the Lord in establishing God’s new requirements said that if you even look at a woman lustfully, you are already sinning and on the pathway to hell. Our Lord goes on to establish the great importance of this kind of personal purity by saying it is better to gouge out one’s eye or cut off one’s hand to stop sinning rather than to lose one’s whole body to hell.

The standard advocated here by the Lord is so high that some may give up trying to follow the Lord’s commands on the spot. Based on this verse, some have in fact given up on the whole sermon of the Mount, saying that it is simply to prove that man cannot meet God’s standard. They say “rather than focus on these teachings, why not just believe you are saved and avoid these condemning Scriptures altogether?”.

Well, it is true that on human strength, we are bound to fail, and simply cannot meet God’s standard. However, it is untrue that Jesus’ teaching here is not relevant. Rather, although we are saved and forgiven of our sins by believing in the Lord, this is the lifestyle that as Christians we must seek to have daily. Jesus’ warning that continuous sin will endanger one’s salvation must be heeded seriously. Jesus did not say He would not forgive those who repent of these sins. However, His words imply a danger of purposely continuing to sin to a point of no return. As Christians, we are not perfect. We fall time and again, but we are to pick ourselves up again and move on, always with the realization of the seriousness of sin, and trusting in God to transform us day by day as we walk with Him.

Application:

Let us remind ourselves the Lord’s teaching that sexual sin is very dangerous, be it only in the mind or actually acted out. On our own strength, we cannot overcome our sinful habits, but it is only in beholding the Lord’s presence day by day as we seek Him, that we find ourselves gradually transformed from glory to glory, sinning less and less, and finding victory over sin.

Prayer:

Praise You, Heavenly Father, for the power of Your Word, that You revealed through Your Son. Help us take heed of Your teachings Lord Jesus, and always have that awareness of the seriousness of sin. Forgive us O Lord, when we fail. Give us your grace to sustain us, to bring us back to Your light shining before us. Praise You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.