30 Jun 2015
Matthew 18:8
Matthew 18:8: “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.”
These verses seem to give people a lot of trouble, but they really aren’t that difficult. All Jesus is saying is that it is better to lose something very dear to you, and flee from your sins and be saved, than to hold on to your sins and be damned forever.
Now, can a Christian sin and then be cast into Hell? Absolutely not – so Jesus is not talking about that. (Should Christians flee from sin? Of course – but that is not the point of this passage.) The person in view here is someone who is lost, but something is holding him back from being saved. It would be far better for them to lose whatever is holding them back – no matter how precious it is – than to keep it and lose everything. That is the point.
The price of salvation may be high – in fact, it may cost you your very life – but it is far better to be saved and inherit eternal life, than to walk away from salvation and wind up condemned to the Lake of Fire. That is the choice, and there is no neutral option.