How Serious Should We Take Sin?
Devotional Scripture: Mark 9:42-50
Key Verse: “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9:47-48
Do you know what I think? No, you don’t, so I’ll tell you. I don’t think we talk about sin enough. I don’t think we confess our sins like God wants us to. And I don’t think we really care. Sure, we seek God’s grace-filled forgiveness when we remember, but when we don’t remember, oh well. Better luck next time, I guess.
Except when we read Jesus’ words in Mark 9:42-50 “oh well” is just not the tone. The tone is radical and extreme to say the least. “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off” (v. 43). “If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off” (v. 45). “If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell” (v. 47).
Our hands, feet, and eyes stand for the things we do, the places we go, and the stuff we look at. Jesus isn’t advocating for bodily mutilation. He doesn’t really want us cutting our limbs off. He’s using hyperbole, a purposeful and intentional exaggeration, to make a point. We use hyperbole when we say things like: I’m going to die if this takes any longer! It’s raining cats and dogs. I’m so hungry I could eat a horse. (OK, OK, we get it. You’re hungry.)
So what point is Jesus making by urging us to dismember our disobedient body parts? Take sin seriously. That’s the message of these verses. Don’t just rely on grace to get you through—fight for holiness. It’s not legalism to be diligent in your pursuit of godliness; it’s life-giving and life-sustaining to do so.
Messing Around with Sin Is Dangerous
Sin is like an out of control wild fire. Once it starts, it’s hard to get it under control. Or perhaps a better simile is black mold—hidden, costly, dangerous, with a rapid growth rate, and the potential to make us sick. I’ve treated a flip house for mold and let me tell you, remediation crews don’t mess around. Covered from head to toe with special breathing apparatuses they look more like astronauts walking on the moon than restoration technicians.
Actually, do you know what the remediation crews remind me of? COVID-19 health care workers. Listen, if we treated sin as seriously as we’re taking that virus, we would smolder the work of the devil faster than a cat riding a unicorn could go viral.
And in truth, that’s the kind of fierce fight against sin Jesus is advocating in these verses. If you are struggling with a particular sin, do whatever is necessary to put up a roadblock. Tell a friend. Bar the door. Get rid of your phone. Call for the elders. Admit your weakness. Throw away your TV or cancel your cable subscription.
And if that doesn’t work then put up more barricades. Sound the alarms. Call for the national guard. If it takes building a five-foot wide cement wall and painting your name on the side, then do it. It’s better to cut your feet off than continue galivanting in places that cause you to do things against God. Or if you can’t keep from lusting, then it’s better to gouge out your eyeballs than persistent with immorality.
Sin Is A Serious Problem That Leads to Hell
It sounds absurd. And in some ways, it is. That’s why it’s hyperbole. But how else is God supposed to get it through our thick heads that sin is serious? Oh, I know, how about sending His one and only Son to die on a cross because the wages of sin is death and the only way to save us is to wrap us by grace through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.
I don’t think Jesus would have gone through hell and back to redeem us if sin wasn’t a serious problem. I’m sure the Lord would have rather stayed in heaven. But He didn’t, because every single one of us is born condemned (John 3:18), and in dire need of a Savior, or we’re going to hell.
Hell is not a bad day here on earth. It’s not just a descriptive term for unpleasantness, nor is it just a swear word, a joke, or a fictional furnace used to scare us into salvation. Hell is the eternal destination of the devil and his demons. It’s a real place. A place where the soul who fails to repent and gain salvation in Jesus Christ will forever be separated from God.
It’s described elsewhere in Scripture as a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 13:42). Here in Mark 9:48 it’s described as a place where “worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” This is a reference to Isaiah 66:24 where God judges the wicked and casts their bodies into a place where worms don’t die and fire is never quenched.
The Greek word used here for hell (and in most other references to hell in the New Testament) is “gehenna” and it refers to the Valley of Hinnom, which was just outside Jerusalem, and acted as Israel’s garbage dump. Worms saturated what wasn’t on fire in the Valley of Hinnom.
The Fight Is Worth It
Are we getting the picture? Hell is a horrid place of eternal torment. No sin is worth eternal damnation in hell. On the flip side, doing whatever we have to do to persist in holiness is absolutely worth it because a relationship with God is absolutely worth it.
This cluster of verses is set in what I like to call “The Greatness Section.” Just a few verses back the disciples had been arguing over who deserves Disciple of the Year. To which Jesus said if you want to be great then go stand at the back of the line and serve everyone standing in front of you. Then He added, if you want to be great, cheer others on. And finally, if you want to be great in God’s kingdom, fight against sin. Fight hard and daily, without giving up, seeking the will of the Father in all situations.
These are the things that make a disciple great in the kingdom of God. A person who calls themselves a Christian but doesn’t care about sin, should absolutely take a second, third, and fourth look at their heart. Is the Holy Spirit in there?
In Christ, we’re forgiven and saved but the battle isn’t over. Temptation isn’t sitting idly on the sidelines. Temptation is glistening, gleaming, and glowing right in front of us. But God is worth whatever battles, boundaries, and barricades are necessary to keep us from sinning.
Friends, it’s time we talk about sin; it’s time we put up a fight.
Contemplate and Evaluate: Why is it so important that we fight against sin? Why is it a red flag if someone who claims to be a Christian is careless towards sin?
