“And if your right hand causes you to sin, use the left"

Quit Quoting Jesus, He Was a Legalist Part 1

For most of my life in church, sermons consisted of something Jesus said about living better and holy, followed by a proof-texting of some obscure or misunderstood teachings from the apostle Paul. The thinking was that if Jesus said it, then we should do it. While this may sound good on the surface, I’m afraid it is not correct.

The problem with the Red Letters: Matthew 5-6
How do we deal with the teachings of Jesus in light of grace? After all, many of his teachings sound harsh: “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.” [Mat. 5:30] Some believers of the true gospel want to argue the context of those scriptures and try to find a way to harmonize them with the teachings of Paul. If you don’t see the apparent conflict between Jesus and Paul it is because you don’t understand grace.

However, the problem with relying strictly on context is that you must approach every verse on a case by case basis. For example, if your argument is that Jesus was talking to Pharisees, then that is not completely accurate. Most of his teachings were given to a mixed crowd. Disciples and Pharisees were generally both there at his sermons.

Some would argue that Jesus was teaching the law to the unregenerate Jews. The problem with this is that everyone who participated in Jesus’ ministry was an unregenerate Jew. So then, how do you distinguish what teaching was for the Jews and what is for us today?

PART 2