Study Guide: "A Matter of Integrity"

Text: Matthew 5:27-30

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Jesus refers here to Exodus 20:14, the 7th of God’s Ten Commandments.  The 6th commandment (re:murder) protects the sanctity of life and the 7th commandment protects the sanctity of marriage.  Hatred and lust have always been two of the most powerful influences on mankind.  The person who yields to these influences finds him or herself more controlled than in control.

Here in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus upholds the sanctity of marriage by demanding radical integrity, which translates into avoidance of anything that violates God’s design for human sexuality. 

I. Radical Integrity Demands Purity (v. 27)

There are Ancient Prohibitions Against Sexual Immorality

1) Job

Job 31:9-11: “If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or if I have lurked at my neighbor’s door, then may my wife grind another man’s grain, and may other men sleep with her. For that would have been shameful, a sin to be judged.” (Job is most likely the oldest book in all of the Bible)

2) The Mosaic Law portrays adultery as despicable and punishable by

     death (Lev. 20:10; Deu 22:22)

3) The New Testament is just as clear on this as the Old Testament.

1Co 6:9-11

II. Radical Integrity is a Matter of the Heart (v. 28)

Inappropriate Thoughts Cannot Be Tolerated.

1) Jesus said that the desire to have improper relations with someone other than your spouse is mental adultery and thus sin, making the intention as wrong as the action.  The marital bond is so strong in God’s eyes that being unfaithful in one’s mind is seen as breaking the trust so vital to a strong marriage.

This is Not An Incidental or Involuntary Glance, But an Intentional and Repeated Gazing.

1)  “Looks” is a present participle and refers to the continuous process of looking.

2) “Lustfully” is literally “to lust.”  The “to” is used with the infinitive “lust for”, indicating a goal or action that follows in time the action of the looking.  Jesus is therefore speaking of intentional looking for the purpose of lusting (example: pornography).

This is Truly a Matter of the Heart.

“already committed adultery with her in his heart”

It is not lustful looking that causes the sin, but the sin in the heart

causes the lustful looking.  The lustful looking is the expression of a heart that is already immoral.

To avoid you have to plan ahead – Make a covenant with your eyes!

Psalm 119:37: “Turn my eyes away from worthless things; renew my life according to your word.”

III.  Radical Integrity Demands Radical Preparation (vv. 29-30)

Jesus Must Be Speaking Figuratively.

1) If the problem is in the heart/mind, what good is plucking out an eye or cutting off a hand?

Jesus is speaking of avoiding/refusing anything – physical or otherwise, that causes us to be tempted or makes us more susceptible to temptation.

2) In Jewish culture, the right eye and right hand represented a person’s best and most precious faculties.  Jesus’ point is that we should be willing to give up whatever is necessary, even the most cherished thing we possess, if doing so will help protect us from doing evil/sin.

“Makes you stumble” = skandalizo = often used of the bait stick that springs the trap when an animal touches it.

Anything that morally or spiritually traps us, that causes us to fall into sin or to stay in sin, should be eliminated quickly and totally.  Sin must be dealt with radically!

Close:

So here’s the bottom line: if we are going to be people of integrity it’s going to be up to us.  What is on the inside determines what is displayed on the outside.  The only way that we keep God's anointing on our lives is by being people of radical integrity.