Did Jesus really mean it when he said to remove the eye or hand if we can’t stop sinning?

Here is the passage: “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire. If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire.” (Matthew 18:8-9).

This question is easy to answer. In short, if the Holy Spirit tells THE INDIVIDUAL to pluck out an eye to be saved from the affliction, then the person should do so. We might think each scripture applies equally to everyone. They don’t. When we continue our journey in faith, then the Spirit will lead us against the flesh (Romans 8:13) in a tailor-made way that delivers us from its grip.

The Spirit may decide in an individual’s life that physical measures will need to be taken for deliverance. People have been maimed for life in car wrecks and other ways and came to peace with God about it, finding the recovery time guiding their minds to spiritual paths that they formerly were too busy to take before. I’ve had prison pen pals write telling me they were glad they were put in prison, for they came to the Lord and to their right senses there.

I cannot advocate the pulling out of an eye for all people who suffer an addiction — simply because the power of God is sufficient to overcome any sin. The problem I see is that too many people understand salvation as merely going to heaven when you die, and they miss the full deliverance available to them in this life. God saved a murderer (Saul/Paul) to teach us that He will be gracious to save the life of anyone else as well (1 Timothy 1:13-17).

Our Savior is more than sufficient to deliver us from every sin, including sexual sin, and He will do so in different ways and means. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul tells that church to cast out the man who was engaged in sexual immorality. He could have told him to pluck out his eye, but did not. It was sufficient for the man to experience loss of fellowship to understand that he was alienated from God as well. We read of his repentance and restoration to fellowship in the next epistle.

In 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, we find homosexuals were delivered from their lifestyle (v11), and Paul warns those who use harlots to flee from sexual immorality (v18). It doesn’t tell us how the homosexuals were delivered. But in the latter case, Paul found it sufficient to warn these believers severely to flee that lifestyle. With these words, the Holy Spirit can impress THE INDIVIDUAL who is in danger of losing the kingdom, and the individual believer, convinced of the horror of continuing on his way, may repent.

In addition to maiming, expulsion, and warning, the Spirit will use promises to encourage us to make better judgments. Many, many promises encourage us to look to Him in love and loyalty. The promise of greater rewards and honor in the coming kingdom have enabled many to cast off bad habits and stand for Him in temptations.

That’s not all. The Bible is full of stories of people who have departed from the living God to idols. The Old Testament chronicles the sad state of Israel, of its many downward spirals as it turns its back on God repeatedly, never learning the lessons of history. Is that sad history yours as well? It doesn’t have to be. The stories are there to teach us how we too can be deceived and fall. They show us the corruption of our hearts. They remind us of a God who will be there to catch us if we call to Him.

God has used many different kinds of verses in my life to deliver me from addictions and habits, here a little, there a little, until, 35 years after finding Christ, I can give the glory to God for all work He has done.

Yes, the Holy Spirit may cause some to lose some part of their body to get them back to focusing on Jesus, but He has assuredly many tools up His sleeve that He reserves the right to use. We are all different, and the Spirit inside knows exactly what our buttons are that will help us surrender to the power of God to full deliverance.