Why Matthew 5:29-30?

[Agios]

Matt 29-30 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. 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.

Obviously the above verses shows the severity of sin in the eyes of God, is that the only point Jesus is trying to make here?

Was Jesus talking about the Church as a whole, in that if one member is causing other members to sin, throw them out?

A dispensationalist told me one time, Jesus was only talking about the Kingdom of God that is to come and doesn't apply to the Church nor at this time? (No, I'm not a dispensationalist, but it was one take on this passage).

How do you understand what Jesus was saying here? Thanks!

 

[farouk]

Matt 29-30 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. 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.

Obviously the above verses shows the severity of sin in the eyes of God, is that the only point Jesus is trying to make here?

Was Jesus talking about the Church as a whole, in that if one member is causing other members to sin, throw them out?

A dispensationalist told me one time, Jesus was only talking about the Kingdom of God that is to come and doesn't apply to the Church nor at this time? (No, I'm not a dispensationalist, but it was one take on this passage).

How do you understand what Jesus was saying here? Thanks!

It's about relative values, pursuing eternal, spiritual values or else things that harm spiritually.

 

[CharismaticLady]

Matt 29-30 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. 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.

Obviously the above verses shows the severity of sin in the eyes of God, is that the only point Jesus is trying to make here?

Was Jesus talking about the Church as a whole, in that if one member is causing other members to sin, throw them out?

A dispensationalist told me one time, Jesus was only talking about the Kingdom of God that is to come and doesn't apply to the Church nor at this time? (No, I'm not a dispensationalist, but it was one take on this passage).

How do you understand what Jesus was saying here? Thanks!

Both of your thoughts are accurate.

Galatians 5:19-21
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 5:11
11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

 

[Enoch111]

A dispensationalist told me one time, Jesus was only talking about the Kingdom of God that is to come and doesn't apply to the Church nor at this time?

That must have been one crazy Dispensationalist. Anyhow, we must take those Scripture literally for what they mean. They warn sinners about the severe consequences of sin. But they do not reveal anything about the Gospel. So when the Gospel is preached, sinners must understand that they are bound for Hell (Gehenna = the Lake of Fire) unless they repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

[icxn]

...How do you understand what Jesus was saying here? Thanks!

The obvious meaning is that, if you have a relative (right eye) or friend (right hand) that cause you to sin, it is better to avoid their company (lose a member) than to be cast into hell with them.

The not so obvious meaning is:

If you have knowledge, understanding, wisdom or perhaps even revelations - these are the right eye - that cause you to become proud, it is better to pluck them out, humble your mind's haughtiness, assume ignorance and thus avoid the sentence of hell.

If you have some good works, perhaps you are charitable, you fast or pray a lot or some other practical virtue - these are the right hand - and they make you look down on your neighbor and pass judgement on him, in short you become proud, it is better to cut them off and thus crippled but humbled you may not be cast into hell.

 

[CharismaticLady]

The obvious meaning is that, if you have a relative (right eye) or friend (right hand) that cause you to sin, it is better to avoid their company (lose a member) than to be cast into hell with them.

The not so obvious meaning is:

If you have knowledge, understanding, wisdom or perhaps even revelations - these are the right eye - that cause you to become proud, it is better to pluck them out, humble your mind's haughtiness, assume ignorance and thus avoid the sentence of hell.

If you have some good works, perhaps you are charitable, you fast or pray a lot or some other practical virtue - these are the right hand - and they make you look down on your neighbor and pass judgement on him, in short you become proud, it is better to cut them off and thus crippled but humbled you may not be cast into hell.

Are your definitions of right eye and right hand well-known Hebrew idioms?

It seems right hand man is an American idiom for an important associate.

 

[101G]

Addressing the OP only. some interesting replies.
not saying that any is right or wrong, but consider this. the point is not to sin, the verse is dealing with one's sins and how to overcome it. what offend or cause you to sin is the remedy to the solution, meaning you. by plucking out your offending eye, (which is not literal, but a figure of speech), to render it useless. what do I mean? we are suppose to be DEAD to sin, that's if we're baptized into his death. the Holy Ghost clear this up for us in the writing of the apostle Paul.

Romans 6:1 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"
Romans 6:2 "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"
Romans 6:3 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"
Romans 6:4 "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
Romans 6:5 "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:"
Romans 6:6 "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."
Romans 6:7 "For he that is dead is freed from sin."
Romans 6:8 "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:"
Romans 6:9 "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him."
Romans 6:10 "For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God."
Romans 6:11 "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

BINGO, THERE IS THE PLUCKING OUT OF THE EYE. the word "reckon" here is to consider. so consider that you plucked out your eyes, for DEAD men cannot "SEE" with eyes to sin. other words our Lord Jesus is saying consider yourselves to be dead to sin, for the dead don't forincate nor lust with the eyes, nor commite adultery or any other sin.

so by plucking out the eye is simplying rending it or "RECKONing" it to be useless or dead, which the rest of the Romans here will explain.

Romans 6:12 "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof."
Romans 6:13 "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."


your member are your eyes, feet, mouth ears... ect. if you look at a woman in lust, turn away, for if "looking"/your eyes cause you lust condider or "reckon" your eyes to be dead indeed. simply don't look LET is an act of one's will. as with your feet, once in christ, the places where you used to go, you go there no more. the things you use to say, you say no more. why because you have been changed. but you are still alive and in the flesh. solution #2, if you can't turn, or stop looking, you have "HELP", 1 John 2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:"

so the point is not to sin but if one do go to God and get it removed from you. because, 1 John 1:8 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

PICJAG.

 

[Cooper]

Obviously not to be taken literally, neither would God want us to defile his handiwork as evidenced in us, better still to make sacrifice of any unholy thoughts or desires, by cutting them off, perhaps even dissociating with whatever or whoever might lead us into temptation.

 

[Agios]

It's about relative values, pursuing eternal, spiritual values or else things that harm spiritually.

So it is the cutting off of those things that harm spiritually? Why wouldn't Jesus just say something along those lines instead of cutting off limbs and poking out eyes?
Or maybe when you cut off ungodly behaviors and actions, it shows the difficulty of doing so, because they are so ingrained in us that they become apart of us? Idk just rambling. lol

 

[Agios]

Addressing the OP only. some interesting replies.
not saying that any is right or wrong, but consider this. the point is not to sin, the verse is dealing with one's sins and how to overcome it. what offend or cause you to sin is the remedy to the solution, meaning you. by plucking out your offending eye, (which is not literal, but a figure of speech), to render it useless. what do I mean? we are suppose to be DEAD to sin, that's if we're baptized into his death. the Holy Ghost clear this up for us in the writing of the apostle Paul.

Romans 6:1 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"
Romans 6:2 "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"
Romans 6:3 "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"
Romans 6:4 "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
Romans 6:5 "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:"
Romans 6:6 "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."
Romans 6:7 "For he that is dead is freed from sin."
Romans 6:8 "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:"
Romans 6:9 "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him."
Romans 6:10 "For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God."
Romans 6:11 "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

BINGO, THERE IS THE PLUCKING OUT OF THE EYE. the word "reckon" here is to consider. so consider that you plucked out your eyes, for DEAD men cannot "SEE" with eyes to sin. other words our Lord Jesus is saying consider yourselves to be dead to sin, for the dead don't forincate nor lust with the eyes, nor commite adultery or any other sin.

so by plucking out the eye is simplying rending it or "RECKONing" it to be useless or dead, which the rest of the Romans here will explain.

Romans 6:12 "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof."
Romans 6:13 "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."


your member are your eyes, feet, mouth ears... ect. if you look at a woman in lust, turn away, for if "looking"/your eyes cause you lust condider or "reckon" your eyes to be dead indeed. simply don't look LET is an act of one's will. as with your feet, once in christ, the places where you used to go, you go there no more. the things you use to say, you say no more. why because you have been changed. but you are still alive and in the flesh. solution #2, if you can't turn, or stop looking, you have "HELP", 1 John 2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:"

so the point is not to sin but if one do go to God and get it removed from you. because, 1 John 1:8 "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

PICJAG.

The way Jesus described putting away sin, or getting away from people who cause us to sin, is just such a different way of explaining it then say how John or Paul stated it. Stating it this way gives it a shock factor, immediately removal.

 

[icxn]

Are your definitions of right eye and right hand well-known Hebrew idioms?

They are certainly scriptural idioms, the phrase ‘right hand’ is mentioned quite a lot and not always in a literal sense. While they (right and left) don’t always have the same meaning, in general terms, anything that is right means good and anything that is left is evil or simply inferior. For example, the sheep, those that are saved, are placed on the right hand of God, whereas the sinners on the left. The reason I associated eyes with relatives and friends with hands, is because the former are (usually) more valuable to us than the latter.

In the second case, I interpreted eye with our soul’s eye i.e. the mind, and hands with our actions. Again, this is not arbitrary, Christ spoke of an inner darkness (Matthew 6:23), called those ignorant teachers of the Law as blind guides and spoke of our good deeds as the doings of our right hand (Matthew 6:3). Knowledge, understanding and the rest are good (right) activities of the mind, hence the association with right eye. Charitable works and other virtues we perform with our bodies are similarly associated with the right hand.

It seems right hand man is an American idiom for an important associate.

In Greek too.

 

[CharismaticLady]

They are certainly scriptural idioms, the phrase ‘right hand’ is mentioned quite a lot and not always in a literal sense. While they (right and left) don’t always have the same meaning, in general terms, anything that is right means good and anything that is left is evil or simply inferior. For example, the sheep, those that are saved, are placed on the right hand of God, whereas the sinners on the left. The reason I associated eyes with relatives and friends with hands, is because the former are (usually) more valuable to us than the latter.

In the second case, I interpreted eye with our soul’s eye i.e. the mind, and hands with our actions. Again, this is not arbitrary, Christ spoke of an inner darkness (Matthew 6:23), called those ignorant teachers of the Law as blind guides and spoke of our good deeds as the doings of our right hand (Matthew 6:3). Knowledge, understanding and the rest are good (right) activities of the mind, hence the association with right eye. Charitable works and other virtues we perform with our bodies are similarly associated with the right hand.

In Greek too.

I also see that putting some on the left means evil.

Take the sons of God in the book of Job chapter 1. All of the angels were assembled before him, both good and bad, and Satan was there also. It doesn't mention right side and left, but I assume all the angels were assembled, because of how they were assembled in1 Kings 22.

19 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. 21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ 22 The Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ 23 Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.”

A good angel could NEVER be a lying spirit.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Matt 29-30 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. 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.

Greetings, Agios.

I would side with Enoch here. The teaching is literal, but let me put it in its New Testament context for you first. Those caught in adultery were to be put to death under Jewish law. You see this taking place when Jesus writes in the sand and then tells them, "Let him who has no sin cast the first stone." What it means is, Jesus was warning about the extreme dangers to a person spiritually should they become tempted to commit adultery, because they might die in that sin in ancient Israel.

Here in the twentieth century we have time to repent, so while the sin is still egregious before God, the dangers of committing it are not as grave as they were when Jesus was teaching this.

I'm saying this because I noticed your age, and I know young men struggle with sexual temptations. The teaching is saying that it indeed would be better to lose an eye than be cast into Hell, but don't go poking your eyes out. Just keep trusting God to deliver you from sexual temptations and praying to Him to help you concerning it. We are not under immediate threat of death in the age of grace.

God bless,
Hidden In Him

 

[charity]

Matt 29-30 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. 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.

Obviously the above verses shows the severity of sin in the eyes of God, is that the only point Jesus is trying to make here?

Was Jesus talking about the Church as a whole, in that if one member is causing other members to sin, throw them out?

A dispensationalist told me one time, Jesus was only talking about the Kingdom of God that is to come and doesn't apply to the Church nor at this time? (No, I'm not a dispensationalist, but it was one take on this passage).

How do you understand what Jesus was saying here? Thanks!

Hello there, @Agios,

The dispensationalist in question must have been referring to the Lord's use of the word 'Gehenna' (translated 'hell') for that refers to the fires of judgement that will exist in the judgement of the end time.

Thank you.
In Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[Deborah_]

“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, where the fire never goes out.” (Mark 9:43)

This is one of Jesus’ more shocking teachings, and something we instinctively recoil from. Surely He didn’t intend us to take Him seriously at this point? Surely He didn’t mean us to mutilate our bodies so drastically? Chopping off hands and feet sounds barbaric. It is barbaric.

Did Jesus want us to take His words literally? Certainly not; just a couple of chapters earlier, He had explained to His disciples that sin arises from within us (Mark 7:20-23). Amputating our limbs isn’t going to make an iota of difference to what goes on inside our hearts and minds, and so it won’t make us any less sinful in God’s eyes.

So what did He mean?

I think He did intend to shock people. We need to be shocked, because most of us are appallingly indifferent to sin - especially when it’s our own sin. We are used to thinking of ourselves as basically decent people, and just cannot imagine how really bad we are. We carry this cavalier attitude over into our Christian lives too; we believe that Jesus has dealt with our sin and made us right with God, so we tend to assume that we don’t need to worry about it any more. But we couldn’t be more wrong…

Sin, in fact, is a life-threatening condition - like cancer, or gangrene. And giving my life to Jesus doesn’t make my sin go away totally; it’s deeply ingrained within all of us. So we have to fight it (and for most of us, it’s only when we become Christians that we really start fighting it). “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13) This will mean waging war against many of our natural inclinations. We are to be spiritual surgeons, embarking on a lifesaving operation. There must be no room for compromise, no space for negotiation; we must be totally ruthless.

So if our possessions (the things we hold on to), our habits (the places where we keep going) or our desires (the things we concentrate on) are causing us to sin, we must get rid of them - by drastic action, if necessary. Failure to eradicate known sources of temptation from our lives is an invitation to spiritual disaster. Samson failed to exercise self-control in the area of sex – and ended up blind, in a Philistine prison (Judges 16:1-21). Nothing is to be considered sacred; nothing is too big to sacrifice for the sake of preserving our spiritual integrity. Our eternal destiny is at stake! It is surely better to miss out on some of the temporary pleasures of this world than to risk final destruction in the next. For Hell is a fate too terrible to contemplate…

 

[marks]

Matt 29-30 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. 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.

Obviously the above verses shows the severity of sin in the eyes of God, is that the only point Jesus is trying to make here?

Was Jesus talking about the Church as a whole, in that if one member is causing other members to sin, throw them out?

A dispensationalist told me one time, Jesus was only talking about the Kingdom of God that is to come and doesn't apply to the Church nor at this time? (No, I'm not a dispensationalist, but it was one take on this passage).

How do you understand what Jesus was saying here? Thanks!

If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away . . . but is it your eye that causes you to sin? Is it your hand? Something more sinister that must be cut away, the flesh.

Much love!

 

[Agios]

If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away . . . but is it your eye that causes you to sin? Is it your hand? Something more sinister that must be cut away, the flesh.

Much love!

Good point! The inner man needs slaying.

 

[DPMartin]

Matt 29-30 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. 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.

Obviously the above verses shows the severity of sin in the eyes of God, is that the only point Jesus is trying to make here?

Was Jesus talking about the Church as a whole, in that if one member is causing other members to sin, throw them out?

A dispensationalist told me one time, Jesus was only talking about the Kingdom of God that is to come and doesn't apply to the Church nor at this time? (No, I'm not a dispensationalist, but it was one take on this passage).

How do you understand what Jesus was saying here? Thanks!

what you've been told and it seems you know already is horse dump.

Jesus is telling you that there is no excuse or justification for keeping something in your life that causes you to sin. So, what ever causes you to sin remove it from yourself and or your life, simple as that, even if it be your hand or your eye.

 

[Agios]

what you've been told and it seems you know already is horse dump.

Jesus is telling you that there is no excuse or justification for keeping something in your life that causes you to sin. So, what ever causes you to sin remove it from yourself and or your life, simple as that, even if it be your hand or your eye.

Being sin free is obviously the way to Life, wouldn't you agree? Jesus was emphasizing the importance of this, right?

Do you advocate that a person who steals, should really cut their hand off?

 

[Enoch111]

Do you advocate that a person who steals, should really cut their hand off?

Did you know that this is practiced in Muslim countries to this day? Saudi Arabia, Yemen, UAE, etc.