What Did He Mean by That?

by David Gibson

“If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it 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. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it 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 5:29-30 NASB).

The point is . . . .

Nothing is worth going to hell for. We must be willing to give up whatever would lead us to sin.

Commenting on today’s text, William Hendriksen wrote:

“Take drastic action in getting rid of whatever . . . will tempt you into sin . . . . Temptation should be flung aside immediately and decisively. Dillydallying is deadly. Halfway measures wreak havoc. The surgery must be radical. Right at this very moment and without any vacillation the obscene book should be burned, the scandalous picture destroyed, the soul-destroying film condemned, the sinister yet very intimate social tie broken, and the baneful habit discarded. In the struggle against sin, the believer must fight hard. Shadow-boxing will never do (1 Cor. 9:27).”

What helps us do this hard thing

• We must realize what we stand to lose by holding on to what we should let go (Ephesians 5:5-7; Hebrews 12:1).
• We must realize what we have to gain by letting go (Hebrews 11:24-26). Erwin Lutzer wrote, “We cannot say no to temptation without saying yes to something far better.” And Alexander Maclaren said, “No man is a loser by giving up anything for Jesus.”
  As Jesus said, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25 NJKV).

Taking the long view

If we could look at the whole situation from the viewpoint of eternity, what a difference it would make! What we must give up would matter less. What we gain would far outweigh any losses for Christ’s sake (Philippians 3:7-8).

What it all boils down to is this: Do we believe Jesus?