REVIEW
FLIP CHART: SOM’S KEY VERSE, GOAL, MOTTO
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness ….” (Mt. 6:33a).
The law sends us to Christ for justification; Christ sends us back to the law for sanctification.
FLIP CHART: Show new “Perfect Righteousness” chart explaining steps to coming to Christ (As a worm, mourning, meek, spiritual hunger/thirst with the result of legal righteousness). Explain moral righteousness, immediate moral change at conversion, gradual change through life’s challenges and speeding up moral change via CCRC (Concentration, Choice, Reflection and Confession/Thanksgiving). Repeat the verse, “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Heb. 10:14) HAVE SOMEONE COME FORWARD AND EXPLAIN THE CHART.)
FLIP CHART: Go over John Stott’s outline of SOM.
INTRODUCTION:
OUTLINE FOR TODAY:
1. The Three Sources of the Christian’s Righteousness
2. Six Keys to Surpassing the Righteousness of the Pharisees
“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. I tell you the truth, 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. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same 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.” (Mt. 5:17-20).
Jesus came to fulfill the Law The Law is pre-eminent.
The Law will not disappear The Law is permanent.
We must obey the Law The Law is pertinent.
SURPASSING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE PHARISEES
SECONDARY INTRODUCTION
CHRIST FULFILLED THE LAW (5:17)
1. Why Jesus Made the Declaration in Mt. 5:17
2. An Overview of “Law” as Referred to in Matthew 5:17
3. Six views on the meaning of “fulfill” in Matthew 5:17
HOW CHRIST “FULFILLED” THE LAW / PROPHETS? (5:17)
1. Jesus confirmed and established the law and the prophets.
2. Jesus provided the full, intended meaning of the law.
3. Jesus deepened the meaning of the law.
4. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies and ceremonial law that point to Him.
5. Jesus kept the law perfectly.
6. Jesus, by suffering on the cross, fulfilled the law’s penalty for sin
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE OLD TESTAMENT? (5:18)
1. Relationship of the OT to the NT
2. Jesus’ Opinion of the OT
3. Permanence and Inerrancy of the OT
4. God’s Voice Through the OT Today
THE COMMANDMENTS, LEGALISM & ANTINOMIANISM (5:19)
1. What is meant by “these commandments?”
2. Christ Emphasizes the Importance of Obedience
3. The Obedient Will Be Rewarded
4. Legalism & the Commands of God
5. Antinomianism & the Commands of God
6. Grace Enables Law Keeping
Jesus came to fulfill the Law The Law is pre-eminent.
The Law will not disappear The Law is permanent.
We must obey the Law The Law is pertinent.
SO WHAT??? – Christ fulfilled the OT moral, ceremonial and civil law and especially the penalty of the law. He exalted the OT as inerrant and permanent and rewards those who teach and obey its moral precepts.
SOURCES OF THE CHRISTIAN’S RIGHTEOUSNESS
FLIP CHART: Use the triangle chart that refers to “Imputed,” “Inflowing,” and “Learned/Trained” righteousness and also the FLIP CHART that shows legal and learned righteousness.
Go over carefully the verses on both charts. Explain clearly the sources of righteousness.
READ: “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.” (Mt. 5:20).
QUESTION: What source of righteousness is Jesus expecting us to focus on in order to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees? That is, what source of righteousness will enable us to surpass their righteousness? In what way are we to surpass them? In …
(1) ________ Imputed Righteousness
(2) ________ Inflowing Righteousness
(3) ________ Learned/Trained Righteousness
Ask everyone to write down 1, 2, or 3. Then ask those who chose 3 to raise their hands, those that chose 2 to raise their hands, those that chose 2 to raise their hands.
GROUP ACTIVITY: Have groups 1, 2 and 3 go to the various corners of the room (Put on the walls in three places papers listing Imputed Righteousness; Inflowing Righteousness; Learned/Trained Righteousness. Goal: Develop three reasons why you feel Jesus is referring to the source of righteousness that you have chosen as the only way we can surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees.
DISCUSSSION: Call the groups back. Let each group explain why they feel their source of righteousness is the one Jesus was referring to.
SIX KEYS TO SURPASSING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE PHARISEES.
1. Concentrate on the moral, not the ceremonial.
2. Avoid rationalization to justify disobedience
3. Emphasize mercy & love instead of duty
4. Be god-centered, not self-centered
5. Target the internal, not the external
6. Embrace divine, not human righteousness
If we follow the context it seems plain that Christ is talking here about moral learned/trained righteousness. Many Bible scholars feel this is correct while others think the only option is imputed righteousness.
“Our Lord sets in down here as a postulate that the righteousness of the Christian, the very least Christian, must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.” (MLJ, 202).
“He is emphasizing the practical carrying out of the law. That is the whole purpose of the paragraph. It is not to make it easy for us or to enable us to say, ‘Christ has done it all for us and therefore it matters not what we do.’ We always tend in our folly to consider things as antitheses which are meant to be complementary.” (MLJ, 208)
Can we surpass the moral righteousness of the Pharisees? I believe we can but there are six keys we must use.
I. CONCENTRATE ON THE MORAL, NOT THE CEREMONIAL.
READ THE FOLLOWING:
(Mark 7:1-5)
1””The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and
2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were ‘unclean’, that is, unwashed.
3 The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.
4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?””
(Mark 7:17-23)
17””After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.
18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean?
19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods ‘clean’.)
20 He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’
21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.
23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ ”
QUESTION: In what way do we evangelicals tend to focus on the ceremonial over the moral?
Ceremonies of evangelicals: Baptism, Communion, Wedding Ceremony, the way the church service is ordered.
SO WHAT??? – We can only surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees if we focus on morality and let the ceremonial serve moral ends.
II. AVOID RATIONALIZATION TO JUSTIFY DISOBEDIENCE
READ: For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that” (Mark 7:10-13).
QUESTION: In what way do we evangelicals rationalize in order to avoid obedience?
Tithing, church attendance, people living together, not having or developing a devotional life, not witnessing to others, not involving ourselves in missions, not praying etc.
SO WHAT??? – We need to avoid rationalizing and focus on obeying God’s Word if we are to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees.
III. EMPHASIZE MERCY & LOVE INSTEAD OF DUTY
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (Mt. 23:23-24).
QUESTION: In what way do we evangelicals concentrate on duty rather than mercy?
We feel self satisfied if we are regular attendees of church, read our Bibles, give our tithe … but show little concern for the suffering, those unwed mothers, the poor and dispossessed.
SO WHAT??? – Mercy trumps ceremony, duty, law. If we do all but do not show mercy, we are not going to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees.
IV. BE GOD-CENTERED, NOT SELF-CENTERED.
“ “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. …. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ….. “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” “ (Mt. 6:2,5,16).
“ “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” “ (Luke 18:9-14).
QUESTION: In what way can we evangelicals slide into being self-centered and not God-centered?
When my obedience is based on relieving guilt, doing what is expected of me so that I won’t look bad instead of a pure desire to glorify and worship God and grow in grace. What is my motive for involving myself in the life of the church?
SO WHAT??? – Self-centered Christianity is an abomination to God. To surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees we must make sure we are living God-Centered lives.
V. TARGET THE INTERNAL, NOT THE EXTERNAL
” “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” “ (Mt. 23:25-28).
QUESTION: In what way do we tend to focus on the external and not the internal?
When I live day by day with enmity towards a friend, an unresolved conflict, a lie that I have told and not confessed, looking at pornography, a root of bitterness in my heart, an arrogant attitude etc even though outwardly I am an outstanding Christian doing all of the right Christian things I fall into this trap.
The … basic charge against them (the Pharisees) is that their religion was entirely external and formal instead of being a religion of the heart. He turned to them one day and said, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” (Lk. 16:15) (MLJ, 203).
ILL: Mrs. Strom’s testimony at PBI in the church service of 2,000 people that she had lied when telling a group of women in a Bible Study about how much she read the Bible or prayed or something like that.
SO WHAT??? – If we fail to deal with the sins of the heart, motives and intents we will never surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees.
VI. EMBRACE DIVINE, NOT HUMAN RIGHTEOUSNESS.
“He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves …. that they were righteous [that they were upright and in right standing with God] and scorned and made nothing of all the rest of men: Two men went up into the temple [enclosure] to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee took his stand ostentatiously and began to pray thus before and with himself: God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men–extortioners (robbers), swindlers [unrighteous in heart and life], adulterers–or even like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I gain. But the tax collector, [merely] standing at a distance, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast, saying, O God, be favorable (be gracious, be merciful) to me, the especially wicked sinner that I am! I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14, Amplified Version).
“Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own [righteousness], they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” (Romans 10:3).
QUESTION: Do we as evangelicals tend to depend on our own righteousness?
If, when we sin, we feel that our standing with God is in jeopardy, then we are resting in our own righteousness. Our relationship with God may be broken but status as a child of God remains the same.
ILL: When I was a young believer I was in torment for many months because I felt, when I sinned, God disowned me.
SO WHAT??? – We can be a born-again evangelical and still think our acceptance with God depends on our performance, our own righteousness.
SO WHAT!!!
To surpass the righteousness of the Pharisess we must:
I. CONCENTRATE ON THE MORAL, NOT THE CEREMONIAL.
II. AVOID RATIONALIZATION TO JUSTIFY DISOBEDIENCE
III. EMPHASIZE MERCY & LOVE INSTEAD OF DUTY
IV. BE GOD-CENTERED, NOT SELF-CENTERED.
V. TARGET THE INTERNAL, NOT THE EXTERNAL
VI. EMBRACE DIVINE, NOT HUMAN RIGHTEOUSNESS.
“The person who has been born again, and who has the divine nature (the righteousness of Christ) within him, is a man who is righteous and his righteousness does exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.” (MLJ, 208)
1. We can only surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees if we focus on the moral and let the ceremonial serve moral ends.
2. We need to avoid rationalizing and focus on obeying God’s Word if we are to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees.
3. Mercy trumps ceremony, duty, law. If we do all but show no mercy, we are not going to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees.
4. Self-centered Christianity is an abomination to God. To surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees we must make sure we are living God-centered lives.
5. If we fail to deal with the sins of the heart: motives, thought and intents we will never surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees.
6. We can be a born-again evangelical and still think our acceptance with God depends on our performance, our own righteousness.