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 at a
woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck
it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one
of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that
one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Commentary
The Lord Jesus Christ now warns us that God’s commandment not to commit adultery (Ex. 20:14; Deut. 5:18) runs far deeper than abstaining from the physical act; for a person could rightly abstain from that, and yet by harboring all sorts of adulterous thoughts within themselves, and thus they would have only already committed adultery with the woman in their heart, and it is the heart that is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things (Jer. 17:9), where sin is harbored and nurtured and ultimately finds its physical manifestation through. Therefore Jesus’ warning here is not only against the physical act of adultery, but of harboring those thoughts that lead to it, because harboring those thoughts and fueling those desires will mean it’s manifestation in some form, at some time. Therefore as the Lord Jesus Christ’s disciples we are to take sexual sin seriously, because sexual sin (like all sin) is serious, and it carries serious consequences that end in hell for those who live by it, just as Jesus warns us all here in verse 30 (also consider Jude 7). Therefore in light of such things Jesus says that it is more profitable for us to lose one of our physical members (here an eye or a hand) then for our whole body to be thrown into hell, a place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Isaiah 66:24, Mark 9:43-48). This then stands as a stark warning to all those who pursue and justify all manner of sexual sins, for such is the corruption that is in the world through lust which is the ruin of it, but which we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have escaped from (2 Peter 1:4). Therefore those who take pleasure in their godlessness and wickedness are only storing up for themselves God's fierce and eternal wrath which He will render and repay to them all who scorned |His redemption and salvation for them (Rev. 21:6-8). Now that's future and that is certain for everyone who does not repent and believe in the Gospel. But there is also a judgment that God renders down here on every individual who refuses and rejects the true knowledge of God for themselves; which is fully capable of both saving and transforming them; and that is God gives them over to a debased mind so as to fill up their persons and lives with all manner of sexual sins and vileness and violence and corruption (see Rom 1:18-32), because that is what they themselves in rejecting God have chosen for themselves. And so even now we can clearly see the world by justifying such depraved and godless things as homosexuality and transgender lies is only preparing the way for the rise of the anti-Christ as transgressors reach their fullness (Daniel 8:23-25). Now when he does arise God will send them all strong delusion who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thess. 2:9-12). And so even now as the social moral “conscience” has so quickly degenerated in these past few years so as to now justify and fiercely defend all manner of homosexual abominations “the mystery of lawlessness” is soon coming to its horrible climax when the antichrist arises in this last and most godless generation, and so he will by their choice rule them all while fiercely persecuting us all who hold fast to God's truth, all which will take place before the Lord Jesus Christ’s return, when the Lamb of God will make war with them and overcome them all before His final judgment on them all before He sets up His Everlasting Kingdom.
Therefore the answer to sin is never its justification, (or normalization), but our own repentance from it, by our turning to God in faith through the Lord Jesus Christ who then freely and completely cleanses us of all our sins and transgressions by His own shed blood on the cross where He made the atoning sacrifice that God required for all our sins and transgressions so that we can now be reconciled back to God. Therefore just as we are washed in Christ's most precious blood the moment we believe so too we are regenerated by His Holy Spirit which also takes place the moment we believe in Him (Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7, vs. 5). And so having been born-again by the Spirit of the Lord we are now united with and reconciled back to God forever. Therefore in accord with our permanently justified and sanctified, and thus redeemed status with God, let us all who believe in Christ now to be about the ongoing renewal of our own minds as we learn God’s perfect and sound ways through His Word (John 17:17), which always lead to a more fruitful, abundant and peaceful life when we follow Him and obey His Word for us all (Rom 12:1-2; also consider Prov. 11:19; Matt. 7:14). For this world will never change for the better, because apart from God it cannot. But we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have already been changed, transformed ,and delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the Kingdom of the Son of God’s love, and thus we are being transformed from one glory (Adam’s) to another (Christ’s) so that we might all be a holy and righteous and just people prepared to spend eternity with God our father forever. Therefore beloved brethren stand fast in the truth and be about living it out day by day, as we long for the Lord’s soon return and His Kingdom being set up, an Everlasting Kingdom in which righteousness will dwell forever (2 Peter 3:10-12).
Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.
Commentary
The Lord Jesus Christ now warns us that God’s commandment not to commit adultery (Ex. 20:14; Deut. 5:18) runs far deeper than abstaining from the physical act; for a person could rightly abstain from that, and yet by harboring all sorts of adulterous thoughts within themselves, and thus they would have only already committed adultery with the woman in their heart, and it is the heart that is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things (Jer. 17:9), where sin is harbored and nurtured and ultimately finds its physical manifestation through. Therefore Jesus’ warning here is not only against the physical act of adultery, but of harboring those thoughts that lead to it, because harboring those thoughts and fueling those desires will mean it’s manifestation in some form, at some time. Therefore as the Lord Jesus Christ’s disciples we are to take sexual sin seriously, because sexual sin (like all sin) is serious, and it carries serious consequences that end in hell for those who live by it, just as Jesus warns us all here in verse 30 (also consider Jude 7). Therefore in light of such things Jesus says that it is more profitable for us to lose one of our physical members (here an eye or a hand) then for our whole body to be thrown into hell, a place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Isaiah 66:24, Mark 9:43-48). This then stands as a stark warning to all those who pursue and justify all manner of sexual sins, for such is the corruption that is in the world through lust which is the ruin of it, but which we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have escaped from (2 Peter 1:4). Therefore those who take pleasure in their godlessness and wickedness are only storing up for themselves God's fierce and eternal wrath which He will render and repay to them all who scorned |His redemption and salvation for them (Rev. 21:6-8). Now that's future and that is certain for everyone who does not repent and believe in the Gospel. But there is also a judgment that God renders down here on every individual who refuses and rejects the true knowledge of God for themselves; which is fully capable of both saving and transforming them; and that is God gives them over to a debased mind so as to fill up their persons and lives with all manner of sexual sins and vileness and violence and corruption (see Rom 1:18-32), because that is what they themselves in rejecting God have chosen for themselves. And so even now we can clearly see the world by justifying such depraved and godless things as homosexuality and transgender lies is only preparing the way for the rise of the anti-Christ as transgressors reach their fullness (Daniel 8:23-25). Now when he does arise God will send them all strong delusion who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thess. 2:9-12). And so even now as the social moral “conscience” has so quickly degenerated in these past few years so as to now justify and fiercely defend all manner of homosexual abominations “the mystery of lawlessness” is soon coming to its horrible climax when the antichrist arises in this last and most godless generation, and so he will by their choice rule them all while fiercely persecuting us all who hold fast to God's truth, all which will take place before the Lord Jesus Christ’s return, when the Lamb of God will make war with them and overcome them all before His final judgment on them all before He sets up His Everlasting Kingdom.
Therefore the answer to sin is never its justification, (or normalization), but our own repentance from it, by our turning to God in faith through the Lord Jesus Christ who then freely and completely cleanses us of all our sins and transgressions by His own shed blood on the cross where He made the atoning sacrifice that God required for all our sins and transgressions so that we can now be reconciled back to God. Therefore just as we are washed in Christ's most precious blood the moment we believe so too we are regenerated by His Holy Spirit which also takes place the moment we believe in Him (Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7, vs. 5). And so having been born-again by the Spirit of the Lord we are now united with and reconciled back to God forever. Therefore in accord with our permanently justified and sanctified, and thus redeemed status with God, let us all who believe in Christ now to be about the ongoing renewal of our own minds as we learn God’s perfect and sound ways through His Word (John 17:17), which always lead to a more fruitful, abundant and peaceful life when we follow Him and obey His Word for us all (Rom 12:1-2; also consider Prov. 11:19; Matt. 7:14). For this world will never change for the better, because apart from God it cannot. But we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have already been changed, transformed ,and delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the Kingdom of the Son of God’s love, and thus we are being transformed from one glory (Adam’s) to another (Christ’s) so that we might all be a holy and righteous and just people prepared to spend eternity with God our father forever. Therefore beloved brethren stand fast in the truth and be about living it out day by day, as we long for the Lord’s soon return and His Kingdom being set up, an Everlasting Kingdom in which righteousness will dwell forever (2 Peter 3:10-12).
Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.
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