DAILY FOUNTAIN DEVOTIONAL GUIDE Sunday, January 14
WATCH RESTEEM AND FOLLOW
TEXT: Matthew 5:27-37
27.“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
- But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
- If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out 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.
- And 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.
31.“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32. But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. 33.“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ - But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
- nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.
- But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees were addicted to the letters of the Law of Moses. Most of the contents of the Law of Moses were with external demands without the grace of inward enabling. The reason is simple: the law was given as a school master to bring us to Christ (Gal.3:24). So, the message of Jesus was not to cancel the law but to fulfill it by giving us the grace to do the will of God in the Law.
Therefore, to be free from adultery, revenge, falsehood, or any sin at all, Jesus’ teaching is that it begins first with inward transformation. Under the Law of Moses, somebody may be burning with lust internally, but as long he does not externally lay hold on a woman for immorality, he has not broken the law. But Christ teaches otherwise: that to be free from external error, we need internal transformation so that the Christian life becomes an outward expression of the inward transformation. A twist of the order will produce hypocrisy and empty religion.
Prayer: Lord, transform me internally so that I please You both internally and externally.