Matthew 5:26-30

 

Mat 5:26 (KJB)

Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

 

Any person who is cast into hell will not be able to come out until all their sins have been paid for and that means without a Savior to remove their sins, their sins will be a part of them for eternity which also means there is no getting out of hell. (Rev 14:11 KJV) And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

 

Mat 5:27 (KJB)

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

 

Jesus continues His homily focusing on sins of the heart being as dangerous as the physical acting out of those very same sins. (Exo 20:14 KJV) Thou shalt not commit adultery. Jesus continues with another of the ten commandments which with the people would have been familiar with. Like the Christian being familiar with John 3:16. He speaks about the time Moses received the commandments and mentions adultery. That sin must have been running rampant back then as it is today so people would have been familiar with it, whether it was they or someone they know partaking in it. Adultery is responsible for the breaking up of many marriages and homes and the family is the basic unit of society, just as much back then as it is today.

 

Mat 5:28 (KJB)

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

 

Jesus is now comparing what has been said of old concerning the physical sin of adultery to the adultery which is in a person’s heart. Sin need not be acted out physically for it to be considered sin, all one has to do is just meditate or even think an evil thought and they have sinned. Jesus is focusing on a sin which was running rampant because divorce was happening then on a scale it is today. Instead of the leaders in Israel doing something about it, they tolerated it. In the church today where there is so much divorce, instead of the church dealing with it, they form mix and match groups so these same people can get remarried. This verse is also a great spiritual principle for Christian living. It does not matter what sin you treasure or lust after in your heart, it is a sin. Some may lust after gambling, some may lust after drugs, some may lust after alcohol, or whatever a person lusts after if it becomes a stronghold of sin in their life and eventually it can become a sin that a person will physically engage in. Jesus is basically emphasizing the fact that sins’ desires must be checked at the thought level before it becomes an obsessing sin.

 

Mat 5:29 (KJB)

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

 

Here Jesus speaks of plucking out the right eye but He is not saying one should do this literally because the Bible forbids mutilation of the body. In other words, if your eyes see something which offends the regenerated spirit within you, then you are to turn away and immediately reject what you have seen before it becomes a stronghold of lust in your life. This offending can come from a myriad of places such as the internet, TV, movies, sexual conversation or whatever source which may titillate someone. Reject looking at whatever causes you to sin or else you could be on the receiving end of the chastising hand of God if you are a believer. If you are an unbeliever, it will mean eternal damnation.

 

Mat 5:30 (KJB)

And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

 

Then Jesus continues His homily by now going into the practical aspects of the sin. In the previous verse, we saw that we are to shut our eye gate to whatever would cause us to sin. Here He mentions the hands which are speaking of the acting out of the sin. The right hand in Scripture in reference to God, is speaking of His power. (Mark 14:62 KJV) And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Jesus is stating that if you are sinning with all your being such as sexual sin, gambling, drinking, or any other type of sin and are doing it with all your might, then you are to cut off the right hand, that is, the power which has sway over you. Evil thoughts that graduate to partaking of sin must be quenched because when the desire becomes strong, then a person partakes in the sin. This is why Jesus is emphasizing the fact that thoughts of sin are sin and can escalate in the life of both unbeliever and believer to the point it can ruin a life. Jesus continues in the next few verses on the subject of divorce and marriage. In adulterous relationships, both the eye is used to make initial contact and the hands are used to make physical contact.

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