Matt 5:27-30 says that if we look on a person with lust in our heart then we have committed adultery in our heart. Then he goes on to give some extreme statements like “if your right eye causes you to stumble then tear it out and throw it from you…if your right hand causes you to stumble then cut it off and throw it from you.” Both times, Jesus stresses that “it is better for you to lose one of your body parts than for your whole body to go to hell.”
There is a whole lot going on in this section. First we must recognize that it is important to understand the main point which centers on one’s heart and its relationship to sin. Jesus is simply elevating the sin of adultery to the level of the tenth commandment, even beyond. No one can really know if you are committing adultery, except you and God.
Jesus is exhorting us to take whatever extreme measures are necessary to ensure that we do not sin fearing the cumulative consequences of sin and He who can cast us into hell. He does not necessarily mean that we should cut off our hand(s) or gouge out our eye(s). Instead it is better for us to forsake some liberties or limit our freedoms in Christ that may cause us to sin. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to not neglect our salvation. And pursuing a sinful practice of pornography is neglecting our savation.
So what do we so then? Well we get rid of things that trigger us as long as it depends on us. For example, the magazines with beautiful women, even Good Housekeeping or the Health magazines or Runners’ World, and definitely any caalogs like Victoria Secret or Abercrombie. Get rid of your TV/cable. Get rid of your internet. If you cannot get a filter, and a password on the machine that forces you to have someone else around. And do not know the password! BeSafe Home is probably the best. If you don’t want a filter then Covenant Eyes may be the best choice for accountability reasons. What extreme measures do you need to take?