Matthew 5:21 says, Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:  These next several verses begin to contrast the letter of the law with the spirit of the law.  The letter of the law is concerned with physical acts, whereas the spirit of the law is concerned with the attitude behind the action.  Verse twenty-two states, But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.  The action, stated in the last verse is killing and its punishment.  I personally believe that this refers to murder, but that may be too narrow of a definition.  In this verse, the spirit of the law says that if we have been angry with our brother without cause, we are just as guilty in the eyes of God as one who has murdered someone.   We are even told that if we call our brother a fool we are in danger of hell fire.  We need to remember also that our brothers or sisters are any fellow believer.  Getting angry at other Christians without a spiritual cause is never acceptable to God.  Verse twenty-three states, Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;  Bringing gifts to the altar of God is a good thing, but gifts must be offered with the right attitude.  Verse twenty-four states, Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.  If we have brought our gift to God and remember that we have a problem with our brother or sister, then we are to leave our gift at the altar and find our brother or sister and make things right.  We are not told to take the offering with us, but to leave it there.  The attitude that I am not giving another penny to that church as long as someone I disagree with is there is not acceptable.  Verse twenty-five says, Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.   If we really did quickly settle disputes with others, even our adversaries, then we might put a lot of lawyers out of work.  This verse seems to indicate that the follower of Christ is at fault and could be thrown into prison if brought to trial.  We should certainly quickly settle disputes where we are at fault, especially since our actions reflect upon God.  Verse twenty-six states, Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.  This simply tells us that if we have wronged another and haven't sought a resolution to the problem with that person, we might find ourselves in imprisoned until the debt is paid.  Verse twenty-seven says, Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:  This is once again the letter of the law, looking at the actual physical act of adultery.  Verse twenty-eight says, But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.  This is the spirit of the law, where our very thoughts and not just our actions are judged.  Former president Carter took a lot of heat for saying he was guilty of looking on another woman with lust, but this is the way God judges us.  Verse twenty-nine says, And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.  Since I do not see a bunch of one eyed Christians, then either nothing we see offends us, or leads us away from our relationship with God, or we don't take this verse literally.  Verse thirty states, And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.  Again, we don't see many one handed Christians who are one handed because they cut their hand off because it led them to sin.  The point is that we should not allow sin to enter our thoughts, then our eyes and our hands will not offend us.  Still, we would be better off spiritually to lose a hand or an eye and remain spiritually pure than to remain physically whole and become spiritually defiled.  God judges not only our actions, but He judges our thoughts as well.