Joseph Prince Makes Fun & Ridicules Jesus’ Teachings (Subtitle: Joseph Prince’s Teaching on Matthew 5:27-30 Would Lead You to Hell) – By Rev George Ong (Dated 20 Dec 2021)
(This article was also sent to Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian, General Secretary, NCCS office, and for the attention of the Executive Committee Members.)
In a sermon preached at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church and aired on YouTube on 18 February 2020, Joseph Prince said the following; please click to view excerpts in the one minute plus video,
“You know when Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, He said, ‘Love your enemies.’ We’ve got problems loving our neighbour, let alone our enemies. He said, ‘If your right eye offend you, pluck it out. Throw it away from you. If your hand offend you, cut it off.’ Have you seen any church, anyone doing that? The church will look like a huge amputation ward.
So what did Jesus mean? Jesus brought the law to its pristine standard, where the Pharisees has brought the law in a way that’s manageable. Jesus says, ‘If you give the woman the eye, you have sinned.’ The Pharisees says, ‘Unless you do it physically, you have sinned.’
So Jesus is an expert at using the law to bring you to the end of yourself so that you will see your need for Jesus. Amen. He didn’t mean for you to pluck out your eye and cut off your hand. ‘Oh Pastor Prince, you should have come earlier.’ Clap your stubs all together. At least, you still got your eyeball. So what did Jesus mean?
Now if Jesus preach the Sermon on the Mount and He stayed up there on the Mount, there’ll be no hope for us. But you know the King of the Sermon on the Mount, the King came down the mountain. He came down to where there was sighing, crying, dying humanity.”
Joseph Prince said,
“We’ve got problems loving our neighbour, let alone our enemies.”
“The church will look like a huge amputation ward.”
“‘Oh Pastor Prince, you should have come earlier.’ Clap your stubs all together. At least, you still got your eyeball.”
By making those frivolous statements, what do you think Joseph Prince was up to? Prince was making fun of the Sermon on the Mount that was preached by Jesus.
Prince’s message is this – that what Jesus, who is God Himself, preached up on the Mount, is simply ridiculous, as it is impossible to be obeyed.
Prince is cynically implying that loving our enemies and the avoidance of mental adultery, both preached by the Lord Jesus, are absurd.
As if the detriment that Joseph Prince does to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount isn’t damaging enough, he went on to devastate it by stating that it is a message that is without hope,
“Now if Jesus preach the Sermon on the Mount and He stayed up there on the Mount, there’ll be no hope for us.”
This is sacrilegious! This means Jesus’ Sermon in the Mount has no power to save us from our sins and grant us eternal salvation. This also means that, perhaps, Matthew chapters 5-7, shouldn’t have been included in the scriptures at all, as it is a message that provides no eternal hope for us.
What audacity for Joseph Prince to dare to say that the gospel message that Jesus, who is the eternal God, has given us in the Sermon on the Mount is without hope, when there is concrete and unmistakable evidence which points to the contrary?
Prince is effectively implying that Jesus, who is God Himself, had lied when Christ preached that the Sermon on the Mount is one that is full of hope as it could enable us to avoid hell and enter the Kingdom of heaven.
For details, please refer to a previous article, “Joseph Prince’s Cheap Grace Vs Jesus Christ’s Costly Grace (Subtitle: Joseph Prince Implied that Jesus Lied)” dated 17 December 2021 by clicking here.
In ‘Destined to Reign’, Page 93, Joseph Prince wrote (referring to Matthew 5:27-30),
“…Jesus brought the law to its pristine standard, such that it was impossible for any man to keep.
“But Pastor Prince, I believe that we should do everything that Jesus said!”
My friend, Jesus said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you… And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” (Matt 5:29-30) Have you done that?
Do you think that Jesus expects us to do all that, or does He want us to rightly divide the Word, and understand who He was speaking to in that passage and what He meant? If the church were to obey everything that Jesus said in that passage, then it would look like a huge amputation ward! (I hope that I don’t hear you saying, “Pastor Prince, you should have written this book earlier – I have already plucked out one eye and severed one arm!”)
Come on, Jesus said all that to bring the law back to its pristine standard, a standard that ensured that no man could keep the law. He said all that so that man would come to the end of depending on himself and begin to see that he desperately needs a savior.”
Joseph Prince wrote,
“If the church were to obey everything that Jesus said in that passage, then it would look like a huge amputation ward! (I hope that I don’t hear you saying, “Pastor Prince, you should have written this book earlier – I have already plucked out one eye and severed one arm!”)”
By those irreverent statements, Prince is nothing but pouring scorn on the teachings of Jesus. He is scoffing at the sermon of Jesus and making it the butt of his jokes. By making a mockery of Jesus’ teachings, all his claims that he is Christ-centred, is a bluff!
Is Jesus really asking people to chop off their right hand and gouge out their right eye? If the answer to that question is a resounding no for all of us, including Joseph Prince, then why does Prince see the need to make such silly and uncalled for statements.
The reason is Joseph Prince has a hidden and deceptive agenda. His real agenda is to deflect people away from the real issue. Prince’s aim is to get people to focus on the figure of speech of the hand and the eye, instead of the real issue of mental adultery that Jesus was addressing.
The real issue Jesus was trying to teach is that the sin of adultery is one that goes beyond physical adultery (the letter of the law) to mental adultery (the spirit of the law). Jesus was warning His disciples not to follow the example of the Pharisees who distort the law by reducing it to just the mere obedience to the letter of it – outward actions instead of heart’s attitude.
Jesus was trying to teach that it is not enough to keep to the letter of the law (of not committing physical adultery). But keeping the spirit of the law (of not committing mental adultery) is the essence of what is really required.
When Jesus advises us to gouge out an eye or cut off a hand, He is employing a figure of speech known as hyperbole. Hyperbole is an obvious exaggeration or an intentional overstatement to create a shocking effect.
Examples of hyperbole in modern speech would include statements like,
“This travelling bag of yours weighs a ton,”
“Waiting for my girlfriend is like waiting for eternity,” and
“Everyone knows my mother-in-law is right all the time.”
Anyone with a logical mind, except for Joseph Prince, would know that each of the above statements is a hyperbole or a figure of speech, not meant to be taken literally.
Jesus’ purpose in speaking hyperbolically, that sinners should gouge out their eyes or cut off their hands, is to magnify in His hearers’ minds the heinous nature of sin. Sin takes people to hell (Matt 5:29-30), and that makes sin something to avoid at all costs.
Jesus is saying that whatever is causing you to sin, one has to take drastic measures to get rid of it. Figuratively, it is better to enter heaven with a hand less than to have two hands and be thrown into hell.
The lesson in Matthew 5:27-30 was so important to Jesus that He repeated the use of the hyperbole in the same book in Matthew 18:8-9:
Matthew 18:8-9 NIV
8 “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.”
What Jesus is saying is indeed shocking and radical but serious and urgent (and do not forget Jesus has said many other radical and shocking things in the other passages of scriptures as well). The message of Jesus is that, you must go to radical lengths if you have to, so as not to place yourself in a situation where you can be tempted by the sin of mental adultery and put yourself in danger of hell.
In modern application and understanding – it is better not to bring your girlfriend to a tempting place when dating her than be tempted with both physical and mental adultery and be in danger of hell (when one sins unrepentantly), etc.
The Pharisees teach only physical adultery is wrong, but Jesus says even mental adultery is wrong too.
While the Pharisees accept the law, they distorted and twisted it to suit their agenda by just obeying the letter of it, but what Joseph Prince has done is even worse:
Joseph Prince totally removes the law and he excuses us from taking responsibility for the sin of mental adultery because he says it is impossible not to sin in that way – and hence, he is putting the multitudes of people who have been influenced by his teachings, in real danger of hell, which Jesus came to warn us of.
When Jesus came explicitly to warn us that hell is where we will end up in if persistent and unrepentant mental adultery is not dealt with, Joseph Prince ‘deletes’ that from the word of God and instead says that Christ is not addressing that issue with the church at all.
Prince is going head-on against what Christ is teaching, as he teaches that avoiding the sin of mental adultery is impossible and offers excuses for that sin. Hence, he has removed the very sober warning of hell that Jesus is warning us of.
Joseph Prince is making light of the serious message that Jesus was trying to convey by the frivolous and disrespectful way he argues, such as,
“If the church were to obey everything that Jesus said in that passage, then it would look like a huge amputation ward! (I hope that I don’t hear you saying, “Pastor Prince, you should have written this book earlier – I have already plucked out one eye and severed one arm!”)
Why is Joseph Prince doing that?
This reason is what Jesus taught in Matthew 5:27-30 and the rest of the Sermon on the Mount totally contradict his Pseudo-grace doctrine that every sin, past, present, and future have all been forgiven.
And if every sin is forgiven, Joseph Prince has to ‘get rid’ of this sin of mental adultery, which can send one to hell by stating that Matthew 5:27-30 is not for the church.
It also contradicts Prince’s ‘once saved always saved’ theology as Jesus was warning His disciples (who are already believers) that they, too, if they are guilty of the same sin of unrepentant mental adultery, could land them in hell (Matt 5:29-30).
While preaching on Matthew 5:27-48 on the Sermon on the Mount, David Pawson, a world-renowned Bible teacher said,
“He (Jesus) said, ‘Don’t fear what can happen in this world, but fear what can happen in the next world to you.’ Now, while it is true that many sins can take you to hell, including unbelief and cowardice, every list in the New Testament of the things that take people to hell include sexual promiscuity, every list. And yet there are Christians who think that because they are Christians they are in no risk of hell. Why do you think that Jesus includes the risk of hell in the sermon address to born again sons of the kingdom who are disciples being persecuted for righteousness’ sake? Why do you think He include it if there is no risk?”
In the light of what David Pawson had warned, Joseph Prince’s false teachings to his congregation that we are ‘once saved always saved’ just because we have said the sinner’s prayer, and that our belief could never be affected by our behaviour, is literally playing with fire with the souls of people.
I want you to see the craftiness of Joseph Prince in the way he goes about deceiving people. He did not even attempt to explain, as I have, that the role of the hyperbole of cutting off your hand and gouging out your eye is in heightening the urgency of Jesus’ key message of not breaking the law of committing mental adultery.
Instead, he deceptively and deliberately mixes the hyperbole together with the key lesson of mental adultery. This is to create confusion in peoples’ minds that just because it is illogical and impossible to obey the hyperbole of cutting off your hand and gouging out your eye, it is also illogical and impossible to obey the law of not committing mental adultery.
Hence, Joseph Prince has completely overturned the purpose of what Jesus came to warn us of in Matthew 5:27-30 and giving a complete opposite message from the original message of Jesus.
Has it begun to sink into your mind how evil this man, Joseph Prince is? He even has the audacity to ‘play such frivolous games’ with none other than Jesus, who is God Himself?
Joseph Prince wrote (regarding Matthew 5:27-30),
“…Jesus brought the law to its pristine standard, such that it was impossible for any man to keep.”
“Come on, Jesus said all that to bring the law back to its pristine standard, a standard that ensured that no man could keep the law.”
Can Joseph Prince enlighten us where did Jesus ever say that in Matthew 5:27-30 or the Sermon on the Mount? Don’t ever let Prince get away with statements he made that cannot be substantiated. He has done that far too many times. Press him to quote the chapter and verse for his arguments.
As a matter of fact, there is nowhere in Matthew 5:27-30 or the entire Sermon on the Mount that Jesus ever said what Joseph Prince has stated. Prince is importing his Pseudo-grace theology forcibly into the text. He is lying, pure and simple.
The fact of the matter is, in many places in the New Testament, Jesus and other scripture writers said the reverse of what Joseph Prince is stating. Many scriptures talk about the need to keep or obey God’s laws and Christ’s commandments. Below is just a sampling:
15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (Jn 14:15 NASB).
21 The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him.” (Jn 14:21 NASB).
10 If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. (Jn 15:10 NASB).
8 “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right” (Jas 2:8 NIV).
22 and whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. (1 Jn 3:22 NASB).
24 The one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. (1 Jn 3:24 NASB).
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. (1 Jn 5:3 NASB)
3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; (1 Jn 2:3-4 NASB)
Furthermore, if obedience to God’s law was an impossible standard for man as Joseph Prince has stated, why did Christ say in Matthew 5:20 (NCV),
20 “I tell you that if you are no more obedient than the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Did Jesus say that His laws are impossible for people to keep or obey as what Prince is stating? No, conversely, Jesus is stating the opposite. Jesus is saying that if we don’t keep or obey the law better than the Pharisees do, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And if one doesn’t enter God’s kingdom, where does one go? – Hell!
So Joseph Prince by his teaching that the laws in the Sermon on the Mount are impossible to be obeyed, is actually taking us to that God-forsaken place in the lake of fire.
Joseph Prince wrote,
“…Jesus brought the law to its pristine standard, such that it was impossible for any man to keep.”
Joseph Prince had inserted his own words into the mouth of Jesus and made Him say things which He didn’t. What audacious and unholy guts this man possesses! Only an Antichrist, not someone who is Christ-centred would ever do that. In fact, Jesus said the very opposite of what Joseph Prince claimed – that He expects us to obey His laws or commandments.
Take a look at the two passages below and compare that with what Joseph Prince has written in his quote:
Matthew 5:21-22 NIV
21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
Matthew 5:27-30 NIV
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. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”
The above two passages in Matthew 5:21-22, 27-30, are so clearly presented and easily understood that even a child could understand what they plainly mean. Jesus taught openly that sin could drag any angry and lustful person (unrepentant anger and lust) to hell.
Yet, Joseph Prince has the unholy guts to say that Jesus does not mean what he teaches – that Jesus is saying that since the standard of these laws is too high, He concluded that it is impossible for us to obey them.
Joseph Prince has again committed the terrible sin of replacing the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:21-22, 27-30 with his own words. If you compare Joseph Prince’s above quote with Matthew 5:21-22, 27-30, Joseph Prince is completely reversing what Jesus said.
This text is so clear and plain that anyone of average intelligence could understand it and come to the conclusion that it has nothing to do with what Joseph Prince had falsely interpreted.
Joseph Prince blatantly mocks the simple teaching of Jesus. He trivialises the sober intention of what Jesus was trying to communicate – about ending up in hell if anyone disobeys this command about lust and anger.
Prince totally sweeps away the very serious warning of Jesus that the failure to do what Jesus said would result in being thrown into hell (Matt 5:29-30).
How can people still believe that Joseph Prince is Christ-centred when he treats the teachings of Christ with such utter contempt?
Sure, it isn’t easy to obey this commandment in Matthew 5:27-30 and many other commandments in the New Testament for that matter. Christ has not come to make Christianity easy and comfortable, but to make the impossible possible. If we fail and stumble and we will, God’s matchless grace is more than sufficient to forgive us if we confess and repent. If we confess and repent of our sins, we will receive forgiveness from God for God is indeed an ever-gracious and ever-forgiving God. His bountiful grace is able to empower us in and through our weaknesses and with the enablement of the Holy Spirit gives us the victory over the sins of our minds.
But if you listen to Joseph Prince and believe that it is impossible for this command to be obeyed and refuse to obey, hell is the place that Jesus said you would go to.
If Joseph Prince’s teaching can lead one to hell, how can he not be a heretic? How can he not be a ravenous wolf in shepherd’s clothing?
Christ’s teachings have always been consistent. He places a higher priority on the inside rather than on what is outside of us because what is inside of us is the true and real us.
In Mark 7:20-23 as it is in Matthew 5:27-30 the text in question, Christ teaches that it is the inside of a man that defiles him:
Mark 7:20-23 ISV
20 Then he continued, “It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean, 21 because it’s from within, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come, as well as sexual immorality, stealing, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, cheating, shameless lust, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. 23 All these things come from inside and make a person unclean.”
The Apostles Paul, Peter and John’s writings and the epistle of James in the New Testament on lusts are also in line with the teachings of Christ:
James 1:14 NASB
14 “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”
James 4:2 NASB
2 “You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.”
1 Peter 2:11 NASB
11 “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”
1 Peter 4:3 NIV
3 “For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do – living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.”
2 Peter 2:10 KJV
10 “But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.”
2 Peter 2:18 NIV
18 “For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.”
1 John 2:16 NIV
16 “For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world.”
Romans 1:26 NIV
26 “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts…”
Romans 13:14 NASB
14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”
1 Corinthians 10:6 MEV
6 “Now these things were our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they lusted.”
Galatians 5:16 NKJV
16 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
Ephesians 2:3 NASB
3 “Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”
Colossians 3:5 NIV
5 “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 NIV
3 “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God.”
Does Joseph Prince know that Paul, like Jesus, also taught against the sin of lust? Prince ought to be brave and tell it to his mentor, Paul, that he was wrong in bringing up the issue of lust in the above New Testament passages because it is an impossible law for us to keep.
Joseph Prince should never shame the name of Paul by claiming he is his mentor! Paul would be ashamed to call Prince as his mentee as Prince does not only teach against Jesus but also against Paul himself on the issue of lust.
Since I have proven that the subject of lust is not only a concern of Jesus but also that of Paul and many other New Testament writers, what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:27-30 isn’t an Old Testament law that is impossible to be obeyed as Prince has lied to us, but a New Testament truth.
Joseph Prince needs to tell us whether Jesus was joking when He said,
“And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (Matt 5:22)
“It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” (Matt 5:29)
“It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Matt 5:30)
For Prince to be right in his view on the issue, he would have to prove that Jesus was just joking in the above passages, or that Jesus didn’t really mean what He said in Matthew 5:22,29,30 – which is an impossibility!
One must ask the question, if Jesus didn’t mean what He said, why did Jesus talk about hell thrice within just eight verses?
It is precisely because Jesus was utterly serious that hell would be the place that those who fail to pay heed to His warning about anger and lust would end up in. And yet, Prince has the unholy audacity to undo what Jesus came to warn us of, completely.
Joseph Prince is concocting a blatant lie in teaching that it is impossible to obey God’s laws when Prophet Ezekiel, Apostle Paul and Apostle John have all affirmed that it is absolutely possible through the Spirit.” (Ezek 36:26-27, 1 Jn 5:2-3, Rom 8:4):
Ezekiel 36:26-27 GNT
26 “I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. 27 I will put my spirit in you and will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you.”
Ezekiel 36:26-27 TLB
26 “And I will give you a new heart – I will give you new and right desires – and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you so that you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.”
Please note that though Ezekiel 36:26-27 is an Old Testament text, it is speaking about the New Covenant (and what would happen in the New Covenant), which has already been prophesied in the Old Testament.
1 John 5:2-3 CEV
2 “If we love and obey God, we know that we will love his children. 3 We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow.”
1 John 5:2-3 WE
2 “This is how we know we love God’s children. We love God and we obey his laws. 3 We show that we love God when we obey his laws. His laws are not hard to obey.”
Romans 8:4 CEV
4 “He did this, so that we would do what the Law commands by obeying the Spirit instead of our own desires.”
Romans 8:4 TLB
4 “So now we can obey God’s laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us.”
When you have one prophet of God (Ezekiel) and two apostles of Christ (Paul and John) who totally contradicted Joseph Prince on his teaching that it is impossible to obey God’s laws, what more evidence do you want before you could be convinced that Prince is a false prophet and a liar? (Ezek 36:26-27, 1 Jn 5:2-3, Rom 8:4)?
And if you continue to stubbornly trust this charlatan (Joseph Prince) and believe that Matthew 5:27-30 is an impossible law to be obeyed, hell is where you would end up in, simply because the Lord Jesus had said you would.
If Joseph Prince can lead people to hell, how can he not be a heretic?
One final point that needs to be clarified is that this passage in Matthew 5:27-30 does not mean that a Christian who lusts, instantly forfeits his or her salvation and is irreversibly bound for hell, since Jesus equates lust with adultery and since Paul teaches that no adulterer will inherit God’s kingdom (Matt 5:28; 1 Cor 6:9-10).
I need to highlight this as Joseph Prince has, time and again, used this Straw man argument against us, by misrepresenting and falsely attaching this view to those who believe that we can lose our salvation and those who take what Jesus teaches on Matthew 5:27-30 at face value.
The plain fact is that there is no scripture which teaches that the moment a Christian lust, or when he or she commits adultery, the Holy Spirit departs from him, or that he forfeits his sonship and salvation in Christ.
It also does not mean, like what Joseph Prince would want to accuse us with, that if a believer were to die one second after his sin of having an immoral thought, even though he does not commit such sins habitually, God would cast him into hell.
When Jesus warns that mental adultery places one in danger of hell and when Paul warns that no adulterer will inherit God’s kingdom (Matt 5:27-30; 1 Cor 6:9-10), they are talking about the future, not immediate consequences.
To claim, based on the warnings of Jesus and Paul, that any Christian who lusts or commits adultery, instantly forfeits his or her salvation, or is irreversibly bound for hell, is not only unwarranted but unbiblical.
The truth is, the Christian who commits adultery, whether it be physical or mental, places his future, ultimate salvation in jeopardy.
The Holy Spirit, who indwells him, however, does not abandon him, but instead convicts him to bring him to repentance, a wonderful manifestation of God’s wondrous grace.
On the other hand, would you, as a sensible believer, want to take any risk to prolong the sin that has engulfed you without repenting at the earliest opportunity, and gamble away your eternity?
In fact, by procrastinating to repent time and again, your heart may become so hardened to such a state that it may become impossible for you to repent.
You are also not God, and hence, you do not know when your last day on earth is.
So, the fine and delicate balance between the holiness and the grace of God must be maintained in a healthy tension, so that we don’t stray into an extremist and unbiblical position.
Rev George Ong