Sermon on the Mount: Kingdom Righteousness

Kingdom Righteousness: Outward vs. Inward

What are some things that traditions teach we must observe to be holy?

Matthew 5:17-20 ““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.”

Jesus Relationship with the Law

Matthew 5:17 ““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.”

5:17 - Jesus was moving into a biblical foundation for his teachings:

Law & Prophets - a common expression used to describe the OT Scriptures

Jesus did not come to do away with the Old Testament Scriptures, but he affirmed them as inspiried. Giving his approval of the OT

What Jesus wants people to understand is that what he is about to teach does not oppose the OT, but instead he is reaching into it’s deeper meaning

Pharasees held to “oral tradition” which were they consdiered equal with Scripture..

It would be like reading a commentary today and considering it of equal weight as the Scripture itself.

Jesus is moving away from a Ridgid view of the “Letter of the Law” which is an “external” perspective, and is going to show a standard that looks at an Interal perspective of the Law.

Jesus did not follow the Oral Traditions of the day:

He did not keep weekly fast, or make eleaborate distinctions between clean and unclean, and he hung out with outcast and sinners.

Matthew 5:18 “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.”

As long as the world last, Jesus is saying that everything God has written will be fulfilled.

Matthew 5:19 “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.”

The Pharasee held to a strict outward ahearance to the law, but there was a catch.. they considered some laws as more important that others.

Jesus takes a high view of Scripture here and doesn’t weigh one command as more authoritative than another.

Matthew 15:5-6 “But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.”

Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus begins his teachings moving foward with correcting Theology of the day. He’s claiming authority over the interpretation of Scripture.

This brings up an important question: How do we enter into the kingdom?

Backstory on Galatians:

Galatians 2:16 “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

Justification is not forgivensss - that is the fruit of being Justified

Justification is not atonement - that is the basis of Justification

Justification is a favorable verdict before God.

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

The self-righteous Pharisee who based his hope for righteousness and salvation on strict observance of the law—but by Christ, the risen and exalted One, who dwells in him.

When a person trusts Christ, God identifies him or her with Christ not only in the present and future but also in the past. The believer did what Christ did. When Christ died, I died. When Christ arose from the grave, I arose to newness of life. My old self-centered life died when I died with Christ. His Spirit-directed life began in me when I arose with Christ. Therefore in this sense the Christian’s life is really the life of Christ.

Gal 2:21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”

Paul concluded by affirming that he did not set aside the grace of God, as Peter had done by his behavior. Peter had nullified God’s grace by implying that it was not enough. He did this by putting himself back under the Law, saying in effect that obedience must accompany grace to make it sufficient. If that is true, Paul ended, Christ died needlessly. It is then really obedience that saves, not Christ

Back to the Mount: - Jesus is about to give us some expositional preaching

He selected six subjects. He was not contrasting His interpretation with Moses’ teaching but with the interpretation of the scribes and Pharisees. He was expounding the meaning of the text that God originally intended. He was doing Bible exposition.

6 topics of the law

God’s will concerning:

murder - When God gave the sixth commandment, He did not just want people to refrain from murdering one another. He wanted them to refrain from the hatred that leads to murder. Murder is only the external manifestation of the internal problem.

adultry

divorce

oaths

retaliation

love