“The Master and the Mission” in Matthew-21

One of the most difficult passages in the Bible is where Jesus said, "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. 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" (Matthew 5:29-30). I believe that Jesus was saying that we need to deal firmly and immediately with anything that tempts us to sin. I heard many years ago about a place in Canada where the penalty for stealing was the cutting off of the hand. If I remember correctly, it only had to be done once or twice and stealing in the Province became almost non-existent. However, we need to remember the admonition in I Corinthians 10:13 which tells us that, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." This is the way to resist and escape sinning. Instead of a physical approach, we are to crucify the flesh (i.e; our old sin nature–a subject for another day). Selah! The bottom line is that sin is to be taken very seriously and we are to seek His victory over "the world, the flesh and the devil." Ron