Bible Study Series 2011: Jesus Teaches About Lust: Matthew 5:27-30

Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus taught

You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'  But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  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.  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."  (Matthew 5:27-30, pg. 1540, Life Application Study Bible, NIV).

This is one of the Commandments of thou shall not commit adultery which comes from Exodus 20:14 in the Old Testament.  What Jesus is telling us that not only is the physical act of sleeping with someone other than your spouse the sin of adultery but that the intentions and the fantasies that might enter our minds are also sinful if they are acted out.  As Christians, we are told that we are sinful in nature with some of our daily acts.  Does it mean that if we even think about looking at another woman as a man or as a woman looking at another man other than our spouse in a lustful way that we are committing ourselves to a life eternal in hell?  This is not the easiest question to answer except that Jesus, the way to the Father in heaven tells us that we are headed to hell even if the intentions are there to be lusting after another woman or man. 

Does this apply to when we are watching television and see someone beautiful and say things or think things that we otherwise would not need to do?  What about when someone beautiful walks by and that first thought goes into your mind?  Unfortunately, that is lust and that is fantasizing and applies as well to what Jesus teaches about lust.  It is said that whether we perform the sin physically or even think about it in our minds, we are subject to the sin and we have to do what it takes to be very careful.

We, as humans, will slip up now and then.  Jesus did go to the Cross so that the burden of our sinful nature would be on His shoulders.  However, this does not mean we should be sinful.  We should heed what He taught and to practice trying to be more like Him.

Next:  Jesus teaches about divorce