If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out !
In Mathew 5:29-30, Jesus, in discussing a particular sin (in this case sexual lust), goes on to give the remedy in verses 29 and 30.
vs. 29 "And if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."
vs. 30 "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you, for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell."
Now I don't think Jesus is going around advising people to saw off their own limbs or gourge out their eyeballs, but it clearly makes the point that He is calling for some drastic action that will put an end to sin and it's ultimate takeover and destruction of our lives.
Our eyes ( or inward perception) will cause us to respond to life's stimuli in a particular way. In the example Jesus gave of a man who lusted in his heart after women that he looked upon, thus committing the sin of adultery in his heart, the remedy was to "pluck it (his eye) out"..... show no mercy,.... get rid of that perception (seeing) of women that is behind this sin......seeing them first and foremost as objects for his own personal use and satisfaction rather than what they are.....fellow creatures like himself with hopes, dreams, unique personality, heirs of life just like him.
The first step, of course is to admit that we have such a perception and that we need the cleansing power of the blood to wash the mind of it's defilement so that we can come to a place of abhorrence (repentance) of such perception and "pluck it out".
This is a kingdom principle and can be applied to any problem of sin in our life. Jesus is warning us that sin.... any sin, left alone to fester, can grow to the point of making our life hell on earth. How many christians have started out just occasionally indulging such a sin as Jesus mentioned in these verses, and ended up addicted to porn or worse. Our life doesn't have to descend into hell if we will heed the Master's admonition and "pluck it out".
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Comment by Nicki on March 10, 2011 at 2:00am -
I heard some great teaching whilst in Spain regarding Abundant life in Christ. Anything that is not submitted to Him will cause death in that area of our life, anything that is submitted, repented, got rid of, plucked out , will bring abundant life.
And I think its interesting how you talk about seed festering....it starts off as a small seed and grows into a huge oaktree where people have serious addictions, problems etc....but the root started off very small.
The battle begins in the mind. ...as the saying goes "I think, therefore I am". Once that battle has been lost in the mind, once in your head you have already given in to sin the sin will sure to follow at some point as their is no no resolve in a persons spirit to want to fight it. To have the "mind of Christ" means you dont think things in your head that if they were in Jesus mind, He would not be happy with.
Jesus words here are very powerful...as you say, He is not asking us to physically cut off our arms, legs etc, but He is clearly stressing the importance in a very graphic way that our lives need to be sin free if we want abundant life.....because sin will always lead to death.
I know for myself, I dont want any sin....because I want abundant life. You will see me in heaven...I be the one with no arms, no legs and no eyes!!!
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Comment by Eve's garden on March 10, 2011 at 8:16am -
Nicki said:
You will see me in heaven...I be the one with no arms, no legs and no eyes!!!
Hahaha..........that's funny, but true....we'll ALL be missing our eyes, legs and arms!!
Good post, Nicki.
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Comment by Nicki on March 12, 2011 at 2:14am
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You will have to shout me over Eve....unless of course Ive cut my ears off too!! Lol!
On a more serios note, I know the understanding of the very clear black and white...sin leads to death...death to self leads to abundant life.....this clear "two path choice" made a huge difference in my life when face with temptation. I will not even entertain thoughts or daydreams of a path that meads to seath....no matter hoe "pleasurable" that sin maybe....because I KNOW without doubt it will lead to death. It will kill something in my spirit because that is the nature of sin. Far far better to DIE TO SELF (before being killed) and receive abundant life in that area of my life. You gona die anyway....either way!
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Comment by Adam Goodwin on March 12, 2011 at 6:40am -
Ha.. i love this verse.. i have learnt that Jesus never says anything by accident, everything has meaning.. i have been asked alot in the past this question "why does Jesus address lust and not masturbation" by men? my simple answer to this question is the following " most of the worlds population is right handed, like 70-80%, right! so why do you think he said your right hand? the light bulb then goes off for obvious reasons!" Great verse!
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Comment by Eve's garden on March 12, 2011 at 10:53pm
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I think we, the Church, could use a refresher course on the dangers of sin. We've gotten away from such teaching, yet it is sin that causes so much misery in the world. It always leads to death of some kind if it isn't dealt with. Jesus would spare us of this devastation if we would take this subject seriously.
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Comment by it is me... on March 13, 2011 at 1:35am -
Y'know ... for a long time I have been opposed to that sort of idea, Ev, primarily because in my mind the only place I could "map" that kind of thing was over onto that whole toxic vein of getting entangled in a yoke of attempted "sin-management" bondage. BUT ... lately I'm starting to think there may be something to what you are saying here. I'm referring specifically to your comment above more than the blog OP. Of course, I would have to qualify that by explaining or describing how it reads to me, what it suggests to me, here and now -- as differentiated from what it might have suggested in the past that I would still oppose -- and I'm not entirely prepared to do that just yet, as my thought processes in this vein are very embryonic. But I just thought it might interest you to know I'm looking at that sort of thing from a different angle, one that affords some appreciation of the idea. Shalom.
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Comment by Nicki on March 13, 2011 at 3:30am
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I totally agree Eve, I dont think it is taken seriously enough these days. I think the problem being was Satan and his pendulum swing...first "Hell fire and damnation, lets scare people into serving Jesus" and then "Its all grace brother, no need to deal with anything"...its gone from one end of the scale to the other.....hes very clever.....because on both of those sides it never led to close loving relationships with God , one people walked in fear so dardent approach the throne of God and the other people are so full of sin they cant enter His presence.
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Comment by Eve's garden on March 13, 2011 at 2:17pm
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Thanks Moriah for your words. We're all on that journey towards greater revelation of the truth, and only the Holy Spirit seems to know how to get us there. Shalom to your heart, as well.
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Comment by Eve's garden on March 13, 2011 at 2:26pm
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Nicki, I grew up in a church that did the 'hell, fire, and damnation' thing, so I've seen the pendulum swing thing you speak of. The Spirit is definitely restoring a healthy balance back to the Church, at least in those churches that are open to it. I see so much suffering around me and people are crying out for relief. Revelation is bringing us into the light of our authority to be the overcomers that His victory has purchased for us. We're waking up, the scales are falling off, and the devil is scared of what's coming.
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Comment by Gary Paul Coon on March 13, 2011 at 2:42pm -
Dear ones, welcome to heaven. I see that you are missing your right eyes, right hands, etc. Here- let me give you each an all-new body. One made of pure spirit, made especially to live forever in this new universe of wonder. With your new body you will have new abilities, ones you've never conceived of before. You will have new senses too. EnJOY!
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