“If Your Right Hand Causes You To Sin…”

Question: Helena asks, “What is the meaning of Jesus’ words, ‘If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off…’ (Matt. 5:29-30)?”

Answer: These words of Jesus appear in the “Sermon on the Mount” and are found again in Matthew 18:8-9, and in Mark 9:43-48. Mention is made of amputating a hand and a foot, and putting out an eye. But these cannot be commands to engage in self-mutilation. The Bible condemns such behaviour. It is the idolatrous heathen who abuse their bodies in an attempt to please their gods (I Kgs. 18:25-29). Physically, we are the special creation of God (Gen. 2:7) and the Christian’s body is “the temple of the Holy Spirit,” to be used to glorify Him (I Cor. 6:19-20).

When we examine closely what Jesus said, nothing seems right. It is not the hand, the foot or the eye that “causes” sin. Nor is it the present physical body of the unbeliever that enters hell, but a new, resurrection body (Rev. 20:11-15). Further, even one who is blinded may be lustful still. Jesus used these startling words to stir a reaction. The seeming anomalies in the teaching are meant to force us to see the real problem. Amputation will not solve a problem that is rooted elsewhere. It is in the heart where sin is generated (cf. Mk. 7:20-23). So we are driven back to the opening word, “if.” If the eye is the problem….But it is not.

Centuries ago, a man was arrested in England for being a pickpocket. As a cruel punishment, his right hand was cut off. But he simply learned new dexterity with his left hand and went right on stealing. When arrested again, his left hand also was amputated. But he then taught himself to pick pockets with his teeth! The gruesome tale makes a point. Where does the real problem lie? Not in the hands of the pickpocket, nor even his teeth. What he needed, and what we all need if we are to consistently obey God’s Word, is a transformed heart. David realized that and prayed, “Create in me a pure heart, O God” (Ps. 51:10). And the creation of a new heart is the central promise of the New Covenant (Ezek. 36:26).

Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (cf. 3:18). By the power of the Holy Spirit we are to “walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). And when the Spirit of God changes the human heart, it will affect our eyes (what we admire and desire), our feet (the path we choose in life), and our hands (what we do and make). That is the point of the passages in question.