Cut it off!

 Jesus makes it plain what sin is. He challenges people’s misconceptions and self-reasoning that actually they are not really that bad. Jesus shows that sin is not just an outward action, but it starts in the heart and mind first. Just because something is not witnessed by others it does not mean it does not exist or did not happen. Jesus continues to ruthlessly display the level of holiness required through how men and women view each other:

Matthew 5:27–32 (ESV): 

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 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. 30 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. 

31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 

The Law of God was plain - no sex before marriage, and then no sex with anyone other than your spouse whilst you are married. This is clear and people understand it. Jesus goes onto say that this is not the complete understanding of adultery though for, “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” If you look at someone with desire, and you are not married to them, then you have sinned. Pretty radical, and some may say harsh. Before any outward action, before any exchange of words, the sin is right there. Sin is birthed in the heart, then the mind, and God knows about it before you actually do anything wrong. 

The level of goodness required by God is not just restraint or self-discipline, but a completely pure heart and mind. One that doesn’t entertain any ungodly thoughts or desires. How on earth can we attain that level of holiness? 

Every person, even those that you admire for their goodness and morality, have sinned. For Jesus explains that sin is birthed not in actions but in thought and desire. Therefore no-one is innocent. For sin begins with a thought or a desire, the problem is right there before any action is performed. A thought is enough to make you unholy. 

Just before these verses Jesus spoke about anger and how just feeling angry with another person or calling them a name leaves you liable to judgement. The level of holiness required to be acceptable to God is extremely high. Some may say it is even unachievable. How can you control your thoughts and feelings to the extent that you never think or feel anything that is sinful? Thankfully that is not the intent of what Jesus is saying. Although Jesus is making it clear what Father God’s expectations are, this is to lead people to repent. If people do not know what they are doing wrong, how can they admit it and fix it? 

The only way to deal with sin is to cut it off. Jesus says if anything causes you to sin, “tear it out and throw it away”. You need to be harsh with sin, it needs to be completely destroyed, cut off, killed, no longer a part pf you. That means that maybe you need to cut off seeing certain people, going to particular places, cut out watching particular content, or cut off unholy thoughts. You know what you need to do to stop sin, but will you? Although these are things we can do to prevent ourselves doing sinful actions again, it does not deal with the root cause or the sin already committed. Jesus had already thought of that too! He did not just tell us all how rotten we are and leave us there, he created a way for you to be sin-free. For Jesus put to death all sin. The spoken, unspoken, seen and unseen sin. Through giving up his perfect, holy life as an atonement for all of it Jesus killed off the sin that you do, and he took the punishment for it all. You do not actually have to tear your eyes out or rip off your limbs, you can so be righteous enough to meet the standard of God requires by accepting that Jesus was perfect and he died in order to cut off sin and throw it away in your life. All you need to do is confess what you have done, decide that you do not want to do it anymore, and accept that Jesus gave his sinless life to forgive you. He did what you couldn’t. Jesus lived the perfect sinless life in thought, desire and action, and he was killed for the sins of the world in order to tear out the power of sin in your life. He did it so that you could be free and learn to live a life of holiness. You can stand before Almighty God as pure and righteous when you accept Jesus.

Woe to them

 Still continuing to speak about false teachers, Jude leads on from how to spot them, to this;

*11*Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. *12*These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; *13*wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. 

Jude 11–13.

Well, as Jude writes this he seems really sad and distressed. The many connotations he uses as well as the first exclamation - ‘Woe to them!’ all build together to build a sad, derelict picture. Jude is expressing great distress and sorrow for these people that have gone off track. Jude is showing that false teachers, these people leading irreverent lives are to be pitied, not judged. Jude knows that they are not living in the freedom they could have and he knows what awaits them so that prompts him to express deep sadness over them. Jude shows what the outcome will be for the people who are living a false life of faith and lead others to do the same - he explains it in this letter. Jude sees it is an awful thing to see others follow the desires of the human nature rather than God’s way and he is full of sorrow about it. 

Is that your response when you see others going off track? 

It can seem that it is easier to judge others than to express 'woe' over them. When you see others going awry, what is your response? Do you wish to reach out and help them or give them a good telling off?  These people are lost, they are in error, they need help. If you were going wrong, what would help you? Let us treat one another well and do our best to lead others into truth. 

Verses 12-13 are full of oxymorons that demonstrate the contradictory lifestyles of these men and women swayed by incorrect teaching. It shows the unnatural way the false teachers are living; ‘waterless clouds’, ‘swept along’, ‘shepherds feeding themselves’.  These are all contradictory, and describe what does not occur naturally. How can clouds be waterless or shepherds only feed themselves? Surely they cannot be classed as shepherds If they do that? These phrases are showing that the false teachers are living contrary to the natural way. This way of life should not be. It is contrary to the design of God and His natural order. No wonder Jude declares 'woe' over them. They have got something wrong and they cannot see it, they believe they are forgiven and free but instead of living in the freedom of God which separates us from sin, they are continuing in sin whilst saying they believe in God. It seems that the false teachers declare with their mouths that there is a God that has changed their lives, whilst continuing to live a life unchanged in some areas. They are still being ‘swept along’ with the desires of the body, living life as the rest of the world does; unboundaried and untamed. Not living in the full realisation of complete freedom and forgiveness through Jesus which leads to a life of repentance, forgiveness and unbounded love. (Not continuous sin, excuses and immoral behaviour). No wonder Jude is distressed by this; some people are going along thinking they are living a life with God, but they are not aligning their words and actions with God’s expectations, desires and plans for their lives. Therefore they do not fully know the love and freedom that Jesus has won for them. 

You may now be asking yourself, well, what can i do about it? 

Well, firstly, double check your own life. Consider what you are demonstrating about a life of faith. Are you really living as God wants you to? Or are you stuck with things that are holding you back but you are not letting go of? Today, God offers you a new chance to align your life with the life He intends for you - are you going to accept it? The people Jude is speaking about may not have intended to lead people astray, but they have got something wrong and got carried away with their own thoughts and desires and taught others to do the same. So keep a check on yourself. Be mindful of what you express and model to others about a life of faith. Deal with the sin that so easily entangles and get help to get out of it.

Secondly, are you confident in spotting false teaching? Are you mindful of what are you exposing yourself to? Are you good at aligning what you read, hear and watch with the Bible as your plumb line of truth? Do you just listen to what you want to hear or whatever is popular? Do you read your Bible? Unless you know what it says, how do you know if anything else lines up with it?

Thirdly, do you know people that may be going astray? If so, pray about how to speak to them and guide them into knowing God more fully in their lives. It is a deeply sad thing to see people not grasping the reality of the freedom and forgiveness they have in Jesus, there is no need to judge them, but there is reason to feel sad about it - so pray and speak as the Holy Spirit leads.