Jesus made a shocking statement in Matthew 5:29.

Matthew 5:29
29“If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

I’ve heard this verse referenced a lot by Christians, but they always seem to leave off the last part - the part about hell. That’s too bad.

The sobering truth is, you and I will be thrown into hell if we don’t tear out our eye when we need to.

What was Jesus talking about?
Jesus was talking about lust. It is sin to commit adultery, He said, but obedience to God’s law requires more than purity of actions; it requires purity of thoughts and desires. The Christian must guard himself against both physical adultery and adultery in his heart.

Matthew 5:27-28
(27) “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’;
(28) but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

In verse 29, Jesus says one must do what is necessary to keep himself from committing both physical adultery and “spiritual adultery” (lusting after a woman in his heart). If his right eye makes him stumble, or “fall into sin,” he must gouge out his eye and throw it from him. Some have called this “radical amputation.” The principle is this: We have to be serious and drastic and radical in our fight against lust or any other kind of sin.

A helpful tip or a severe warning?
As I said, I’ve heard the verse quoted a lot. I think every time I’ve heard it quoted it was to show what is required to overcome sinful habits such as drunkenness or lust. The problem is, when we quote the verse without the part about hell at the end, the verse becomes merely a “helpful tip” rather than a severe warning.

Certainly, Jesus’ words are helpful, aren’t they? Oftentimes when Christians struggle in a particular area, it’s not until they are challenged from this verse to be radical, that they make progress to overcome their sinful habit.

But, Jesus was NOT saying, “It would be great if you were radical in your fight against sin!” He was saying, “If you aren’t radical in your fight against sin, you will go to hell!” Yikes! Clearly, Jesus words were more than a mere “helpful tip.”

We all need this verse.

What Jesus was not saying
This verse can be confusing. Some have gone so far as to even pluck the eye ball from their physical eye socket in an attempt to overcome sin. Please don’t do that! It won’t solve the problem! You will still have another eye. But, even if you plucked the other eye out too, you will still have images in your mind and a sinful heart to wrestle with. So, what’s the point? Jesus was telling us to be serious and drastic and radical in our fight against sin. That’s the point.

There’s still more we need to say by way of clarification especially with regard to Jesus comment about hell…”If you don’t pluck out your eye, you will go to hell.” So, I’ll clarify a couple things.

First, Jesus was not saying a person can lose his salvation. Many passages of Scripture make it clear that salvation is forever - you can’t lose your salvation. I’ll share just one passage right now.

Romans 8:30
(30) and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

Many call Romans 8:29-30 the “golden chain of redemption.” Notice in the passage that every person who is “justified” is also “glorified.” Everyone that is justified in God’s sight and forgiven on the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ will one day see Christ and be glorified. There are no exceptions. Once saved, always saved. Jesus is not contradicting Romans 8:30.

Second, Jesus was not saying that a person must overcome his sinful habits before he can come to Christ for salvation. What is required for salvation? Only repentance and faith are required for salvation (Mark 1:15). A man must turn from his sin turn to God in order to be saved. That’s repentance. He must also believe the gospel message and trust in the person of Jesus Christ to save him from the penalty and power of his sin. That’s faith.

Let’s talk about the “turning” involved in repentance for a minute. Does that mean a man must clean up his life before God will save him? No! It means (1) he must see (understand) his sin from God’s perspective (an intellectual change); (2) he must hate his sin because he loves God (an emotional change); (3) he must yield himself no longer to sin but to God (a volitional change). This “yielding” involves submission and resolve. Recognizing the Lordship of Christ, he must determine to change. However, he does not make these changes before his salvation. In fact, he is not able to make these changes before salvation; he is able to truly change sinful habits only after he has been saved. A humble man recognizes that, and trusts the Lord to save him from his sin. So, Jesus was not saying that a man must gouge out his eye and break his sinful habits before he can come to Christ for salvation.

So what does Jesus mean when he says, “If you don’t gouge out your eye, you will go to hell?”
Here’s the simple answer: If you don’t fight against your sin in a radical way, you are not a true believer and will therefore go to hell.

Maybe you’re thinking, “What about the guy who is a true believer, but just doesn’t take his sin that seriously?” The answer: You missed the point. If Jesus is right (and He is!), the guy you assumed is a true believer isn’t truly a believer if he doesn’t take his sin that seriously.

When God saves a man, He gives that man grace to persevere in his fight against his own sin. This is true because…

• The saving grace that justifies and glorifies also sanctifies.

• The kind of faith that justifies is the kind of faith that sanctifies.

• The gift of redemption through Christ includes salvation from the penalty of sin AND salvation from the power of sin (1 Peter 1:17-21). God doesn’t give a partial redemption whereby one is saved from the penalty of sin but is still a slave to the power of his sin.

Have you settled for a pattern of sin in your life?
You better not settle for a pattern of sin! You better fight, and fight radically! Your persevering fight will be evidence that you have been justified and that you will be glorified.

“But, no Christian is perfect! You can’t say I will go to heaven just because I still have sin in my life.” you may say. Well, it’s true that no Christian is perfect. Aren’t we all glad Jesus didn’t say, “Be absolutely sinless, or you will go to hell”?! He didn’t say we have to be perfect, but He did say, “It is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

You say, “I personally believe that I just have to continually ask for forgiveness when I sin.” It’s true that you should always be confessing your sin (1 John 1:9), but God’s wonderful gift of salvation will make you more than a “confessor;” it will make you an “eye-gouger-outer,” if I may say it that way.

Be an overcomer (1 John 5:4-5; Rev. 2:26; 3:12; 3:21)! “Overcomer” doesn’t mean you are flawless. It means you succeed, though with flaws. Success with flaws - that’s the Christian life. An “overcomer” (1 John 5:4-5) is a “confessor” (1 John 1:9). The two character descriptions are not incompatible.

So, don’t settle for a pattern of sin in your life because you’ve convinced yourself it’s okay as long as you ask for forgiveness. Fight against your sin! Pluck out your eye if you need to!

Tags: Lust, sanctification, sin, hell, salvation, assurance of salvation, counseling