Matthew 5:27–28 (KJV 1900)
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Many religious folks mention the adultery problem of the heart that can lead to severe Judgment of the Lord. What they don’t often realize is that EVERY Law that the LORD God gave in the Old Testament has a companion “HEART CONDITION” also. The Lord Jesus Christ gave us a few examples; you can be assured that every sin known to mankind has both an actual condition and a heart condition. Consider that for a moment.
See, we can’t congratulate ourselves for not sinning with adultery or murder. We were raised with parents or Christian church leadership or had good morals that taught us right from wrong. As different possible sins enter our heart we keep them secret for as long as we can and believe that we are not sinning if we avoid the ultimate sins. Right? We think about those terrible and evil sinners that actually commit horrendous crimes of sin-filled behaviour. We aren’t like them, are we? We have the self-control to hide our thoughts, and not react to them as those low-life wicked people, right? They didn’t have good parents or good Christian leadership. That’s why they are bad, and why we are good is what many think to themselves.
But wait! Christ’s standards looks toward the heart as well as the action. If you were a Jew, you would certainly be in disobedience to God’s Commandment if you were to physically have sex with another that is married to someone else. But, under Christ’s standard, you are guilty of disobedience to God’s Commandment by just having lust in your heart.
But it goes even further! Christ’s standard of avoiding lust in the heart does not just apply to adultery, but to all sins that are in disobedience to righteousness.
Christian men. If you increase your lust for women by looking upon pornography, you are committing adultery! That is the condition of the heart.
Christian women. If you are imagining all kinds of ways for the man that has hurt you terribly to die and thinking over and over how much happier your life would be without him, you are guilty of killing him through your lust, even if you don’t commit the physical act! That is the condition of the heart.
Always consider the heart when you consider ALL sins, and you will have deep understanding of the increased Standards of Christ. If you don’t, you are breaking the requirements of Christ. And you are empowering the devil who tries to trick strong Christians through their hearts to sin; he knows that you are strong enough to avoid most sins; but the heart can be tricked through justification of inaction.
I am not a preacher, and I will not sermonize any more. Either you follow Him and keep His standards, or you do not. If you do not, and teach others through your life examples, you will not receive promotion on the New Earth, and you will never be the person God made you to be. If you continue with heart sin, you will suffer loss as Jesus takes away from your reward for not following His specific heart standards.
