I too was struck, like Stott, by the statement made by Jesus, "unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." There is a standard we must exceed in order to enter God's kingdom. But that standard is not merely of performing duties which God expects of us but goes deeper to examine our 'motives'. 'Christian righteousness' is deeper/greater than "Pharisaic righteousness" because it isn't just concerned with 'behavior' but 'motives' as well. What makes an action "righteousness" in God's eye is not merely that we perform our duties but that we do them with the right motives and intentions. That being the case, we all need to examine our motives and intentions (Why are we trying to live for Christ? Why is it important that I don't commit adultery or steal from my company? Why do I come to church on Sunday?, why... etc.). Looking at our "righteousness" from the standpoint of our motives is disturbing... I certainly don't like to examine myself from this perspective. It's easier to just perform the duty and not ask questions about motives and intentions. And yet didn't Jesus say that our righteousness must exceed the 'rule keeping' mentality of the Pharisee and that we must delve into the motives behind our behavior? The question of why we do something is just as important if not more to God then just what we do.
Posted by Pastor James
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4 comments:
excellent post, pastor james. as jesus said, "the kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, "here it is," or 'there it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you" (luke 17:20-21).
if the kingdom of God were merely external, living an outward moral life, while difficult, would not be unattainable.
but if the kingdom of God is "within us", a thought is as bad as an act and a desire is as evil as a deed.
no wonder the disciples turned to Christ and asked, "who then can be saved?"
to which Jesus answered, "with men it is impossible"--in other words, a man cannot save himself.
we cannot control our lusts and passions, our cravings and desires, our tempers and our jealousies--our natures are stronger than ourselves. "with men it is impossible."
but with God all things are possible. the ablest and best man in the world cannot save himself, but God, who can do everything, can save even the most ignorant and the worst and the vilest.
the pharisees and teachers of the law objected because Jesus set the standard so high, and they attempted to live righteously by their own strength.
now we see why the outcasts and the sinners and the prostitutes followed jesus and loved Him so much. they knew they had failed and had ruined their lives, but Christ had the power to change their natures, and their lives for them. He would do the impossible. they saw hope for themselves.
no wonder peter said, "there is no other Name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved".
The fact that Jesus himself took the time to distinguish between orthodoxy and what God clearly says in scripture really struck me. Its easy to think we're immune from this until we stop to consider how the world perceives "Christian values" especially during this season of political fervor. Imagine if Christians stopped trying to legislate "righteous" behavior and started doing it, i.e. loving "the prostitutes" of our times. I have to remind myself to worry less about the kingdom of the United States and remember that His "kingdom is not of this world."
Pastor James's post reminded me of the sermon I heard when I was in high school which made me think deeper about my actions. The sermon basically asked to think about the motive for doing whatever that I'm doing. When we honestly look into the motives, a lot of times the actions are driven by selfish desires. Even the good things that I do, I do them because I want others to think I'm a good person. I ask God that He will reveal those not so obvious selfish motives so that I will know how wretched I am and how much more I need Jesus in my life.
high school? so like 15 years ago?
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