8 “And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.” (Matthew 18:8–9 (ESV)
“We must think nothing too dear to part with, for the keeping of a good conscience.” – Puritan Matthew Henry
Immediately following Jesus’ Oracle of Woe against the fallen world (Matt. 18:7), He continued to counsel His disciples (Matt. 18:1-6) concerning the drastic measures required for believers in Christ to resist temptation.
We must remember the Bible is literature containing various genres and utilizing various figures of speech. Today’s text displays the figure of speech called hyperbole. It is exaggeration. Jesus previously used this style of communication in Matthew 5:27-30.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:27–30 (ESV)
Jesus emphasized the extreme measures believers in Christ must take when encountering the world, the flesh and the devil. There can be no compromise or accommodation when it concerns holiness. We must resist temptations: when, where, by whom, and how they come.
“What was earlier said about lust in the Sermon on the Mount is now applied more broadly to all manner of sins. Graphically, Jesus tells us it is better to enter the kingdom of heaven without a hand or foot than to keep what inclines us towards wickedness and find our whole bodies in hell (18:8–9),” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.
“Again, as we said in our study of Matthew 5, Jesus does not commend self-mutilation here. It is possible to cut off a limb and still lose the battle with transgression. Instead, Christ is using a powerful analogy to encourage us to cut off sin before it overcomes us. Depending on our situation, this may mean moving to another town, taking another job, or making some other righteous, but difficult, life change, if that is what it takes to escape the wickedness in our lives.”
“Refraining from speaking privately with a certain person might be what keeps you from gossiping; throwing away your computer may be the right course of action if you struggle with looking at pornography. Whatever it takes, all of us must do what is needed to flee sin and temptation,” states Dr. John MacArthur.
My prayer is that when we face temptations that threaten to undo us, we will do all we can to resist and refrain from any submission to sin. A momentary lapse in righteous judgment can result in a lifetime of regret. Have a God honoring day.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 