Highland,
We continue to work through our series: “The Right Grip on Righteousness.” This post serves to help us reflect on our message from Sunday, as we see what Jesus says about righteousness throughout the Sermon on the Mount.
We have defined “righteousness” as sharing in a total heart-agreement with God (a covenant). The most common way we can grasp this concept is through the marriage-covenant. Carrie and I share in the covenant of marriage. We share in a total heart-agreement under the authority of God and His Word. When so doing, we then are best able to share in a total heart-agreement on who we are to each other. This heart-agreement, or covenant, defines and binds our lives, our relationship with the Lord then also our relationship with one another.
To share in this type of total heart-agreement (or covenant) with God is not possible through any form of human-effort. To be able to share in a total heart-agreement with God is solely possible because of what Jesus has done for us by overcoming sin and death and through the renewing counsel and conviction of the Holy Spirit.
“Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-20).
Jesus is making clear that He is not a political or religious revolutionary from an earthly perspective; but, rather, the fulfillment of the old covenant and the pledge/payment of the new covenant. In essence, He will honor the letter and the spirit of the law of God in His life, death and resurrection from the dead.
Jesus knows that the law of God is being used by human hearts to oppress, criticize and exploit others for personal exaltation and gain. The law, which serves to point out humankind’s sinful nature, is doing so effectively but the deceived human heart cannot recognize their need for repentance and God’s unfailing love.
So, Jesus, in this new covenant, is going to write the righteousness of God’s law into the fleshly hearts of the repentant. In so doing, Jesus fulfills the law and the prophets, plus He ratifies the new covenant in blood and body.
Old Testament Covenant Prophecy that Jesus Fulfills
“Look, the days are coming” — this is the LORD’S declaration — “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant they broke even though I had married them” — the LORD’S declaration. “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” — the LORD’S declaration. “I will put My teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them” — this is the LORD’S declaration. “For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sin” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
Old Testament Prophecy regarding the law Jesus Fulfills
“For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances. Then you will live in the land that I gave your fathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness” (Ezekiel 36:26-29).
Christ’s Righteousness written into our Hearts by His Spirit
“Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, recognized and read by everyone. It is clear that you are Christ’s letter, produced by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God — not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ. It is not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit produces life.” (2 Corinthians 3:1-6).
The only way any unrighteous person could surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees is to have the very Spirit of God write His righteousness into our fleshly hearts. This is only possible through the cross of Christ Jesus and our repentance. When we repent, the Holy Spirit rewrites our very nature with the righteousness of Christ Jesus.