Read Online Grace Remix by Paul Ellis - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Paul Ellis
Tags: Chistian Grace
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me,
(d) condemns me as a sinner, or (e) none of the above.
If you answered anything other than (e), you need to reread the article. The Holy Spirit will
never accuse you, condemn you, make you sick, or send you on a guilt trip. But he will let you
know when you are sowing death into your life. Like a lighthouse-keeper he will turn on the
light revealing the danger ahead of you.
After reading the article an E2R reader asked me a question. “Where does rebuking fit in?
How do we know when we are simply being set back on the right path or rebuked for our poor
choice?”
The word which is normally rendered rebuke in our English Bibles means admonish. It is to
urge earnestly or issue a strong warning. Don’t think of it as God screaming, “Look at what you
did!” but “Watch where you are going. Look out for those dangerous shoals!”
39
GRACE REMIX
The Holy Spirit is not a faultfinder, but he will warn you when the sailboat of your life is
heading towards trouble. He does this not to judge or punish you, but because he loves you (see
Revelation 3:19). You are the apple of his eye and he doesn’t want you to shipwreck your life.
40
11. Chop Off Your Hand?! Was Jesus Serious?
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.
(Matthew 5:30, NKJV)
I doubt there’s a Christian alive who hasn’t wondered about this verse. It’s one of those
scriptures that causes you to do a double-take. What?! Did Jesus really say that? Was he
serious? I’d better ask the pastor.
I’ll guess the odds are ten to one you came away thinking that Jesus wasn’t serious. After all, Jesus is the kindest person there is. He healed people. Surely he doesn’t want us to go around
maiming ourselves. Then you looked around your church and saw that no one had actually
chopped off their hands and so you took comfort in the fact that others thought the same way as
you did. There’s safety in numbers.
No doubt these words of Jesus are uncomfortable. Maybe you don’t think about them much.
But Jesus’ words are important. Those who don’t heed what he says are building on sand.
So let’s cut to the chase: was Jesus being figurative or literal when he spoke about chopping
off hands?
If you think he was using a figure of speech, how do you know that Jesus wasn’t speaking
metaphorically all the time? Do we just assume that anytime he said something hard to swallow
that he was speaking figuratively?
Or perhaps you think Jesus was being literal. Okay, so what are you going to do about it?
Have you done what he said or have you ignored him? It seems our choice is presumption or
disobedience or amputation. Is there any other option?
Was Jesus speaking figuratively?
“Jesus is using strong words to convey something about the seriousness of sin,” says the
theologian. “He’s not really preaching self-mutilation but self-denial. What he means to say is
we must be sensitive to sin and renounce it and run from it and do whatever it takes to avoid
it.”
Does this sound familiar to you? It should, for this has been the standard interpretation for
most of church history. But there are two fatal flaws with this conclusion. First, it assumes that
Jesus was exaggerating and Jesus never exaggerated . Preachers sometimes exaggerate to make a
point but Jesus always meant what he said and said what he meant. He is Truth personified. It
is inconceivable that he would play with words for the crude purpose of ramming home a
lesson. When Jesus spoke in parables he did so to conceal truths, not to stretch them (Matthew
41
GRACE REMIX
13:13). In any case, the passage above is not part of a parable. The context is the Sermon on the
Mount and Jesus has just been speaking about anger and lust. His language is plain because the
issues are serious. There is nothing metaphorical
(d) condemns me as a sinner, or (e) none of the above.
If you answered anything other than (e), you need to reread the article. The Holy Spirit will
never accuse you, condemn you, make you sick, or send you on a guilt trip. But he will let you
know when you are sowing death into your life. Like a lighthouse-keeper he will turn on the
light revealing the danger ahead of you.
After reading the article an E2R reader asked me a question. “Where does rebuking fit in?
How do we know when we are simply being set back on the right path or rebuked for our poor
choice?”
The word which is normally rendered rebuke in our English Bibles means admonish. It is to
urge earnestly or issue a strong warning. Don’t think of it as God screaming, “Look at what you
did!” but “Watch where you are going. Look out for those dangerous shoals!”
39
GRACE REMIX
The Holy Spirit is not a faultfinder, but he will warn you when the sailboat of your life is
heading towards trouble. He does this not to judge or punish you, but because he loves you (see
Revelation 3:19). You are the apple of his eye and he doesn’t want you to shipwreck your life.
40
11. Chop Off Your Hand?! Was Jesus Serious?
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.
(Matthew 5:30, NKJV)
I doubt there’s a Christian alive who hasn’t wondered about this verse. It’s one of those
scriptures that causes you to do a double-take. What?! Did Jesus really say that? Was he
serious? I’d better ask the pastor.
I’ll guess the odds are ten to one you came away thinking that Jesus wasn’t serious. After all, Jesus is the kindest person there is. He healed people. Surely he doesn’t want us to go around
maiming ourselves. Then you looked around your church and saw that no one had actually
chopped off their hands and so you took comfort in the fact that others thought the same way as
you did. There’s safety in numbers.
No doubt these words of Jesus are uncomfortable. Maybe you don’t think about them much.
But Jesus’ words are important. Those who don’t heed what he says are building on sand.
So let’s cut to the chase: was Jesus being figurative or literal when he spoke about chopping
off hands?
If you think he was using a figure of speech, how do you know that Jesus wasn’t speaking
metaphorically all the time? Do we just assume that anytime he said something hard to swallow
that he was speaking figuratively?
Or perhaps you think Jesus was being literal. Okay, so what are you going to do about it?
Have you done what he said or have you ignored him? It seems our choice is presumption or
disobedience or amputation. Is there any other option?
Was Jesus speaking figuratively?
“Jesus is using strong words to convey something about the seriousness of sin,” says the
theologian. “He’s not really preaching self-mutilation but self-denial. What he means to say is
we must be sensitive to sin and renounce it and run from it and do whatever it takes to avoid
it.”
Does this sound familiar to you? It should, for this has been the standard interpretation for
most of church history. But there are two fatal flaws with this conclusion. First, it assumes that
Jesus was exaggerating and Jesus never exaggerated . Preachers sometimes exaggerate to make a
point but Jesus always meant what he said and said what he meant. He is Truth personified. It
is inconceivable that he would play with words for the crude purpose of ramming home a
lesson. When Jesus spoke in parables he did so to conceal truths, not to stretch them (Matthew
41
GRACE REMIX
13:13). In any case, the passage above is not part of a parable. The context is the Sermon on the
Mount and Jesus has just been speaking about anger and lust. His language is plain because the
issues are serious. There is nothing metaphorical
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