Deep Dive into

Heart Adultery and Radical Holiness: Christ’s Call to Kill Lust (Matthew 5:27 –30)

Jesus confronted the shallow interpretations of God's Law by asserting His divine authority, using the phrase, “But I say to you,” to establish Himself as the Lawgiver explaining His own commands. He expanded the scope of the seventh commandment from a single outward act to the inner life, declaring that anyone who deliberately looks to lust has already committed adultery in their heart. This act is defined as a purposeful, sustained look where the will cooperates with temptation, making it an immediate transgression before God. This internal indulgence violates the commandment to love one’s neighbor by treating that person as an object for self-centered gratification rather than an image-bearer to be honored.

Because heart sin is deadly and damnable, Jesus mandates radical mortification—the decisive, ruthless dealing with sin. He uses the shocking hyperbole of tearing out the right eye or cutting off the right hand to symbolize the spiritual amputation of whatever is most precious and useful if it acts as a snare or occasion for lust. This violent metaphor drives home the principle that any temporal loss—giving up a cherished habit, a device, or certain entertainment—is infinitely preferable to the eternal ruin of being thrown into hell. Coddling sin is incompatible with salvation.

This costly war is carried out under the power of the gospel. Justification provides the secure foundation: Christ’s perfect purity is imputed to the believer, and all sins of the mind are fully forgiven. This allows the sinner to fight sin from a place of acceptance, not desperation. Mortification is the necessary fruit of this acceptance, a process of sanctification requiring concrete steps like retraining the mind with God’s Word, cultivating delight in the Lord, and actively removing practical snares from one’s environment. This ongoing, Spirit-empowered conflict is the mark of genuine spiritual life.

Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologian

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