Mark 9:43-48: What Can be Learned From These Verses?

Mark 9:43-48: “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”

Jesus was obviously using the tactic of extreme exaggeration in order to make a point when He spoke of cutting off your hand, foot, or eye. At the same time, the obvious point in the use of that tactic is that it really would be better to lose your hand, foot, or eye than to continue sinning and go into hell.

Regard for sin has its origin in the heart. Those who practice sin regard sin. Those who regard sin are not surrendered to the true God in order to do what is right in His eyes. These are not walking in a living faith before Him. Though commitment to sin originates in the heart, it is expressed through a person’s thoughts and actions. It is an extremely great error to distinguish the state of one’s heart from what they intentionally think about and what they actually do with the members of their body. The promotion of this great error under the label of Christian is one key way in which Gnosticism masquerades as Christianity.

And though cutting off a body part will not remedy commitment to sin in an individual’s heart, Jesus is obviously teaching that we should go to whatever length is necessary to really break that commitment and be willing to suffer the consequences of that. Though those consequences won’t be self-inflicted dismemberment, there will be bitter consequences of breaking from sin.

While many wrongly claim that faith in Jesus removes obligation to do what God commands, it is rather the case that acceptable faith in Him forsakes all regard for sin and submits to His righteous ways. Those committed to the practice of sin cannot have an interest in His atoning blood (see Psalm 66:18 and Proverbs 28:13).

Mark 9:43-48 guarantees that those who continue to practice sin will be cast into the fire that never shall be quenched. When Jesus spoke of offenders going “into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched”, this obviously is not referring to temporal consequences of sin like the unconditional eternal security teachers might say. This passage strongly rebukes unconditional security teachers. The true God is not a partial respecter of persons who allows people to get right with Him today so they can be emboldened to sin tomorrow without having to worry about going to hell.

This passage also demonstrates that the annihilationists who believe the wicked will just be burned up in hell and then cease to exist are wrong. “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” would be meaningless threats if those sent to the fire of hell did not continue there in conscious torment.