Matthew 5:27-30 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”
This morning we continue to study how Jesus defines surpassing righteousness. Earlier He said that surpassing righteousness is not the avoidance of murder it is the control of anger, the rejection of insults and the endurance of intercession. The Pharisees and scribes defined righteousness by what they did and didn’t do; Jesus defines surpassing righteousness by what we allow to come into and out of our hearts. After dealing with murder and anger Jesus moves us into a discussion of adultery and lust, sexual sin and sexual purity. For the next couple of weeks we are going to look at this passage and we are going to study sexual purity more than sexual sin. The reason for that is we often end up being like the scribes and Pharisees in that we define avoidance of a physical act as being righteous when I believe Jesus is trying to teach us that true righteousness is not defined by avoidance but instead by obedience. It is not necessarily obedience to avoid sin; it is often a fear of consequence. Obedience is about love and true obedience is not motivated to avoid, it desires to follow. To bring the First commandment into this discussion, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength is not about avoiding sexual sin it is about walking in sexual purity. To some of you this might sound like splitting hairs, but the motivation of our hearts is what God looks at and it is often the only revelation of surpassing righteousness or a righteousness of the Pharisees.
I have talked before about my upbringing. My Dad and Mom raised me strictly but they raised me well. When I was in my late teen years, nearing the end of high school, temptations and opportunities for trouble got higher and higher. There came a point in time in which many of my friends began to do things that we were all aware we were not supposed to do. In this there was always the talk of not getting caught, how to avoid punishment and trouble. I had some friends that threw caution to the wind, I had some that were careful and avoided certain things for fear of being caught, and I had some that simply did the right thing because it was right to do. In the midst of all of this I can recall one very vivid thought that not only kept me from making foolish decisions it actually removed the temptation to be involved in the activities, “What would Dad think?” It was not a thought of fear of punishment, it was a thought of not wanting to walk in disappointment, not wanting to walk in less than had been provided for me and not wanting to live in a way that did anything other than to show love and appreciation for him and my mother. In my life the strictness was outweighed by the love they showed me and so I didn’t rebel against their strictness instead I sought obedience as a response to love. Sexual purity is not about rules, it is not about life-long consequences, it is not about feelings, about hormones, it’s not even about marriage, sexual purity is about loving God, with all of my heart, mind, soul and strength. Surpassing righteousness makes all its decisions out of love for God, even decisions of sexual purity.