But Jesus in thus advocating
heroic treatment for sin was but doing what eminent surgeons are
advising every day in regard to certain dangerous bodily
diseases. Jesus also laid His finger on the source of sin when He
declared, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these
are the things which defile a man" (Matthew 15:19). A man must think
evil before he does evil, and hence the emphasis which Jesus placed
upon keeping the heart clean.
The Right Relation of Man to Salvation.--Man feels his inclination to
do evil and, seeing also the degradation wrought by it, desires to be
saved from it. The cry has gone up from many hearts to be free not
only from the power of sin but from the desire to commit sin. No man
can save himself. He may succeed in a certain outward reformation and
correctness of habit and speech, but he cannot control the thoughts
and inclinations of his own heart.
The special mission of Jesus Christ was to place man in the right
relation of salvation from his sins and to show Himself the Saviour of
Man. It was declared of Him before His birth, "He shall save His
people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). He said at the last supper,
"This is My blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the
remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28).
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