I am a Jesus pusher!!! Jesus clearly stated His intent when He said, “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5: 28). A legalist approaches this problem by focusing on “looks.” Is Jesus intensifying and increasing the rule for the New Covenant? The best the Old Covenant could conceive was, “You shall not commit adultery” (Matthew 5:27). In the New Covenant, Jesus replaced the old rule with, “You shall not look on a woman.” Jesus’ proposal is not to solve the problem by raising our activity level; instead, He proposes we allow Him to radically change our nature as He sources our activity. A new rule would be a distraction from the New Covenant. The New Covenant problem is not sexual expression or the action of “looking”! Jesus never condemned “looking.” How can we exist a day in our world without looking at a person of another gender, knowing of their sexuality? When I look at another man, I know his masculinity; when I look at a woman, I know her femininity, recognizing and honoring who each is. Jesus gives no condemnation for “looking” because it is right.
The problem is in the rest of the verse, “to lust for her,” focusing on intent and motive. Jesus highlights what drives the “looking.” We must never perceive sin as merely a deed that needs forgiveness.” Although sin does need forgiveness, we must confront the nature of the sin that possesses us! The Scriptures repeatedly tell us that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8). We must never be content to be saved “in” our sin; we must be saved “from” our sin. Jesus died not only to forgive but also to deliver us from the nature of sin! I am a Jesus pusher!!!