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Jesus had some surprising things to say to his listeners.
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Tell the Jews about salvation
https://secretpath191.blogspot.com/2020/11/tell-jews-about-salvation.html
You have heard that in the old days people were told, Do not commit adultery.
But I tell you, Whoever looks with lust at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
So, if your right eye offends you, pluck it out and throw it away. You are better off losing a body part than having your entire body thrown into hell.
And if your right hand offends you, cut it off and throw it away. You are better off losing a body part than having your entire body thrown into hell.
You have heard that anyone who wants to divorce his wife must put it in writing.
But here is what I say: Anyone who divorces his wife causes her to commit adultery. Anyone who marries the divorced woman also commits adultery.
What's on your mind?
The writer of Matthew places Jesus' rather tough saying about plucking out your eye immediately after the counsel on adultery of the heart and immediately before Jesus' strong words against divorce, which he regards as likely to lead to adultery. So one might at first think Jesus is urging those who cast a lustful eye on a woman to gouge it out. Or maybe to chop off a hand before filing for divorce.
But Jesus is using traditional hyperbolic metaphor to get across a point: If you have a behavioral defect that you can't stand, DO something about it. Get radical, man! Go to any lengths to rid yourself of a character flaw that could drag you down to hell.
Notice that the metaphor covers eye and hand. In other words, something drastic must be done about your mind and your behavior.
Well, excellent advice -- except that if people could do that, many would! So I again suggest that we read Jesus' words to mean, Don't say you don't sin. In God's eyes, you do. So you need to do something drastic to be delivered out of your bondage and peril. That something is: Trust Jesus.
Sure, we know that the full impact of Jesus' teachings would not become evident until after his resurrection. His teachings were time bombs set to go off once he had risen. But now that he is risen, let's get the grace that is implied in these teachings. Let's get a closer walk with him.
All through the gospel accounts, Jesus is imploring people to turn away from sin and sorrow and toward him, so that they may be saved. That could be a costly move. In fact, Jesus says, expect persecution. The world will hate you. Satan will seek to sift you. Yet, verses 29 and 30 say to us:
When your being lusts for a woman, your being in that period is what you think. In other words, if you would if you could, then, really, you did.
In God's eyes, your being is doing the deed, regardless of the fact that you are physically and psychologically restrained. God sees you as doing and being what you desire to be: an adulterer.
The basic point is not about what kind of sex is or is not OK. The Lord is talking about you following through in your heart with someone you believe is off limits, something you have been taught is wrong. This doesn't mean there might not be exceptions to the rule against infidelity such as occur during war and natural catastrophes. The point is that you are what you think. As a man thinks, so is he.
So, don't think you don't need forgiveness. Haven't you sullied your spirit by aching to do something sexually illicit? If not, what about angry outbursts? Those stem from fear, which is to say, sin (MT 5:22-24).
We know from examples in the Old Testament that God can forgive improper sexual behavior and can even make something right that began wrong. Surely Rahab the prostitute received her prophet's reward for turning to the Lord's people; her faith brought forgiveness for her sexual immorality.
And once David greatly mourned before God the murder of his paramour's husband, God forgave him and regularized his relationship with the woman, Bathsheba.
We see again that God's standard of purity of heart is high. Divorcing your wife, except perhaps for adultery, is a breach of faith -- both with her and with God. Your soul has been knit with hers, so that you are one person with two sides. She is not meant to share her body with anyone but you. And in those days, when women had few rights, you gave her no choice but to defile herself by marrying another. And her new husband is partaking in your soul through her -- which is a defilement.
The writer of Matthew places Jesus' rather tough saying about plucking out your eye immediately after the counsel on adultery of the heart and immediately before Jesus' strong words against divorce, which he regards as likely to lead to adultery. So one might at first think Jesus is urging those who cast a lustful eye on a woman to gouge it out. Or maybe to chop off a hand before filing for divorce.
But Jesus is using traditional hyperbolic metaphor to get across a point: If you have a behavioral defect that you can't stand, DO something about it. Get radical, man! Go to any lengths to rid yourself of a character flaw that could drag you down to hell.
Notice that the metaphor covers eye and hand. In other words, something drastic must be done about your mind and your behavior.
Well, excellent advice -- except that if people could do that, many would! So I again suggest that we read Jesus' words to mean, Don't say you don't sin. In God's eyes, you do. So you need to do something drastic to be delivered out of your bondage and peril. That something is: Trust Jesus.
Sure, we know that the full impact of Jesus' teachings would not become evident until after his resurrection. His teachings were time bombs set to go off once he had risen. But now that he is risen, let's get the grace that is implied in these teachings. Let's get a closer walk with him.
All through the gospel accounts, Jesus is imploring people to turn away from sin and sorrow and toward him, so that they may be saved. That could be a costly move. In fact, Jesus says, expect persecution. The world will hate you. Satan will seek to sift you. Yet, verses 29 and 30 say to us:
Isn't it worthwhile to take the injury and lose something precious ("eye or hand") but stay out of hell? Isn't it worthwhile to trade anything in order to gain the pearl of great price: a free pass out of hell and a ticket to eternal life by putting your trust in Jesus?On lust
When your being lusts for a woman, your being in that period is what you think. In other words, if you would if you could, then, really, you did.
In God's eyes, your being is doing the deed, regardless of the fact that you are physically and psychologically restrained. God sees you as doing and being what you desire to be: an adulterer.
The basic point is not about what kind of sex is or is not OK. The Lord is talking about you following through in your heart with someone you believe is off limits, something you have been taught is wrong. This doesn't mean there might not be exceptions to the rule against infidelity such as occur during war and natural catastrophes. The point is that you are what you think. As a man thinks, so is he.
So, don't think you don't need forgiveness. Haven't you sullied your spirit by aching to do something sexually illicit? If not, what about angry outbursts? Those stem from fear, which is to say, sin (MT 5:22-24).
We know from examples in the Old Testament that God can forgive improper sexual behavior and can even make something right that began wrong. Surely Rahab the prostitute received her prophet's reward for turning to the Lord's people; her faith brought forgiveness for her sexual immorality.
And once David greatly mourned before God the murder of his paramour's husband, God forgave him and regularized his relationship with the woman, Bathsheba.
We see again that God's standard of purity of heart is high. Divorcing your wife, except perhaps for adultery, is a breach of faith -- both with her and with God. Your soul has been knit with hers, so that you are one person with two sides. She is not meant to share her body with anyone but you. And in those days, when women had few rights, you gave her no choice but to defile herself by marrying another. And her new husband is partaking in your soul through her -- which is a defilement.
NEXT PAGE:
Tell the Jews about salvation
https://secretpath191.blogspot.com/2020/11/tell-jews-about-salvation.html
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