I have been posting about the weeding that God will do in His kingdom during the last days. It’s recorded in Matthew 13:24-41. You can read my last few posts to see how the Lord will do this weeding.
The two things weeded out will be everything that causes sin and all who do evil. Along these same lines, Jesus makes a sobering statement in Matthew 18. I am convinced that most believers are unaware of what He meant when He said it. It’s usually taken out of context.
“Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.”
Matthew 18:7-9
Whenever I’ve heard this Scripture preached, the message was always about personal sin. I’ve heard it taught, “It would be better to cut your hand off, than to continue in sin.” While sin does have the power to ruin your life, Jesus was speaking of something deeper here.
Notice the context. He wasn’t talking about physical body parts that cause sin. The Lord referred to the man through whom they come.
I can see countless examples of when my own hands, feet and eyes have participated in my sin. Yet, I cannot honestly say that the sin was initiated by that part of my body. Sin has always been conceived and planned out by my own will. My body had no choice but to follow my decision into sin.
Jesus knows that it’s not the body that initiates the sin. He’s talking about people who cause sin. When the Lord uses the term hand, foot, and eye, I’m convinced by the larger context of His teaching that He’s talking about His attitude toward His body – the Church.
Only in the Body of Christ can a member cause the body to sin. Please be warned. You may think that your role in the church is as indispensable as a hand or a foot. But, if you’re offending the body, the Lord has no qualms about losing a member to save the body.
Jesus is very serious about dealing with those who cause offense. This is one of the things we are going to see being weeded out of the church by God in the last days. As a matter of fact, I think that we’re already beginning to experience God’s cleansing process.
Make sure that your faith is bringing health to the body of Christ.
Question: What can you do to make the church a better place?
© Nick Zaccardi 1013
The Spirit and the Word 