3. Kingdom Righteousness Part 1

Introduction

Jesus makes a rather startling and somewhat alarming statement in Matthew 5:20. The scribes and Pharisees were famous for their righteousness! They were literally obsessed with obedience to God’s law! They calculated that the law had 248 commandments and 365 prohibitions, and they aspired to keep them all.

Matthew 5:20 ESV

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

Subject: What kind of righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees? And how in the world can a Christian have that kind of righteousness?

The Thesis (Matt 5:17-20)

Jesus is not heaping on the condemnation. He’s not racking up the charges for a stronger guilty verdict.

The “impossible ideal” implies that these commands were intended to diagnose our disobedience rather inspire our obedience. But that conflicts with Jesus’s own words (Matt 5:17-19).

“Grace and virtue are friends, not enemies.” ~ Dr. Jonathan Pennington

Jesus is not upping the ante. He’s not piling on even more rules to follow. See Matthew 11:28-30.

Matthew 11:28–30 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus is showing the true intent of God’s laws and commands. He’s revealing the purpose of the law.

Look at Matthew 5:17… Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. This doesn’t mean he came to complete them, but to fulfill their purpose.

“God sees and cares about something deeper than just the physical act of murder [or adultery, or divorce]: God sees and cares about the heart, the inner person.” ~ Dr. Jonathan Pennington

God cares about who you are as much as what you do.

Kingdom righteousness is not a righteousness of behavior management but of heart transformation.

Does God care about what you do? Yes. But, if all you have is behavior management without heart transformation, you’re nothing but a scribe or a Pharisee. You can put lipstick on a pig… it’s still a pig.

Romans 2:28-29 (NLT)

Romans 2:28–29 NLT

28 For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

For you are not a true Christian just because you were born of Christian parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of confirmation. No, a true Christian is one whose heart is right with God. And true confirmation is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

Three Examples

Murder (Matt 5:21-26)

Matthew 5:21–26 ESV

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

The Example

How many of you have committed murder in the past week? Jesus is not saying that being angry with someone is the equivalent of murdering them.

The external righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees: “Don’t murder or you’ll be liable to judgment.”

The greater internal righteousness of the kingdom: “Don’t be an angry and hateful person, easily offended. Don’t walk around with hatred in your heart and murder in your mouth because your pride has been pricked, and now you’re offended. Love your neighbor as yourself, and when conflict arises, be the first to seek reconciliation.”

The Principle

There’s a difference between following the letter of the law and fulfilling the purpose of the law.

Illustration: There’s a difference between saying sorry and being sorry.

Adultery

The Example

Jesus reveals the law’s true purpose (Matt 5:27-28).

Matthew 5:27–28 ESV

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Again, Jesus is not equalizing all sin. What he’s doing is pushing back on our tendency to focus on external actions and define godliness by appropriate behavior rather than a right heart.

Matthew 5:27–28 The Message

27 “You know the next commandment pretty well, too: ‘Don’t go to bed with another’s spouse.’ 28 But 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. Those leering looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt.

By the way, “lustful intent” doesn’t have to be sexual desire. “Look at how he treats his wife. He’s such a better husband than my husband. I wish he was my husband.”

“Jesus is not counting as clean someone who avoids only the act of adultery; he wants the heart to be clean as well, for it is not the fruit of adultery that he commands us to cast out, but its seed.” ~ St. Methodius of Olympus, ca. 304

And then he gives a bizarre instruction (Matt 5:29-30).

Matthew 5:29–30 ESV

29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

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 dumb phone and a pure heart than a smartphone and corrupted mind… My spouse is more important than my phone or my fantasy.

The Principle

There’s a difference between asking how close can I get to the line with crossing it and how close can I get to God without exploding.

Illustration: I can’t face two directions at the same time… “Above and below me, before and behind me, in every eye that sees me, Christ be all around me.”

Divorce (Matt 5:31-32)

Matthew 5:31–32 ESV

31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The Principle

Matthew 5:31–32 The Message

31 “Remember the Scripture that says, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him do it legally, giving her divorce papers and her legal rights’? 32 Too many of you are using that as a cover for selfishness and whim, pretending to be righteous just because you are ‘legal.’ Please, no more pretending. If you divorce your wife, you’re responsible for making her an adulteress (unless she has already made herself that by sexual promiscuity). And if you marry such a divorced adulteress, you’re automatically an adulterer yourself. You can’t use legal cover to mask a moral failure.

Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s right. As kingdom people we live not by what is merely legal but by what is right.

The Example

Before we get distracted by an argument about divorce, remember that Jesus is teaching about a kingdom righteousness of the heart. See Matthew 19:1-9.

Matthew 19:1–9 ESV

1 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

Hardhearted people do not succeed in marriage. Marriage is not easy…

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 to be taught (Matt 5:19).

Matthew 5:19 ESV

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.

We need the example of others (Matt 5:19).

Matthew 5:19 ESV

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.

We need practice.