READING: Genesis 16-17, Matthew 5:27-48
“If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. . . . 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 the parts of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” Matt. 5:29-30
The gospel really is radical.
It’s radical in its gifts, and it’s radical in its demands. It requires not only our actions, but also our motives to be pure. It commands us to be faithful in marriage and speak truth in conversation. It expects us to “turn the other cheek” when offended (Matt 5:38-42), love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us. It demands that we “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48). While scholars debate whether this call of Jesus is more a call to mature faith and obedience than it is to sinlessness, it nevertheless sets the bar for believers incredibly high. It’s so high, in fact, that we can’t achieve it; only God’s giving us His righteousness makes it possible.
The gospel call to obedience is so high that Jesus used quite an image (gouging out eyes and cutting off arms) to describe how radically we must make that commitment. Framed in the context of dealing with lust issues – but surely applying to sin in general – the image requires us to take whatever steps are necessary to break sin patterns. For example, I deal with many young men who are losing the battle with Internet pornography, both on their computers and on their phones. I have no issues in calling them to take increasingly drastic steps to overcome this issue: get an accountability partner; put a filter on your devices; let someone else set the password; keep your computer in a public place; confess your sin to someone every time you fall. They will often go that far, but they buck when I challenge them to get rid of their phone and/or their computer if that step becomes necessary. “I can’t do my schooling or my job without them,” they think. That may seem to be the case, but a radical faith might demand such a step. Using a landline and only a public computer is a small sacrifice to pay for obedience.
Here’s the point: a half-hearted, surface-level, partial commitment to forsaking sin doesn’t result in victory. To state it another way, adopting a New Year’s resolution or turning over a new leaf is not the same as gouging out your eye.
Jesus, of course, had the right to call us to radical obedience. His commitment to us was an all-in, laser focused, fully devoted willingness to die for us even while we were yet sinners. That's about as radical as it gets!
ACTION STEPS:
- Take whatever steps you need to take to eradicate sin from your life.
- Pray daily for victory.
PRAYER: “God, grant me faith and wisdom to take the right steps to break my sin patterns.”
TOMORROW'S READING: Genesis 18-19, Matthew 6:1-18