Matthew 5:30 Commentary and Bible Study

The right hand stands for the deeds, but not just deeds performed with the hand. It includes all deeds that lead us to break this commandment: going where we should not go; talking to who we should not talk to; as well as touching what we should not touch. No one can make the excuse that the members of the body which have brought us into sin, are the very members that God has put in the body. ‘This body that you have given me has these sinful desires and I am unable to resist them’, says the unbeliever. ‘I was born like this and I am unable to overcome the desires of my bodily members.’ Christ says, ‘Take decisive action; rouse yourself. Even if it is necessary to cut off one of your members, do it: for to omit to do so is almost certainly to proceed to hell.’ Even if our members did cause us to behave like this, we are not entitled to excuse ourselves on account of that, for Christ has told us here that in such a situation it is better to remove them. Mortification of sin on the part of the believer, seems to involve him putting to death part of his own being. Yes, but sin has taken ownership of part of our being, and that part of us cannot be restored; it must be put to death. We also have a new nature which will endure. The natural body is less important than the soul and must be sacrificed for it if necessary. The believer will receive a spiritual body in the resurrection which will be complete and missing nothing. The illustration is so elegant, so original, so conclusive. You have a body. Would you rather lose one member or the whole body? The answer is obvious. So too is the remedy for this sin.