“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. (Matthew 5:27-30, NKJV).
Ruthless
Sin and the temptation to sin has a life-cycle, or more accurately a "death-cycle". It's outlined in the Book of James. "But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." (James 1:14, 15, NKJV).
If the institution of marriage was created by God in order to "raise godly seed", and, in so being, is actually a primordial picture of the intimacy representative of Christ and His church, then the unique relationship between a husband and wife is perhaps the most significant invented. Violation of that special intimacy and commitment through adultery becomes very destructive indeed. It destroys a foundation of life and culture essential not only for the physical, but moral and spiritual survival of the human species. When and where marriage and family are no longer valued, society fails. When and where an individual marriage is not valued, a family fails.
All sexual sin is unique in that it involves the joining of (at least) two physical bodies, one with another. All other sin is done "outside" the body in that context, but illicit sex (that which is in opposition to the standards declared by the Creator Himself between one man and one woman in marriage) involves a perversion of the original intent for marriage - the conjoining of two individuals on the physical level to represent a greater merging in the spiritual. Sex outside the confines of marriage explodes that purpose literally to Hell.
For a Christian, there is an even greater degradation involved because we are "temples of the Holy Spirit" (1Co 6:19). All three Persons of the godhead indwell each one of us (John 14). "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31, NKJV). "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Colossians 3:17, NKJV). This, of course, includes sex. It has to because sex itself is an invention of God. Done in accord with His wisdom and will it is one of the most sublime of human activities. Done outside His will it is a pathetic rutting parody.
For marrieds, adultery is the ultimate trust killer. It is a betrayal of the very foundations upon which a successful marriage is built. It is a destroyer without pity or mercy. That is not to say that those guilty of adultery are any worse than any other sexual sinner, nor any more or less forgivable. It is to say that the destruction caused by adultery involves more than the sinner himself. The blast radius includes the betrayed spouse, the other illicit partner, and most tragically, any children. There is much collateral damage.
The ancient Jewish standard of obedience was based on the letter of the law so that it was the actual physical act that made one guilty. As in everything else contained within Jesus' Mountain Discourse, He elevates that standard above and beyond the final death throes of sin, and moves it back to its conception in the sinner's eyes, mind and will. The mere looking with lust at another is adultery. It is exactly in accord with the statements the Lord made just previously: evil intent is equivalent to evil action. While this may seem a teaching on adultery specifically unique to the New Testament, it is not. As early as the writing of Job we see the foreshadowing of this very thing: “I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman? " (Job 31:1, NKJV).
The remedy for adultery is personal ruthlessness. If your eye leads you astray, pluck it out and throw it far from you. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut if off and throw it far away. Why? Because it is better to be temporally maimed than to be eternally condemned. The question arises, Did Jesus mean this literally? There are some cultures even today that punish thieves by amputating the hand. Some that pluck out the eye. But if you look carefully at what Jesus is saying He is not referring to those punishments being done to you, but you doing them to yourself. And in a sense, almost as a preventative rather than an after-the-fact judgment.
If Jesus is advocating actual self-mutilation here, it is the only place in the New Testament where that is the case. In fact, elsewhere, the Apostle Paul condemns even the practice of circumcision as a religious requirement and defines such as meaningless mutilation. While there have been historical and modern accounts of sects practicing this in its various forms, self-flagellation, self-piercing, even crucifixion, it seems unlikely in the extreme that is Jesus' purpose. Instead, I believe He is emphasizing, not physical ruthlessness toward the outward implements and appendages of sin, but with the inward conception of sin: the heart and the mind. Otherwise, it would imply that no blind person or amputee sins, or that once amputated or blinded, a perpetrator would not sin again. That is simply not the case.
His exhortation is "Don't even look!" "Don't even reach out toward temptation!" Pluck it out, cut it off BEFORE the "death-cycle" of sin takes hold and what is conceived in the will is brought forth in death. To practice this kind of ruthlessness requires zero tolerance for succumbing to personal temptation; a turning away, a severing of the impulse before it occurs. This in turn is only successful if the individual purposes AHEAD of time to abide by that covenant of fidelity and strict self-control.
That is why our permissive Western culture is so perilous. Things that less than a generation ago were considered unmentionably shameful are boasted about in the streets as badges of honor. Things that were done in the dark are now paraded out in the light. Pornography, so easily accessible through modern technology, is one of the Enemy's greatest weapons in obliterating godly marriages, and is effective in undermining even the very foundation of marriage before ever a matrimonial vow is uttered. We live in sexually dangerous and explosive times. Much of our culture accepts the unacceptable, and increasingly thinks the unthinkable in a slow side into perdition. If I have heard the excuse "It's no big deal!" once, I've heard it a hundred times.
Be assured beloved, it IS a big deal. Faithfulness in a godly marriage is NOT optional. Be ruthless on yourself, lest the circumstances of your fall be utterly devastating, not only to you, but to everyone around you.
Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. (Hebrews 13:4, NKJV).
