Did Christ Advocate Self-Amputation in Mark 9:43-47?
Let’s read the passage in question:
43“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. [44] b 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. [46] c 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,”
Mark 9:43-47
Christ wasn’t suggesting self-amputation, of course. He was using overstatement, known as hyperbole, to make an important point: All of us need to root out of our lives anything that causes sin because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), which is the polar opposite of receiving everlasting life (John 3:16). The Lord used the figurative speech of cutting off a hand, a foot or an eye because they apply to…
- Things you do — i.e. your “hand.”
- Paths you take — i.e. your “foot.”
- Things you choose to gaze upon (and imagine) — i.e. your “eye” (which includes your inner eye).
So, if there’s something you do that is causing you to sin, cut it out of your life; if there’s a path you take that causes you to sin, stop taking that path; if there’s something you gaze upon and feed with your imagination that causes you to sin, remove it from your sight and thought life. In other words, whatever it is that leads you into temptation and the corresponding sin, cut it out of your life. When you do that, you’ll stop putting yourself into a position of temptation and committing the transgression in question. Are you following?
The Bible offers an easy 3-point strategy on how to overcome any sin, which corresponds to the three parts of human nature – mind, body and spirit. In other words, there’s something you need to do with your mind (thoughts), there’s something you can do with your body and there’s something you need to do that involves your spirit. These are the three keys to walking in the spirit and being set free from the flesh or sinful nature (Galatians 5:16), which you can read about here.
The Contrast Between “Entering Life” and Being “Thrown Into Hell”
Notice how the Lord contrasted “entering life” with being “thrown into Hell” in the passage from Mark 9. That’s because unredeemed people who are “thrown into hell” on Judgment Day don’t have eternal life and thus will be discarded in the Lake of Fire wherein they’ll suffer the “second death”:
11Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:11-15
Notice that they’ll suffer the “second death,” not experience life. What exactly does this mean? Christ plainly explained:
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell [Gehenna].”
You see, unrepentant people who are cast into the Lake of Fire do not enter life; rather they’ll be destroyed, soul and body. This is why the writer of Hebrews said:
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Hebrews 10:26-27
Being consumed by raging fire is the opposite of living forever in fire. This explains what is said in the gospel of John:
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
Why won’t those who reject Christ receive eternal life?
but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Eternal life and immortality are only available through Jesus Christ. This is the Good News in a nutshell and explains something Paul taught by the Holy Spirit:
To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.
Immortality is to be sought by those who are lost & dying in this world, which means it’s not something they intrinsically possess. The Awesome News, of course, is that immortality and eternal life are available to all, as plainly conveyed in the Bible’s most famous verse:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Related Topics:
IMMORTALITY — Only Available Through the Gospel
HELL (Human Damnation) — Questions and Answers
Hell (Lake of Fire): Eternal Torment or Everlasting Destruction?
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