Jesus and the War for Your Heart

Title: Cut It Off: Jesus and the War for Your Heart Text: Matthew 5:27–30 (ESV) Preacher: Brent Carter Occasion: Lord’s Day Worship – Eastside Presbyterian Church

📖 Scripture Reading

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

Introduction

Church family, we live in a time that prizes image over integrity, comfort over conviction. But Jesus does not address us as a PR consultant—He speaks to us as the Shepherd of our souls. In this text, He bypasses the external and pierces the heart. What we find here is not a moral upgrade—it’s a confrontation with the root of sin.

Jesus is not speaking in vague generalities. He’s identifying a spiritual cancer that must be treated at the level of desire, imagination, and will. And He offers us more than just warning—He gives us a way forward, rooted in the transforming power of the gospel.

I. The Law Fulfilled and Internalized (vv. 27–28)

“You have heard that it was said… but I say to you…”

Jesus is not replacing the Law—He is fulfilling it (Matthew 5:17 “17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” ). The Mosaic commandment against adultery (Exodus 20:14 “14 “You shall not commit adultery.” ) was never only about protecting marriage; it was about upholding the holiness of God and the covenant fidelity that reflects His nature (Hosea 2:19–20 “19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.” ).

By extending the reach of this law to the heart, Jesus echoes the prophets who proclaimed that God desires truth in the inward being (Psalm 51:6 “6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.” ). It’s not just our hands that can betray the covenant—it’s our gaze, our imagination, our affections.

"The issue isn’t just what your hands have done. It’s what your heart has loved."

Lust is not merely misdirected attraction—it is covenant-breaking at the level of desire. It is treating people as objects, not image-bearers. It turns sacred intimacy into selfish indulgence.

‘Lust’ means an inordinate affection or desire; lust means the abuse of something which is naturally and perfectly right and legitimate in and of itself. Walking with God, 85

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)

And it is not limited to sexuality:

Lust for power distorts servant leadership.

Lust for praise turns ministry into performance.

Lust for emotional intimacy outside covenant seeds destruction in homes and churches alike.

David’s sin (2 Samuel 11 “1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness. ) is the great biblical warning here—not just because of what he did, but because of how it started: a lingering gaze, an unguarded heart, and a refusal to kill sin in its infancy.

The writer’s omission of an explicit motive behind Bathsheba’s action reinforces the conviction that this story is not so much about Bathsheba’s actions but David’s.

Robert D. Bergen

Psalm 51 “To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. 1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. ” is his confession, and it should be ours too.

Blame shifting is the weapon of choice for the unrepentant.

2275There is no true mourning for sin until the eye has seen Christ. It is a beautiful remark of an old divine, that eyes are made for two things at least. First, to look with, and next, to weep with. The eye which looks to the pierced One is the eye which weeps for him.—33.521

Charles Spurgeon

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” — Jer. 17:9

We must understand that true obedience begins not with behavior modification but heart renovation. The gospel doesn’t merely redirect our hands—it rewires our hearts (Ezek. 36:26–27).

II. Mortifying Sin: The Eye as Gateway (v. 29)

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out…”

Jesus now presses into how sin is sustained: through what we look at, dwell on, and feed our desires with. The eye represents the intake of the soul—what we fixate on eventually forms us.

The eyes see what the heart loves. If the heart loves God and is single in this devotion, then the eyes will see God whether others see Him or not.

Warren W. Wiersbe

(Proverbs 4:25–27 “25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.” ).

(Cutting out the tearing out of the right eye) This is hyperbole with holy intent. Christ is not advocating physical harm and mutilation but decisive, urgent action. Mortification—a word we get from Colossians 3:5 “5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” —means to put sin to death, not manage it.

The fight against lust is not passive. Jesus calls us to spiritual amputation. Not because He is cruel—but because He is good. Better to lose something precious than be mastered by something deadly.

We are discipled by our devices, our feeds, our playlists. Jesus is asking: what are you gazing at that is forming your desires? We must recover the discipline of guarding the eye-gate with the same seriousness as guarding our homes.

“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” — Job 31:1

Pastoral note: This is not just about what’s immoral. It’s about what’s formative. Are we being formed into the image of Christ—or into the image of our culture?

Application:

What do I habitually look at that shapes my longing in ways that dishonor God?

What am I tolerating that Christ calls me to tear out?

Am I living free, or just pretending I am while still secretly enslaved?

III. Sanctification in Action: The Hand as Instrument (v. 30)

“If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off…”

The hand represents action—habitual, practiced behavior. Jesus is showing us that unrepentant sin must not only be exposed, it must be uprooted. In Romans 6 “1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all,…” , Paul reminds us that we have been freed from sin to become slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:18 “18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” ). Grace empowers war, not passivity.

This is where progressive sanctification meets daily decision-making. The Christian life is not a series of one-time victories, but a daily dying to sin and rising with Christ (Luke 9:23 “23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” ; Galatians 2:20 “20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” ).

There is a reason Paul tells Timothy to “flee youthful lusts” (2 Tim. 2:22). You don’t negotiate with sin. You don’t tame it. You crucify it.

In the Bible, Joseph faced a crucial test of fidelity when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him. Rather than giving in to temptation, he chose to flee, proclaiming, 'How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?' His commitment to his heart's fidelity, even in the face of temptation and potential persecution, exemplifies true faithfulness. Joseph’s story teaches us that fidelity is not just about loyalty in relationships but also about the integrity of our hearts towards God’s will.

This is why we must look beyond “trying harder” and toward “training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). This means identifying destructive patterns and replacing them with life-giving practices.

Application:

What habits in my life feed sin instead of starve it?

What daily routines, devices, or relationships are keeping me from holiness?

What spiritual disciplines—prayer, fasting, confession, accountability—need to be reestablished?

Holiness is not merely saying “no” to sin—it is saying “yes” to Christ. It is hands made clean for gospel work (Psalm 24:3–4 “3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.” ), not just hands restrained from evil.

Conclusion: Radical Grace for Radical Holiness

The radical commands of Jesus make sense only in light of the radical grace of Jesus. He doesn’t say “cut it off” to leave us bleeding—He says “cut it off” because He was cut off for us (Isaiah 53:8 “8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?” ).

He bore the wrath we deserved. He carried the shame we still hide. He rose so that we might walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:4 “4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” ).

This is the logic of grace: because we’ve been united to Christ, we can now walk in a manner worthy of Him (Colossians 1:10 “10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;” ). Grace does not undermine obedience—it fuels it.

Invitation to Walk in Freedom

To the unbeliever: Your sin is great, but Christ is greater. He will not only pardon your guilt—He will give you a new heart.

To the believer: You do not fight alone. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. Sin is being put to death— in the already and the not yet not perfectly as we battle daily, but truly.

Closing Scriptures

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” — Psalm 51:10 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” — Romans 8:13 “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” — Philippians 2:13

️Benediction

God of peace sanctify us completely, and may our whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.

God now give, Eastside— Hearts renewed. Eyes redirected. Hands ready for holy obedience.

Amen.