DANGEROUS ATTRACTION (3 OF 5)
by Craig Smith
Scripture: Matthew 5:27-30
This content is part of a series.
Dangerous Attraction (3 of 5)
Series: He Said What
Craig Smith
Matthew 5:27-30
I. Introduction
A. Welcome
B. Transition - ...God may have more to say to you than you think about this subject. What subject? Well, if you'll turn with me to Matthew 5:27...
II. Main Body
A. Spirit of the Law
27 ''You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'' 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28)
Now before we do anything else, we need to make sure we all understand what ''lust'' is. Don't worry, I'm not going to get too graphic. I'll make sure this message doesn't go beyond a PG rating. But we do need to make sure we're on the same page here, and it's a little more complicated than just looking at the dictionary definition of ''lust.'' I'm not sure what that word means to you, but I find that most people think of lust as a pretty intense concept, kind of like attraction on steroids. And for that reason, a lot of people think this doesn't apply to them. But the original Greek here is helpful. A literal translation here would be something along the lines of ''...everyone looking at a woman with the intent to desire her...'' (literal translation). Notice that this isn't about the intent to commit adultery with her. It's about the intent to desire her. In other words, Jesus is warning us about the danger of entertaining attraction to someone other than your spouse. That's what lust is. It's the decision to entertain attraction to someone.
And in the same way that murder is just the last stop on a road of devaluing others, adultery is just the last stop on the road of entertaining attraction to someone other than your spouse. And Jesus doesn't just want us to stop short of the last stop on that road. He wants us on an entirely different road, a road of refusing to entertain attraction to someone other than our spouses.
Ok, but what does it mea ...
Series: He Said What
Craig Smith
Matthew 5:27-30
I. Introduction
A. Welcome
B. Transition - ...God may have more to say to you than you think about this subject. What subject? Well, if you'll turn with me to Matthew 5:27...
II. Main Body
A. Spirit of the Law
27 ''You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'' 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28)
Now before we do anything else, we need to make sure we all understand what ''lust'' is. Don't worry, I'm not going to get too graphic. I'll make sure this message doesn't go beyond a PG rating. But we do need to make sure we're on the same page here, and it's a little more complicated than just looking at the dictionary definition of ''lust.'' I'm not sure what that word means to you, but I find that most people think of lust as a pretty intense concept, kind of like attraction on steroids. And for that reason, a lot of people think this doesn't apply to them. But the original Greek here is helpful. A literal translation here would be something along the lines of ''...everyone looking at a woman with the intent to desire her...'' (literal translation). Notice that this isn't about the intent to commit adultery with her. It's about the intent to desire her. In other words, Jesus is warning us about the danger of entertaining attraction to someone other than your spouse. That's what lust is. It's the decision to entertain attraction to someone.
And in the same way that murder is just the last stop on a road of devaluing others, adultery is just the last stop on the road of entertaining attraction to someone other than your spouse. And Jesus doesn't just want us to stop short of the last stop on that road. He wants us on an entirely different road, a road of refusing to entertain attraction to someone other than our spouses.
Ok, but what does it mea ...
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