A weekday morning devotional series written by Aaron Marcarelli and hosted by Chad McBeam
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Now if your right eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.”
Matthew 5:27-30 NASB2020
Jesus wants us to see in all these drastic instances that sin is more than outward physical actions. Sin goes much deeper, it begins and festers in the heart. Lust turns to adultery, hate turns to physical violence, coveting turns to stealing. All the outward sin actions begin as a thought or a feeling that comes from the heart. These unchecked festering sins turn into actions of sin. These actions have consequences and not only the temporal consequences of divorce and jail time but also the eternal consequence of Hell!
This is why Jesus makes the seemingly exaggerated comments regarding taking out an eye or cutting off an arm if those things cause us to sin. But they are not as exaggerated as they seem. In medicine this is actually done to save lives it is called amputation. The Dr’s sometimes must remove the festering appendage to save the eternal organs from shutting down. Only Jesus can cut away all our sin both the outward physical sin, like removing a festering appendage and the inward heart feelings like removing malignant tumors.
It is only Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit that cleanses us of all our iniquities of both thought and deed. As Paul say in Corinthians “for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”
2 Corinthians 10:4-5.
Therefore, allow Christ and His perfect love of saving grace to take hold of all your life. Be both outwardly and inwardly cleansed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, we thank you for these words of warning. Thank you for your perfect grace. Help us to humble ourselves to give up our all our sin. Give us the strength of your Holy Spirit to fight against the evil one, so that your name may be glorified eternally. We pray all this in Jesus Name Amen..
Shalom Blessings and Press In and Press On!