In our last study, I showed why I believe that Jesus, while not specifically addressing the Pharisees, certainly had them in mind when He explained what it would take to earn admittance into the Kingdom in one’s own strength.

But I would remind us that the Pharisees are not all dead yet. There are many in the Church today who teach that unless we add our own efforts to the salvation equation, either in earning it or maintaining it, we’ll be in for a big shock when we stand before the Lord, seeking entrance into His Kingdom.

Matt. 5:21-48 can as easily be intended for people who teach a works based approach to eternal life now, as it was for those who taught obedience to the Law in the Lord’s time. I say that because any works we do in an attempt to supplement what Jesus did for us would have to meet the same standards as those the Lord outlined for the Pharisees. And as we have seen, that’s impossible.

Do these people intend to stand before God to offer their substandard efforts, and expect Him to use them to complete the work of their salvation which, in their opinion, the selfless death of His own perfect Son only began? When will they learn that the reason He requires nothing more than belief from us (John 6:28-29) is that we have nothing else to offer?

Moving On
The reason I separated Matt. 5:21-48 from the balance of the Sermon on the Mount is because I am convinced that His summary statement at the end ofMatt. 5, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48) completed the Lord’s comments on the need for perfection in striving to enter the Kingdom by human effort. I believe that for the most part what followed is good advice for all of us.

I know that some people use the fact that the Church was not born until after the Lord’s ascension to support their claim that the Gospels don’t have much to say to us, but are meant primarily for Israel. A smaller number is even convinced that the Gospels really belong to the Old Testament. But I believe Matt. 6-7 contain many good pointers in our quest, however futile, to live in a manner pleasing to God; not to add anything to what Jesus has done for us, but as a way of expressing our gratitude for it. Let’s take a look.

Giving To The Needy
“Be careful not to practice your ‘acts of righteousness’ in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matt. 6:1-4).

Today most people don’t bring a brass band with them when they donate to the poor. Modern methods for calling attention to oneself are less direct. But these more subtle forms of recognition are intended to achieve the same purpose, which is to make others aware of their generosity. Jesus said if recognition is our motive, the praise and expressions of gratitude we receive from people here is all the reward we are going to get. If we want to be rewarded in heaven we should be so secretive about our giving here that if possible our left hand would not know what our right hand is doing.

Prayer
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him (Matt. 6:5-8).

Prayer is not for the purpose of showing others how spiritual we are, nor is it to provide information to God. He already knows everything. Prayer confirms that we recognize God’s involvement in our life by giving Him the credit He is due for the blessings we receive, and by asking for His help with the problems we have. We are sovereign beings and have the right to conduct our lives the way we see fit. Prayer acknowledges that we have subordinated our will to His and are seeking His blessing, His guidance and His direction.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one’ (Matt. 6:9-13).

This prayer begins with “Our Father”which means only believers can pray it, because only believers have the authority to become children of God (John 1:12-13). It outlines what should be the most important priorities in a believer’s life.

First and foremost, we should want the Lord’s kingdom to come, and for His will to be done in Heaven and on Earth, because that’s the way things were when He created everything. In the meantime, we should want our needs for the day to be met. We should want our sins to be forgiven, because we’ve been faithful to forgive those who have sinned against us. And we should want protection from the schemes of the evil one, lest we fall into temptation and risk putting a strain on our relationship with the Lord.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matt. 6:14-15).

This is an expansion of the sentence, “And forgive us our debts,as we also have forgiven our debtors” to make sure we understand what He was talking about.

Remember, this is a prayer for believers. Believers are unconditionally forgiven forever when they come to faith (Ephesians 1:13-14). Therefore, the forgiveness the Lord was speaking of is not that which brings us salvation. Rather, it’s the forgiveness that keeps us in good standing with the Lord after we’re saved.

Being saved doesn’t prevent us from having problems with others, but it does require us to forgive them when we do. Whether it’s our fault or not is irrelevant to the Lord. It wasn’t the Lord’s fault we sinned against Him, but He forgave us just the same. Now He expects us to forgive others.

This expectation was summarized in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matt. 18:21-35), a lesson on how to protect the quality of our earthly relationship with the Lord. In the parable the Lord had the king (representing Him) say to an unmerciful servant (representing you and me) “You wicked servant. I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” (Matt. 18:32-33). Our salvation has been guaranteed forever, but remaining in fellowship with the Lord in the here and now requires that we forgive those who sin against us just as the Lord has forgiven us.

Fasting
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,  so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you”(Matt. 6:16-18).

Notice it doesn’t say “if you fast” but “when you fast”. The Lord wasn’t referring to Levitical fasts here, but to fasting people undertake personally, to draw nearer to God or when seeking His answer to a perplexing question. This type of fasting was mentioned in the Book of Acts (Acts 10:30, Acts 14:23) and by Paul in 1 Cor. 7:5 and tells us fasting is not just for those under the Law.

As it is with our giving and praying, fasting is to be done in secret, to be revealed only to God. This passage also shows us that giving, praying, and fasting are all things for which God will reward us.

Treasures in Heaven
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matt. 6:19-24).

Figuratively speaking, our eyes “see” what our heart desires. If our heart desires to be with the Lord in Heaven, that desire will be reflected in our eyes. They will be healthy, our body will be full of light, and our energy will be focused on storing up treasure in heaven.

But if our heart desires the things of this world, our eyes will reflect that desire instead. They’ll be unhealthy, our body will be full of darkness, and our energy will be focused on storing up treasure on earth.

Jesus said it will be one or the other with us. Whatever our heart desires most will become our master.

Do Not Worry
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matt. 6: 25-34).

Worry is a symptom that identifies our problem as a lack of faith. In difficult times people wonder, “Will I be able to support myself and those who depend on me?” They worry because they don’t have faith in the future.

Jesus promised that those who are focused on the next life need not worry about this one. If we believe wholeheartedly that the kingdom is coming soon and if through His death and resurrection we have attained the righteousness of God (Romans 3:21-24), He will see to it that our needs in this life are met. When our faith is in the Lord we have no cause to worry.

In 2 Cor. 4:17-18 Paul confirmed all of this when he spoke about what believers should focus on. He said, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

From an eternal perspective, our life in this world is only a fleeting moment, unimportant in the grand scheme of things. It’s our next life that’s important because it’s the one that will last forever. When we get our priorities straight and pay the most attention to what’s the most important, the Lord will make sure our needs in this life will be met as well.

We will conclude this study next time with Matt. 7. See you then.

Matt. 5:21-48 is a part of the Sermon on the mount that has always bothered me. It’s not what Jesus taught that’s a problem for me, but how it has been perceived.

I grew up learning that in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus was giving us a guide for holy living . But I no longer believe that was entirely the case. I believe in Matt. 5:21-48 He was expanding on His statement in Matt. 5:20 that “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

For all their faults, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were men who devoted their lives to keeping even the smallest details of the Law. They thought by doing this they were earning a righteousness that would gain them admittance to God’s kingdom.  But Jesus said that even as obsessive as they were about the Law, they had fallen hopelessly short of the mark and would certainly not enter the Kingdom.

I believe what He said after that was a series of examples showing what it would take for them to attain the level of righteousness necessary to enter the kingdom in their own strength. I think He chose the first two examples because they were straight from the 10 commandments and were something no self respecting Pharisee would never dream of doing.

Murder
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell‘ (Matt 5:21-22).

Certainly no Pharisee had ever committed murder. But I’m just as certain they had all been angry at one time or another, perhaps calling someone a derogatory name now and then.  Jesus said there could be no anger, no name calling, ever.  Anger is the emotion that can ultimately grow into murder. Whether they followed through or not made no difference to God. As soon as they become angry they were as guilty as if they had committed murder.

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift (Matt. 5:23-24).

He said offering a gift of praise or thanksgiving to the Lord while they were at odds with someone is not acceptable. First they must settle their differences with each other so their mind would be clear of any evil thoughts when they came before the Lord.

“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny”(Matt. 5:25-26).

He told them to settle disputes privately and quickly. He said no matter what it cost, it would be less than the expense of a trial, and if the judge found against them, it could be even worse.

Adultery
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matt. 5:27-28).

There is no sin in noticing the attractiveness of another person. The Lord made us to be attractive to one another. But if they began considering what it might be like to be intimate with someone they weren’t married to, desire had been conceived and when that happens it gives birth to sin (James 1:14-15). The key phrase is “looking lustfully”. When they got “that feeling” they would know they were sinning.

Some people think if they look but don’t touch they haven’t sinned.  But the Lord said if their looking prompted even a desire to touch, whether they followed through or not, they had already sinned in their heart.

If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell (Matt. 5:29-30).

I think the Lord was indulging in a little sarcasm here because He knew our eyes and hands don’t cause us to sin. In Matt. 15:18-20 He said sin originates in our heart because that’s where all of our evil thoughts come from. But this is the extent a person would have to go to in an effort to achieve the level of righteousness God requires.

Divorce
“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery (Matt. 5:31-32).

Divorce for any reason other than sexual immorality is a sin.  In Matt. 19:3-9Jesus explained it to them this way.

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? (Genesis 2:24) So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

Regardless of what Moses said, God had previously ordained that those He joined together could not be separated.  Therefore, divorce threw everyone involved into a state of adultery; the man, the woman, and anyone they subsequently married.  For someone trying to earn his way into the Kingdom, divorce was out of the question.

Oaths
“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’  But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;  or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.  And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.  All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Matt. 5:33-37).

Man’s natural tendency is to be double minded, but God is not that way. All of Bible prophecy bears testimony to the fact that God says what He will do, and does what He has said. In fact He told us He would never do anything without first revealing His plan through His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). Earning their way into the kingdom required that they do the same.

Eye for Eye
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’  But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.  And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.  If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you (Matt. 5:38-42).

Here Jesus was quoting from Leviticus 24:19-20. “Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury.”

But Jesus said they shouldn’t retaliate at all, but rather they should let the one who struck them once strike them again. He said they should willingly agree to do more than was demanded of them, give to everyone who asks of them and loan to everyone who wants to borrow.

Love for Enemies
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:43-48).

They wouldn’t earn any points with God by only loving those who loved them. Anyone can do that. If they wanted to be perfect they must also love those who hated them and pray for those who persecuted them. The Greek language is more specific here, where the word translated “love” is the highest form of the emotion and describes the love God has for us. The word translated “pray for” means “to bless, or praise.” Imagine wholeheartedly loving your enemies, or offering a blessing or praise to those who persecute you.

Maybe you’re beginning to notice how difficult it would be to live the way this teaching suggests. But I hope you’ll keep thinking about it until you conclude that it’s not merely difficult, it’s impossible. Because I think that’s what the Lord wants you to conclude. He wasn’t giving us a guide for holy living in these examples, He was giving the Pharisees a guide for earning their own way into the kingdom. If you’re not persuaded yet, just read the last sentence again. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48)

A few years ago the question “What would Jesus do?” was a popular way of reminding us to act like He would act in the various situations we encounter in our lives. The verses above explain what He would do, and our knowledge of His life tells us that’s what He did. But if we’re being honest we have to agree that He is the only one who ever lived this way, because He is the only one who is perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect.

He also did one more thing that none of us can do, and that one thing made it possible for us to meet the summary standard of Matt. 5:48 irrespective of our behavior. He went to the cross and died for us, and because He did, those who believe in Him are now considered by God to be as righteous as He is (2 Cor. 5:21). From God’s perspective, that once-for-all-time sacrifice has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Hebrews 10:12-14). In other words it made us perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect.

My point in all of this is to demonstrate conclusively that there is nothing man can ever do to either achieve or maintain the level of righteousness God requires for admittance into His kingdom. Isaiah was right when he said, “All of our righteousness is as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) To me that means we’re either saved and kept 100% by the Lord’s completed work on the cross or we’re not saved at all. It’s what we believe that saves us, not how we behave.