Kingdom Manifesto - Law & Righteousness

New Song Church OKC

Matthew 7:28-29 (paraphrase) When Jesus finished his message, the crowd applauded and exclaimed, “This is the best teaching and he’s living every word of it! Jesus is awesome! I want to be his disciple!”

The aim of the sermon is to help people come to hopeful and realistic terms with their lives here on earth by clarifying, in concrete terms, the nature of the kingdom into which they are now invited by Jesus’ call: “Repent, for life in the kingdom of the heavens is now one of your options.” - Willard

Matthew 5:17-20 “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. 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. 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. 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.

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.

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.

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.

unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

How did Jesus fulfill the Law?

The sermon on the mount is the Speech of a KING.

Kings were to be living embodiments of the law who instructed through both teaching and example what it meant to follow the law. As the king goes, the nation goes. Jesus is the Davidic King who becomes the Living Law. - Patrick Schreiner

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Jesus did not come to set the Law aside; He came to bring the Law to life!

Does the Law need to be central to my life?

The Law is not the source of rightness, but it is forever the course of rightness - Willard

The Law sends us to Jesus to be justified, because it shows us our inability to please God in ourselves. But after we come to Jesus, He sends us back to the Law to learn the heart of God for our conduct and sanctification. - Guzik

How does one go beyond/surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees?

Matthew 23:1-3 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.

Matthew 5:20 (paraphrase) Unless our approach to goodness goes far beyond the religious respectability of the scholars and teachers of the law — not focused merely on doing the right actions, but on relying on God to work in your heart to develop true inner goodness — then you can’t participate in the life-giving flow of God’s eternal kingdom.

1 We quit relying on OUR “righteousness.”

Philippians 3:9 And that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having any [self- achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law’s demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed One), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from God by [saving] faith.

Do I have any righteousness that I think can be called my own?

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2 We adjust our aim.

If your aim is keeping the law, you are going to keep breaking the Law. Our aim must be Jesus.

Aiming to keep the Law will not change your nature. Only knowing Jesus can change your nature.

Ephesians 4:21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

So, if you want to know the Lord Jesus Christ, you must live with him. First he must himself speak to you, and afterwards you must abide in him. He must be the choice Companion of your morning hours, he must be with you throughout the day, and with him you must also close the night; and as often as you may wake during the night, you must say, ‘When I awake, I am still with thee.’ - Spurgeon