Cut It Out!

an Exhortation on Matthew 5:30 given 05/11/2024.

by Errol Klein

Intro:  Are you ready to cut deep this morning, brothers? Are you ready for some spiritual surgery? I’d like you to consider – you don’t have to answer, just think about it – do you have a favorite sin, a cherished sin? A sin you don’t really mind committing.

Let’s read our verse, Matthew 5:30. We’ll start in verse 27 for context. This is Jesus speaking as part of His Sermon on the Mount, which He gave at the beginning of His ministry. In it, He lays down the rules of His kingdom, letting everyone know exactly what He expects from His followers. Let’s read.

Verse: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 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. (Here’s our verse.) 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.”

I’m not going to explicitly say which sin Jesus was talking about when He spoke of a man using his hand to commit adultery, but I think it’s pretty obvious. We probably all struggle with the temptation of this sin. Jesus has a way of taking the large, heinous sins and whittling them down to reveal the teeny, tiny sins we think nobody sees: the sins that occur in the heart. But God hates these little sins just as much as He hates the big ones. In fact, they are not little in His eyes – they deserve the death penalty!

I don’t want to focus on the specific sin here; I want to focus on Jesus’ command concerning sin. Sin is so disgusting to God – so abominable – that Jesus wants us to take drastic, radical action to remove any and all sin from our lives. So drastic, that if our hand causes us to sin, we are commanded to cut it off! Now I don’t want you to go back to your cell and literally cut off your hand – and Jesus doesn’t expect that either. I don’t think we’d have any body parts left, if that was the case. Jesus is using a figure of speech here, a hyperbole. He’s exaggerating to make a point. He’s saying, “Do whatever is necessary to remove sin from your life, even if that means removing some things that aren’t necessarily sinful in and of themselves, but that tend to lead you down the road to sin.”

But the sin doesn’t start with the hand, brothers. Before our verse, Jesus says, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.” Whereas the hand represents letting what’s inside the heart out into the world (and thus sinning), the eye represents letting what’s in the world into the heart (and thus sinning). We need to be alert in both areas. Be careful what you let out, brothers, but even more importantly, be careful what you let in. Proverbs tells us, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Now we’re getting to the heart of the matter: literally, the heart. Jesus said because the intent to sin was in the heart, the sin had already been committed long before it was expressed outwardly. The problem is our hearts. The Bible says our hearts are desperately wicked; that no one is good, or does what is right, or seeks after God. Not one. As a human race, we are enslaved to sin. We can’t choose not to sin. We can only choose to sin. This is the reality of things . . . without Jesus.

But thanks be to God, He has made a way of salvation. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins on the cross. For those of us who’ve repented of our sins, who’ve believed in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on our behalf, we’ve received life in His name. The Father has removed our heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh. We’ve been set free from bondage to sin. We now have a choice, brothers, whether or not to sin. Furthermore, God placed His Holy Spirit within us to empower us to overcome sin.

Why then do we still falter, even going so far as to enjoy sin? Perhaps it’s because we don’t view sin as we should. I’ve heard men say, “I don’t want to create any more victims.” Have you guys heard that, or said that? I was thinking of my own victim one day, the terrible pain and suffering I caused him and his family. I was remembering him lying on the pavement, bright red blood oozing from his head into the gutter. And suddenly, instead of Mr. Razo lying there, I saw Jesus. He was reminding me that He paid for that sin too. The vision with me brothers, and it’s one I’d like you to consider. It’s Jesus who paid for each one of our sins. Every time you sin you create another victim. Every time you sin you are slapping Jesus, pulling out His beard, mocking Him, beating Him, spitting in His face. Have you ever been spit in the face?

Consider it, brothers. Every time you sin you nail your Savior to the cross.

Let us eradicate sin from our lives, by any means necessary. Let’s confess our sins, receiving forgiveness and cleansing. Let’s get familiar with God’s Word, learning how Jesus expects His citizens to behave in His kingdom. Let’s remove the things in our lives that tempt us, so we don’t give the devil the tiniest foothold. Let’s pray for more of the Holy Spirit’s power to endure temptation. Let’s find the strength, comfort, and wisdom to overcome in fellowship with God’s children. Let’s fill our hearts with good things, with godly things, so that what flows out will be pure, obedient, and holy. But above all, brothers, let’s remember it’s our sin that put Jesus on the cross. Keeping the proper perspective with regard to sin, and reverencing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, will help us to make the right decision the next time we are tempted.