20. Kingdom Righteousness pt 1

Introduction

Big bottle of toilet water vs small bottle of pure natural spring water… It’s about quality over quantity.

Matt 5:20… The scribes and Pharisees were the top 1% of the top 1% when it came to righteousness. They calculated the law had 248 commands and 365 prohibitions, and they aspired to keep them all.

Subject: What kind of righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees? How can I have a righteousness that is greater than the righteousness of the most righteous people who have ever lived?

The Thesis (Matt 5:17-20)

Jesus is not dismissing the law as irrelevant (vv. 17-19)… “Someone aced the test for you…” That would make the test (law) totally irrelevant. But see Rom 6:1-2.

Jesus is not heaping on the condemnation by upping the ante. He’s not racking up the charges for a stronger guilty verdict—we’re already guilty. He’s not piling on even more rules to follow.

Matt 11:28-30

“Jesus is not giving a new law of super-ethics and more requirements to enter God’s kingdom—“adultery was bad before; now adultery and lust are bad,” and so on. Rather, the same Jesus who says his yoke is easy and his burden is light is emphasizing the internal over the external and proclaiming that God sees and cares about who people are at the heart level.” —Jonathan Pennington

Jesus is revealing the purpose of God’s laws.

That purpose is to shape who we become, not just how we behave. God cares as much about who you are as he does about what you do.

Kingdom righteousness is not a righteousness of behavior management but of heart transformation. It’s about quality over quantity. It’s not about following the letter of the law but fulfilling the purpose of the law.

Illustration: A little boy in Sunday school, “I might be sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside.”

I might not be committing murder on the outside, but I’m filled with hate on the inside.

I might not be committing adultery on the outside, but I’m filled with lust on the inside.

I might not be divorcing my wife on the outside, but I have no love for her on the inside.

I might be following the letter of the law on the outside, but I am missing the purpose of the law on the inside.

Three Examples

Anger (Matt 5:21-26)

Exposition

Jesus is not saying that being angry with someone is just as bad as murdering them… He’s getting to the heart of the matter.

The external righteousness of the Pharisees: “Don’t murder or you’ll be in trouble.” Hate, despise, loathe, slander, just don’t murder.

The internal righteousness of the kingdom: “Don’t be an angry and hateful person. Don’t walk around with hatred in your heart and murder in your mouth. Love your neighbor, and when conflict arises, be the first to seek reconciliation.”

Application: Kingdom people don’t hold grudges, harbor bitterness, or live controlled by anger. We are devoted to seeking the good of others.

Lust (Matt 5:27-30)

Exposition

Again, Jesus is not saying that lusting is just as bad as adultery… He’s pushing back on our tendency to focus on external actions while ignoring the sinful desires of the heart.

“Don’t think you’ve preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body.” —Eugene Peterson

By the way, “lustful intent” isn’t just a problem for men, and it’s not limited to physical desire. It’s also found in coveting another man’s wife, or coveting another woman’s husband.

Weeds in the garden… Adultery is the weed; lust is the root. If you pull the root, the weed will never grow.

Matt 5:29-30… Extreme language to make an extreme point: Don’t compromise with sin.

If your iPhone causes you to sin, smash the screen and throw it away. For it is better that you go through life with a dumbphone and a pure heart than to live in hell with a smartphone and a corrupted mind.

My spouse is more important than my phone or my fantasy.

Application: Kingdom people do not ask how close I can get to the line but how close I can get to God.

Divorce (Matt 5:31-32)

Exposition

Giving your wife a certificate of divorce was the legal way to end a marriage… But just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s right… adultery, abortion, lying, drinking too much…

Kingdom people do not live merely by what is legal but by what is right.

Application

A word about divorce… Divorce is hard. It’s messy. It’s painful. If you’ve gone through a divorce, Jesus is not condemning you, and neither am I (Rom 8:1). There is grace for you in Christ.

Everyone who’s gone through a divorce says the same thing: “If I could help anyone avoid a divorce, I would.” // If your marriage is struggling, find a brother/sister/couple to help you.

Conclusion: How do we grow in kingdom righteousness?

We need a new heart and a new Spirit (Ezek 36:26-27, NLT).

Ezekiel 36:26–27 NLT

26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.

We need both teachers and role models (Matt 5:19). Kingdom righteousness is both taught and caught.

We need practice… Practice, by definition, means you’re not flawless.