The Life of Christ (17): The Sermon on the Mount - Righteousness and the Law

1. The Life of Christ (17) • The Sermon on the Mount • Righteousness and the Law (Matthew 5:17-20) • Matthew 5:17–20 (NASB95) • 17“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. • 18“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. • 19“Whoever then annuls (cancels) one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. • 20“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. The Life of Christ (17)

2. The Life of Christ (17) • The Sermon on the Mount • Righteousness and the Law (Matthew 5:17-20) • All Jews were still in the Age of Israel and, therefore, under the Law. • The Law was composed of moral (righteous), civil (public), and ceremonial (ritual) codes. • The moral code is binding for all dispensations, but the ceremonial code can change because rituals are just teaching aids. • Verse 19 deals with rank in the future kingdom and verse 20 deals with what it takes to enter the kingdom in the first place. • The people of that day had been taught by the Pharisees that to enter the kingdom of heaven you had to be experientially righteous, which meant you had to obey the Mosaic Law completely. The Life of Christ (17)

3. The Life of Christ (17) • The Sermon on the Mount • Righteousness and the Law (Matthew 5:17-20) • The Pharisees were their religious leaders and tried to set a standard of experiential righteousness. Their righteousness was strictly based on obeying the Mosaic Law. • Yet, Christ was stating that the Pharisees didn’t have the required righteousness to enter the kingdom (to become believers), much less be great in it. • Many people believe they can qualify to go to Heaven if they are nice enough or good enough. (Not) • Jesus indicates that one had to be more righteous than the religious leaders of His day; what is required is perfect righteousness, something to which no man can attain. • To qualify getting into Heaven based on personal righteousness (comes from obeying laws), one would have to be absolutely perfect. He would have to know every aspect of the Law and obey everything in it at all times. The Life of Christ (17)

4. The Life of Christ (17) • The Sermon on the Mount • Righteousness and the Law (Matthew 5:17-20) • Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law by being obedient to the Father at all times; His sinlessness meant that He was qualified to bear the sins of others. • See Titus 3:5; “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds (works) which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” • God’s +R (absolute righteousness) surpasses the –R (relative righteousness) of man. When one becomes a believer, God imputes him with perfect righteousness that qualifies him to enter the kingdom of Heaven. • Also, look at Rom. 4:1-5. Abraham was the first Jew, and this verse explains how he was credited the righteousness that qualified him to go to Heaven. God credits righteousness to the account of everyone that has faith (belief) in the Messiah. • While Abraham looked forward to the coming of Messiah, we look backward to the historic reality that He bore our sins on the cross so anyone who believes in Him will share in His righteousness. • “Reckoned” means credited in the original languages. Credit means to add something to an account and debit means to take something away. The Life of Christ (17)

5. The Life of Christ (17) God’s Righteousness +R Absolute Righteousness . Man’s Righteousness -R Relative Righteousness The Life of Christ (17)

6. The Life of Christ (17) The Sermon on the Mount Righteousness and the Law (Matthew 5:17-20) Romans 4:1–5 (NASB95) 1What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, The Life of Christ (17)

7. The Life of Christ (17) The Sermon on the Mount Righteousness and the Law (Matthew 5:17-20) New Testament Believers Old Testament Believers Abraham and other Old Testament believers looked forward and believed in the Messiah to come. We and all New Testament believers look back and believe in the Messiah that has come. The Life of Christ (17)

8. The Life of Christ (17) • The Sermon on the Mount • Jesus teaches about sin (Matthew 5:21-22) • The key to Jesus’ teaching in these verses is the fact that the prevailing belief of the Jews in Jesus’ day was that salvation was given to the Jews just because they were Jewish. • They looked to the Mosaic Law as a code of life and believed that keeping the Law and doing what it said would impress God and He would save them. • The Law did indeed prohibit murder. There was nothing wrong with their thinking in this respect. Anyone who committed murder was liable or guilty in court and worthy of death. • The problem was they often limited sins to just the overt sins; they did not consider the mental attitude that is the root of the outer sin. • Because all men sin, the only way the religious Jews could feel they kept the Law was to ignore most “minor” sins, such as sins of the tongue and mental attitude sins thus, they tended to emphasize only the big-time overt sins, like murder or adultery. • Jesus, throughout the sermon on the mount, attempts to get them to recognize their lack of righteousness (relative righteousness) by emphasizing the perfect +R of God. The Life of Christ (17)

9. The Life of Christ (17) The Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches about sin (Matthew 5:21-22) Matthew 5:21–22 (NASB95) 21“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall notcommitmurder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. The Life of Christ (17)

10. The Life of Christ (17) • The Sermon on the Mount • Jesus teaches about sin (Matthew 5:21-22) • Their understanding of the teaching of the Law was superficial and did not address the root cause of murder. • The words "but I say to you" is not intended to contradict the prohibition against murder but is intended to show that the righteousness of the kingdom demands much more than just refraining from overt murder. • Jesus insists that mental attitude anger is a sin that brings judgment on the individual; anger is mental attitude murder and is at the root of killing. • This means that a person is not righteous simply because he does not commit murder. • There is a tendency among religious types to think that because they have not engaged in a particular overt sin that they are right with God; they often ignore the mental attitude sins. • This leads to what we call self-righteousness. The Life of Christ (17)

11. The Life of Christ (17) • The Sermon on the Mount • Jesus teaches about sin (Matthew 5:21-22) • The names Jesus uses in His example (good for nothing, fool) are just examples of what a believer might call someone with whom he is angry. Any name that is designed to hurt someone else because the believer is angry would be judged as a sin by God as well. • When a believer gives into his anger and calls someone names, he has compounded his sin; he has not just committed a mental attitude sin but also a verbal sin. • This means that he may come under more serious discipline if he does not rebound (1 John 1:9) and get back in fellowship. • When Jesus says that if you call your neighbor a fool you are guilty enough to be sent to Hell, He is trying to get those listening to Him to recognize exactly how serious the mental attitude and verbal sins are. The Life of Christ (17)

12. The Life of Christ (17) • The Sermon on the Mount • Jesus teaches about sin (Matthew 5:21-22) • This teaching should cause anyone who heard it to recognize his own sinfulness; that is the first step in recognizing that one needs a savior. • One purpose for the Mosaic Law (God’s perfect system of righteousness) is to make everyone aware of how sinful they are; when they recognize the fact that they fall short of God’s righteousness, they should naturally seek a solution to their sin problem. • Galatians 3:24 (NASB95) • 24Therefore the Law has become our tutor (teacher) to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. • That solution is belief in Jesus Christ as He paid and was punished for our sins. The Life of Christ (17)

13. The Life of Christ (17) • The Sermon on the Mount Dispensations or Ages ~2500 Years ~1500 Years ~2000 Years ~1000 Years Universal Royal Priesthood Aaronic Priesthood Royal Priesthood Family Priesthood The Life of Christ (17)