Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Remember this… Mat 7:29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
We talked about this verse before and the fact that Jesus taught as one with authority and NOT as the scribes. We discovered that the scribes were proud men who wanted adoration, who wanted to be thought of as being very important. These were men that were more interested in their status than in their relationship with God. These men believed themselves to be the 'greatest' among other men and so is it any wonder that Jesus taught NOT as the scribes. Is it any wonder these words of Jesus come to us?
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
OUR righteousness has to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.
We already know that it is our Savior's righteousness that saves us not our own- yet we read these words- except our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees we will NOT enter the kingdom of heaven. This clearly states *our* righteousness. And you know what? From all we've learned so far OUR righteousness is CHRIST'S righteousness. We have to RELY on His righteousness and NO scribe, and NO Pharisee was willing to accept Christ's righteousness.
Those who are UNWILLING to accept Christ's righteousness will NOT be saved, they will NOT enter the kingdom of heaven, they CAN'T enter the kingdom of heaven because our Savior has reserved the kingdom of heaven for those who are HIS.
Our righteousness, if we accept Jesus as our Savior, is HIS righteousness. We cannot forget this! We have to live with this as our reality.
Psa 71:2 Deliver me in thy righteousness
We are delivered in GOD'S righteousness.
The scribes and Pharisees believed their own righteousness was a righteous as you could get, never believing their righteousness meant absolutely nothing. They believed they could save themselves because they were after all Scribes, the were the elite Pharisees of God's chosen people. Obviously they didn't learn the lesson their revered Moses had to learn. We are to take NO glory to ourselves, none. It's by the grace of God alone we live. It is God's power, not ours that saves us. It is God's power not ours that all good things come from. God's glory is everything, we have NO glory except in Him. We HAVE TO LEARN THIS! This is the lesson our Savior needs for us to understand. This is the lesson our great Teacher is bringing to us. In the flesh He is bringing to life all that we need to know all that God has desired we know, that we learn of Him. He is our all in all. Our very breath comes from Him, our lives come from Him, our eternal life will come from Him.
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
By the grace of our Savior we will have His righteousness as ours, the only righteousness that will deliver us.
Amen!
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