New Testament Reading Plan: 1 Thessalonians 4-5
SCRIPTURE READING
Matt 5:29-30 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better
for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if
your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one
part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (NIV)
This teaching comes from the longest sermon that we have recorded for us in the Bible, the
Sermon on the Mount. In this sermon, Jesus teaches about many practical things, one of
which is the seriousness of sin. Basically, in today’s passage, Jesus is saying that if you
have strongholds of sin in your life you better be radical about cutting those things out of your
life because if you are casual about those sins, they have the potential to drag you down
into Hell. According to Jesus, sin is that serious! But according to the most popular grace
teachers of our day sin is not that serious, because grace has negated Hell and judgment
for believers no matter what you do. The truth is that grace has not done that. Yes, grace
has done wonderful, amazing, incredible things for those who repent of their sins and pursue
righteousness – and we’ll get to those things at the end of this series – but it has not erased
the possibility of Hell and Judgment for Christians who are casual about their sins and persist
in their sins unrepentantly. This is why Jesus was always so serious about sin in all of His
teachings. Never once in any of Jesus’ teaching does He ever give the impression that a
person can continue in sin and still be saved from judgment. So, looking at our passage,
we need to be radical about the things in our lives that cause us to sin. If the internet is a
problem then we need to get rid of it. If having a data plan on our phone is causing us to
sin – eliminate it. If we find that certain friends are causing us to stumble, then we need to
remove ourselves from their influence. For some, the cost may be high but the alternative is
even more costly, if we don’t pursue holiness.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Are you willing to get radical about sin in your life?
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you two or three things that cause you to fall into sin.
Then ask Him for a strategy in getting rid of those things from your life.
