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.

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.
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Matthew 5:29–30

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In this Sunday’s message, Pastor Steph Rivas continues our Confront series by unpacking sin and temptation from Matthew 5:29-30 where Jesus calls us to radical action. As believers, we can become comfortable with our sin, but the urgency in Jesus’ language is in direct proportion to the danger of our sin, which always leads to death. Temptation is the process of being drawn by your desires, often towards something harmful or forbidden, whereas sin is the act of choosing to disobey God’s commands. This message explores the reasons we stay bound to cycles of sin, how Jesus approached temptation and what it looks like to truly embrace freedom as our reality.

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Due to unexpected tech issues, this message won’t be available on our podcast platforms this week. We appreciate your understanding!

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Action vs Inaction

• “Why is it we resist crucifying our desires? Why this gut-level, inner resistance to Jesus’ call? It's not necessarily because we’re evil or even narcissistic; it’s because we are scared. We’re scared of losing something we value, something we think (or feel) we need to live a happy life. Until we come to the place where we genuinely trust Jesus’ mental maps over our own intuition or feelings, and trust that God is a loving and wise Father with good intentions for our joy, death to self will remain an unwinnable war of attrition between the torn factions of our fragmented souls.” John Mark Comer
• Grace and mercy, although they are gifts that renew every day, are not an excuse to stay in sin or flirt with temptation (see Lamentations 3:22-23, Romans 6:1-2).
• In 2 Samuel 11, we see that King David doesn’t address his temptation early—from the moment he spots Bathsheba on the roof, he faces many choices where he could have taken action.
• In this story, David reveals how often we find ourselves on the path of sin and how easy it is for sin to pile up.
• Psalm 51 is David’s response to God’s mercy on his sin; it’s God’s mercy that leads to repentance.
• Sin thrives in passivity, but dies in the presence of decisive faith.

Undoing Shame

• “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1
• Shame creates distance between us and God that feels insurmountable, and it keeps us tied to inaction.
• The voice of shame is condemnation, which builds a wall around our sin to keep us trapped.
• Condemnation sounds like, “You can’t change” or “God must be furious at you.”
• John 8:1-11 tells the story of a woman caught in adultery and brought before Jesus for judgment.
• Jesus frees her from condemnation and in that freedom gives her a command, “Go and sin no more.”
• Condemnation would say, “I can’t believe you did this thing you knew was wrong” while conviction says, “I know this was wrong, let me take action to change.”
• Conviction leads to action, moving in the opposite spirit of shame and ultimately bringing Jesus’ victory and breakthrough to your shame.

WWJD

• “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’’ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.” Matthew 4:8-11
• Jesus conquered temptation while being fully human—he was vulnerable, hungry and tired, not looking particularly godlike and powerful
• Jesus was tempted in his physical need, his identity and his allegiance.
• “A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is.. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means—the only complete realist.” C.S. Lewis
• “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Hebrews 2:18
• Because Jesus experienced temptation to the fullness and still conquered it, we can rely on him fully—in fact, we have to rely on Him fully to be victorious.

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Our Reality is Freedom

• The same man who never yielded to temptation is the same Savior whose resurrection allows us to live in freedom right now.
• “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36
• Freedom is not the opportunity to do whatever you want, but it’s the freedom to master our desires by putting temptation and sin to death.
• For example, if you struggle with overspending, you can cut off the temptation by putting a spending limit on your card. This is embracing freedom because you are no longer bound to overspending.
• Living this way will confront your humanity and cost you, calling you to surrender your desires and wants. But a life of freedom promises true satisfaction in Him.
• “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

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Discussion Questions

• Where have you seen yourself settle into complacency with temptation and sin? How could you take decisive action?
• When you find yourself weighed down by condemnation, how do you break out and bring your shame to God?
• In the areas that Jesus was tempted—physical need, identity and allegiance—where do you find yourself facing temptation the most?
• Knowing that you are already free in Jesus, what action, discipline or boundary can you start so freedom becomes your reality?

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