His Righteousness: A study through the Sermon on the Mount (Part 3)
Last month, we focused on a mindset shift we need to have when following Jesus – specifically talking about being blessed according to God. The Beatitudes show that the way we see blessings isn't the way we typically view blessings. This month, we're going to be looking through the rest of Matthew chapter 5 where Jesus is going to be challenging his followers to reconsider several different areas/actions in their life. Jesus is calling his followers to a complete change in their heart!
What does Jesus have to do with the Old Testament? Jesus fulfills what God has already done in the Old Testament. Everything in the Old Testament leads to Jesus. Think of the Law here in two ways: (1) legally binding rules, (2) ethical teaching. Jesus states here that he has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfil them. He fulfilled the promises, the curses (took the curse on the cross), the prophecies, the symbols (the vine, branch, Israel, etc.), the sacrifices, the Torah, and the Kingdom. Jesus is the culmination of EVERYTHING God had been doing that we see in the Old Testament. In the Sermon on the Mount book by Jeremy Bacon, he states, "The old vs New Covenant isn't like replacing an apple with another apple. It's replacing the apple with an orange" (pg 90).
Jesus doesn't nullify the Law, He is the Law. We see in the new covenant, that Jesus himself is the controlling document for the people of God.
So does this mean the Old Testament law isn't important? Should we not study it? Studying the Old Testament helps us learn God's heart. The rules are based on principles and those principles are based on God's character. While we might not be following all the rules seen in Leviticus, we can (and should) still study the Old Testament to know God's heart.
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)
Jesus wants to make sure we're not just going to be like the Pharisees. We shouldn't just be trying to follow every single rule. Instead, we must take on the heart of God. Modeling our hearts after God's is more difficult than just following basic rules, but it is expected of us if we are followers of Christ!
Jesus did not come to abolish the Law – the Law is renewed, completed, and accomplished in Him! All of this leads us to the next part of the Sermon on the Mount where we are challenged to have a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees through these six tests (all leading back to our heart):
What kind of anger is okay versus what kind of anger isn't okay? That's not the point! Remember, Jesus isn't just interested in following the rules, he wants our hearts to be transformed. As we get into all of these "tests" that Jesus gives here, it can be very easy to say, well I obviously won't commit murder. Our anger towards others can turn into contempt, "the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration." While we don't commit the ultimate act of contempt, murder, we probably do talk bad about others (name call) which is a way to "other" someone. This name-calling is a way to devalue another human being. Be honest with yourself, do you catch yourself "othering" people who are different from you?
Think of this as there being a spectrum of contempt (stemmed from anger). While name-calling and murder are on opposite ends of the spectrum, they are still on the same spectrum which is what matters to God. Remember, God cares about our heart behind things!
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20)
If we are having contempt towards someone, we need to take the time to examine our heart and invite God in to help deal with it. To God, there is no way to justify our contempt. Every human being has been made in the image of God and our anger (regardless of how much) towards someone devalues them.
What are some ways that you have "othered" people around you? Welcome God in to help your heart towards others. There are so many areas in culture where contempt is encouraged. A few major areas are politics, kids sporting events, and other religions. In all areas of your life, remember that everyone is made in the image of God!
These next two areas are going to be tied into objectification. Just as there was a spectrum of contempt, there is a spectrum of objectification. In this instance, "looking with intent" is on the same spectrum as adultery. While these things again seem extreme, to Jesus it isn't extreme because He ultimately cares about our heart behind everything. Objectifying others dehumanizes them – which again, everyone is made in the image of God.
If you've caught yourself objectifying someone, what are you going to do to change it next time? If this is something you struggle with, you can't just say "I'll do better next time and have more self-control." We can't make these heart changes on our own, we need to welcome Jesus in and He can help mold our hearts to be more like His.
A vow is a promise you make to God, while an oath is something you swear to another person. Jesus is saying we shouldn't need oaths, we should be sincere and mean what we say. Sincere communicators respect people and don't intentionally hide information or motives that might discourage the other person's cooperation. The opposite of sincere communication is manipulation – only concerning your own interests instead of others.
These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.” (Zechariah 8:16-17)
We must seek the sincerity that mirrors God's heart! Why is it so difficult to be sincere? There is a vulnerability in being sincere which is difficult for many. Like everything else, if this is something you struggle with, go to God for help in changing your heart!
Similar to the anger portion, vengeance is another major struggle we see today. Instead of vengeance, God expects us to give grace. In a culture that is really big about justice and what's "fair", it can be extra difficult to give grace like God expects of us. Jesus takes it a step further though from just passively giving in and not giving the aggression back – he wants us to give extra. This is what grace is, an undeserved gift. Each of the examples Jesus gives in this section demonstrates grace. Giving grace is difficult because it is not natural for us. Grace only becomes possible when we are grounded in eternity and focused on God. For example, if your self-esteem is grounded in God, when someone insults you, it should not affect your sense of self-worth; therefore, there is nothing to be avenged.
Again, this is not going to be easy or natural, but that doesn't mean God doesn't expect it from us. You can't control other people's actions, but you can control how you respond to those actions. [Please note: there are boundaries to this. This doesn't mean Christians should just be door mats.]
I love the question that Jeremy Bacon leaves us with on page 123 of his book, "Will you have a heart that is locked in the cycle of 'justice' or a heart freed by grace?" Prayer is extremely powerful in this. Instead of just praying about people, we should be praying for people.
The final "test" here is all about love. The love described here is very different from our society's "love" where people can say they just "fell out of love." Love involves selfless action, it will cost us something. Our feelings of "love" is an unstable foundation and will come and go. We must make the commitment to do selfless action, that way you still do it even when you don't feel like it. To God, love comes first. His love is not generated by anything prior to it (we didn't do anything to gain God's love), it is His essence.
There are so many verses throughout the Bible that talk about love. Here are just a few:
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12)
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love (Ephesians 3:17)
Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1)
Let all that you do be done in love. (1 Corinthians 16:14)
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. (Galatians 5:6)
Just like with giving grace, this isn't going to be natural -- it's going to require work and a heart change on our part. A common theme in all of these tests and changing our heart comes back to prayer. In this case, we need to be willing to pray for the best for people. In this prayer, instead of focusing on the person's sin, focus on the person being made in God's image.
When we started this series on the Sermon on the Mount, I mentioned that this would be challenging and convicting. If we say that we are a Christian, Jesus expects these changes in us. We are to essentially have a "new heart." Are you willing to make the changes?
Cornerstone Impact Update
For 2025, the mid-month series is going through the book, "Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work." Through this series, we hope to help people see that you can make an impact for the Kingdom in your workplace. Last month, we took a look at some wrong perspectives we have towards work. If you missed it, you can find the full blog here.
Kingdom Advisors
Last month, several SEM employees attended the annual Kingdom Advisors Conference in Orlando. They were able to meet many Christian financial advisors during those days. Through the conference, we learned just how large the Biblically Responsible Investing market can be! We want to be able to help both Christian financial advisors and investors learn how they can connect their faith and their finances. If you're interested in learning more about how we can help you, check out our Cornerstone page for more information and to contact us.
Inspire
One of the BRI mandates is engage. This is something our fund partner, Inspire does really well. Check out what they did during Apple's annual shareholder meeting: