43And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
44Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
45And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
46Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
48Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
49For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
50Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
On the surface of this verse, I would have thought this meant you literally have to cut off an appendage.
What I see from this now is that we need to cut sin out of our lives. Be aware of his real meaning. As I study even deeper I see now even more into the entire context of this chapter.
Jesus teaches about true greatness. Greatness is like His attitude toward those considered insignificant, the weaker, less informed believer. "Little ones"! The fate of offending one and "sinking in the sea with a millstone around one's neck" reflects the seriousness of not causing a less mature believer to stumble and sin.
It would seem that the sins of the hand/foot/eye are connected to what we do or how we influence the weaker believer.
This is what I pray for every day, is to be a better example to my Family and Children. My friends and co-workers. I would not want my sin to be justified by them and cause them or someone else to stumble. Cut off my own desires that would cause me to sin! For I certainly don't want to enter into "the fire that never shall be quenched"
Let us be "salted with fire". A pleasing sacrifice to our Lord. Let us be REAL men!
Larry Birchfield
