Matthew 5:28 Commentary and Bible Study

Is the heart some private, inner room, in which we can conduct ourselves in secret, away from the eyes of man and of God? Can we obey the commandments at the external level, and no one know that we also break them in another place where we think that no one can see? Can we successfully hide our hypocrisy? We can be away from the eyes of man, yes, but not of God. Purity of heart is what God requires, and if anything the real person is what goes on in the heart, not what goes on in the outward man. Human beings soon come to understand themselves, and make the distinction between the public part of them and the private part of them. They soon come to understand that they have the ability to separate the two, and to live as two different people, one seen and the other not seen. But this is not possible unless they take advantage of the darkness, and deliberately walk in the darkness. In the darkness, they imagine a world where their hearts are not seen by God, and where they can get away with whatever they please. God allows this fiction to exist for a time, because he has a purpose in allowing evil to come into the world, but he will judge it in due course. We may commit adultery in the heart, for we commit it with the imagination. We may let loose all restraint on our thoughts, indulge our lusts, and attempt to obtain pleasure from them, even though we know we cannot let this inner corruption proceed to any outward action. Looks, thoughts, fantasies, imaginings are given free scope within. But adultery is just as real in the eyes of God when committed in the imagination. What is the way to grow in grace, to deal with sin? It is to put it to death at the earliest possible stage. The heart has a way of knowing what lies ahead down a particular track of thought. It is as if temptations have signposts in the way. These should be enough to get us to turn back, and not let curiosity insist that we explore.Let us suppose someone has slipped into this. Wouldn’t you need to cast both eyes out if this was to be an effective remedy? Yes, but that tells us that this is clearly a picture. How can you give a part of your mind to this? If only that man has shut down the part of his mind in error. Turn off that TV. The Lord is not contradicting his own word. Churches can drift off course.