“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-20 ESV
One liner application:
Walk with our faith in God alone, through Christ alone who is our righteousness, fully dependent on him as we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh, following his word as the result of believing in him. Believing, following, and teaching in truth.
Digging in:
How can our righteousness exceed the righteousness of 1st Century Pharisees?
Let me ask this instead.
Who was their righteousness dependent on, and how about ours?
It was said of Abraham that he believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness. (See Genesis 15:6) This is another example of how God doesn’t look at outward appearances but at what’s within. What you believe leads to what you do. Our flesh leads us to think one thing and the Spirit leads us to believe another. The Spirit will always lead us in right believing, and in that we must be willing to be transformed (see Romans 12:1-2) and conformed to the image of Jesus (see Romans 8:29). If a person isn’t willing to be conformed to his image, that person will be conformed to someone else. Every day we are being molded, the question is by who? Choose this day who you will serve with your heart. And may I not fraction off my heart of worship. It either belongs to God, or someone else. Who is worthy of our heart?
Are we supposed to follow the old covenant law?
We learn that the law expressed in ordinances does not carry through to the new covenant (see Ephesians 2:15), and we also learn that although we live by faith and not by the letter, in our faith we uphold the law. (see Romans 3:31) Honestly, nobody walking according to the Spirit would ever relax “thou shall not murder” or “thou shall not steal”, or any other action that flies in the face of loving God and neighbor.
This scripture of focus today precedes the remaining sermon of Jesus as he teaches on the moral commands which come down to loving god and others. His teaching doesn’t lessen, but only raises the level by which we are called to love our neighbor, to the point of loving our enemies, praying for them, and turning the other cheek.
You and I can’t do it…alone. But through the Spirit, God makes it possible.
Additional verse references:
Galatians 5:16-26, Romans 8:3-9