Being a Good Person: Many people think that being a Christian is synonymous with being a good person. But Jesus teaches that we will not enter Heaven unless our righteousness exceeds the best, most righteous people we know. How, then, can we achieve the righteousness required by God to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Recorded on July 17, 2022, on Matthew 5, by Pastor David Parks.
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This message is part of our sermon series “The Unexpected Way,” from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique, it’s different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way.
Sermon Transcript
For the past few weeks, we’ve been working on our new annual theme for our preaching ministry, which is Learning the way of Jesus. So, for the next year (and really for the rest of our lives), we’ll be asking the question, “If the gospel is true, how then should we live?” And we’ve said that the answer is rooted in learning a new way of life, the way of Jesus. To kick off this new theme, we started our first sermon series exploring a very famous teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount. And we’re calling this series The Unexpected Way because the way of Jesus is radically different from every other philosophy or religion, every other way, and it’s not at all what we’d expect. The reason is that the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way. So far, we’ve considered how to have a life of blessing and also how Christians should relate to the world. Today, we’ll be considering what it means to be a good person. I think many people in our culture think that being a Christian means simply being a decent, kind, helpful human being — being a good person. But what does it mean to be a good person when “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”? If the gospel is true, what does it mean to be a good person? As is so often the case, the way of Jesus is not at all what we’d expect. If you have a Bible/app, please open to Matthew 5:17.
Matthew 5:17–20 (NIV), “17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly 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. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Ok, so this short passage has a lot of stuff to unpack. Let’s start again with v. 17.
Matthew 5:17 (NIV), “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Let’s pause here. There are so many things to say about this one short verse, but today I’ll just give you three. First, “do not think.” Jesus wants to make sure his disciples have the right way of thinking. Thinking about what? About why Jesus came, about his mission and purpose in the world. And this is vital for us to this day. So many people, including many Christians today, are confused about who Jesus is or what he came to do. And this might be for several reasons: Maybe they’re confused because they never really bothered to take the time to investigate for themselves, to read the Bible and think about what Jesus said or did. Or maybe they’re confused because they weren’t taught what was true by a pastor or teacher who was confused themselves. Or sadly, maybe they’re confused because they were taught by someone who intentionally deceived them for some evil purpose, maybe for the selfish gain of the teacher. No matter why, there are many people today who need to hear and believe the truth and allow the truth to change their ways of thinking about the person and work of Christ. Right thinking can lead to right belief, and right belief can lead to right behavior. Ok, so Jesus is making sure his disciples are thinking rightly. But about what exactly?
Second, “the Law and the Prophets.” What does this mean? Well, the “Law and the Prophets” is a shorthand way of referring to the Hebrew Bible, or what we would call our OT scriptures in our bibles today. The Law refers to the first five books of the Bible, written by Moses, the great prophet and leader of the people of Israel during the Exodus time of their history. These books are known as the Torah and contain many hundreds of laws regulating everything from worship to criminal and civil matters for their nation. The Prophets that Jesus refers to here are really the rest of the OT scriptures including the wisdom literature of the psalms and proverbs, and the major and minor prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Jonah (which we just preached through last month). Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish [meaning destroy or dismantle] the Law or the Prophets [or the OT]; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them [in other words to complete them or to bring them to their intended goal].” Notice here that Jesus speaks in a different way than normal people. He doesn’t say, I’ve studied for this, or I have experience with this. He says, “this is why I’ve come.” Jesus is aware that he wasn’t simply born, like the rest of us, but that he came into the world. He is the Son of God sent from heaven. Why? For this purpose: to fulfill the Scriptures.
Third, “not to abolish…but to fulfill them,” that is: the Scriptures. Now, remember, this teaching isn’t given to the crowds but to disciples or followers of Jesus. This teaching isn’t for non-Christians, but for Christians who believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus and trust Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives. And Christians believe that the coming of Jesus was not only the culmination of everything God was doing up until that point in time but also marked a new era in history. A new era defined by grace and faith, not in what we do, but in what God has already accomplished for salvation in Christ. But as radically different as this new era was, Jesus says that it wasn’t a new plan or a different path from what God had been doing in the past. The NT scriptures in our Bibles don’t replace the OT. Rather, Jesus is saying that everything that came before was pointing forward to him, and that now that he had come he would bring it all to its intended goal. He wouldn’t abolish it, he would fulfill it. But think about this. If Jesus wasn’t who he claimed to be, and if Jesus didn’t do what he said he would do, this statement would be insane. Jesus is saying something like, “You know all the thousands of years of history of God working in the past, of creating the universe and forming a covenant with the family of Abraham and Sarah, of rescuing Israel from captivity in Egypt, giving them the Law, and leading them into the Promised Land, of all the good times and bad times, from the Exodus to the Exile — yeah, all that was actually about me. And I’m here to fulfill that. Nobody talks like this, unless they’re insane. C.S. Lewis came to a similar conclusion in Mere Christianity, Jesus was either a lunatic or he was Lord, but he doesn’t leave us any room in between. And it’s statements like this that constantly force us to come to some sort of conclusion about him. So, disciples of Jesus must think rightly about him, and part of that thinking rightly is to understand how his work relates to the OT Scriptures. But why? Why does this matter? Look back at v. 18.
Matthew 5:18 (NIV), “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” So why does this matter? “For,” because, in other words, here’s why, here’s the explanation. “For truly I tell you…” Now, this is an important phrase used throughout the teaching of Jesus. Whenever Jesus was going to say something big, something his disciples should underline if they’re taking notes, he would say “truly I tell you” or literally, “amen, I tell you.” So pay attention! He says, “…until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” So, in the Bible, heaven can refer to God’s space, a spiritual reality distinct from our space. But the heavens can also refer to basically everything up there, while the earth can refer to everything down here. The phrase heaven and earth here most likely refers to the created universe. And Jesus says that this space will not last forever. Throughout the Bible, God has promised to renew and re-create the heavens and the earth. This future includes resurrected human beings as well. When Jesus rose from the dead, he became the first fruits of what God will one day do to all of creation in Christ. Jesus is saying that our physical reality will one day come to an end, but…what? The word of God will endure. This means that God’s word is more real than anything you can see/touch/taste. Not even the smallest letter or even the smallest part of a letter will disappear. You can count on it. You can rely on it. It will remain solid and true, no matter what else happens in the world. The psalmist writes, “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Ps 119:89). The prophet writes, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Is 40:8). Even though God would do new things through the person and work of Jesus, even though mysteries were revealed through him, this wasn’t a new plan/path of God’s, this was a fulfillment of God’s word. But do you see how important this is? No other teaching will endure forever. No other philosophy or religion will endure forever. None of your friends’ opinions will endure forever. There are no political platforms, parties, or slogans, no textbooks or news articles that will endure forever. Only God’s word will last. This puts the word of God in the place of supreme importance for the disciple of Jesus. v.19.
Matthew 5:19 (NIV), “Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly 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.” Disciples of Jesus need to know that God’s word is the only law/truth/wisdom/way that will endure. But not every Christian thinks or lives like this. Some people, in the church and in the world, like to cherry-pick certain parts of God’s word that they like and ignore the parts they don’t like. Maybe they love the parts about love but hate the parts about sin or judgment. Or they love the parts about justice or how we’re to care for the poor, but they hate the parts about sexuality or sacrifice. Rather than being under the authority of God’s word, taking what you like and rejecting what you don’t actually puts you over the word of God. Whether people think deeply about this or not, what you’re really saying is that your word is greater than God’s word. This is false, but also, this is a very dangerous position to take. For who are we to say what is right or wrong? Are we in the place of God? Did we create the universe? Do we hold all things together by a word of our power? Of course not. However, we’re all susceptible to being influenced by others, for good or for bad. The truth is, we have much to learn from other people, even non-Christians. But if others’ opinions/beliefs or their way of life are not in line with God’s word, we must go a different way.
In v. 19, Jesus says if we set aside even one of the least of these commands, or worse, teach others to do the same, we’ll be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. So, to be a disciple of Jesus means we are both responsible for learning the way of Jesus and obeying his commandments, but also for helping others do the same. In this responsibility, some of us might have very broad ministries which influence hundreds or thousands of people for Christ. Others of us might only influence a few people. It’s not the number of people you influence or the speed you see results that matters to Jesus, it’s the direction of your life. Are you seeking to learn his way? Are you seeking to obey his word? Are you helping others do the same? Now, maybe it will be in an official ministry role working for a church or denomination or seminary. But most often, the Lord uses our regular lives and the steady, long-term influence of our friendships, or our years of raising kids/grandkids, or in the week-to-week work of serving others in the local church in a community group or ministry team. In my experience, it’s in these unofficial roles that are the most fruitful from one generation to the next. Let’s finish this teaching with v. 20.
Matthew 5:20 (NIV), “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” So here, Jesus ends with what would’ve been a shocking statement for the people of his day. If it isn’t shocking to us, it’s just because we don’t get their culture. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were the religious leaders of their day, these were the good people. This would be like Jesus saying unless your righteousness/goodness surpasses, not just is close to, not just is equal to that of the religious leaders, but exceeds that of the best, most moral people, most generous people you know, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Now, what in the world do we make of this statement? Most people believe that good people go to heaven while bad people go to hell. But Jesus seems to be saying that we’re all in trouble. And if this is true, if our entrance into the kingdom of God is based on our goodness surpassing the experts in the Law, then what hope do we have? What hope is there for anyone?? The truth is, and it’s a truth that we all know if we’re honest with ourselves, is that even the best among us still fall short. The Apostle Paul wrote, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Ro 3:23). But Paul understood this problem of trying to be a good person more than most.
Before he became a Christian, the Apostle Paul was a Pharisee trained by one of the best teachers. He had the best background and training and resume you could have in that day. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, he worked very hard to be a good person, harder than any one of us, probably. But when he became a Christian, he realized that his salvation wasn’t reliant on anything that he had done in the past or anything he could accomplish for God in the future. Try as he could, he would never be able to perfectly obey the Law and achieve the righteousness required by God for entrance into the kingdom of heaven. This teaching of Jesus is true, but this is the intersection between the way of salvation and the way of the Christian. Because for Paul, he realized that there was good news, even for him. In Romans 1, he wrote, “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,” (Ro 1:17). You see, Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. One of the ways he did this was by living a perfect life, a life without sin. Jesus fully obeyed the law and was completely righteous on his own. And yet, he died on the cross for our sin. So Jesus lived the life we were supposed to live and yet died the death that we deserve. Why? So that we might receive his righteousness as a gift of God’s grace. So how can our righteousness surpass that of the best people we know? By faith in Jesus. This is the good news of our salvation. Our goodness, our righteousness will never get us into the kingdom of heaven. But thanks be to God, he gives us the victory by faith in Jesus the Son. But if we believe that to be true, and believe this is what it means to become a Christian, then we are called, no matter how many struggles or sins we have, to learn the way of Jesus, to learn to walk along the right paths, to learn to do justice and love mercy and walk humbly with our God. We are freed and empowered to be a good person. If we try to do this on our own, it will either crush us from our repeated failures, or it will turn us into a hard, prideful person, self-righteous in the worst sense. But the way of Jesus is different and not at all what we’d expect. The way of Jesus requires dying to ourselves and our self-righteousness, tearing up the resume of our goodness apart from God, and humbly accepting the righteousness of Christ given by grace through faith. But only when we die to ourselves in this way will we find we are free to follow the way of righteousness, to be a good person, a person who is growing in holiness and love, a son or daughter of our Father in heaven. This is our calling in Christ. This is the task of our lives. And this is the journey that will lead us all the way into the kingdom of heaven. Let us pray.