“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.” (Mat. 5:20)
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2Cor. 5:21)
Jesus warns us of being religious like the scribes and the Pharisees.
“And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.” (Luke 11:39)
The Pharisees were clean on the outside but they were wicked on the inside.
There was another time when Jesus told them that they were like a whited sepulcher full of dead men’s bones. In the book of Isaiah chapter 64 and verse six we read,
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isa. 64:6)
The Pharisees, who were the religious leaders of the day, refused to recognize that their thoughts were evil and they were unrighteous.
Like the religious folk of every generation, they failed to acknowledge that they were prideful. They failed to acknowledge the fact that they had evil attitudes towards one another and others.
They thought that by physically obeying the rules and regulations of their religion then their thoughts and attitudes didn’t matter. They thought they had attained righteousness by keeping the letter of the law when in reality they were failing miserably.
The Pharisees believed that they were righteous in the eyes of God. They went about making their own righteousness with their works and traditions and they ignored the fact that God had concluded all under sin.
The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory,
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Rom. 3:23)
This is why many of the religious leaders and crowds followed Jesus and His miracles. They believed that because of their righteousness and holiness God was finally rewarding them by sending a deliverer to remove the Roman oppression and restore the Kingdom of David.
Their self-righteousness had blinded their minds to the words of the prophet,
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9)
They believed that because of their religious deeds they had no sin and did not need the suffering Messiah described by Isaiah,
“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5)
When Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, the people went before him laying Palm branches on the ground and crying “Hosanna to the son of David”.
They believed that He was going to use His miraculous power to destroy the Roman armies and restore the Kingdom of David physically upon the earth.
They failed to realize the need for a suffering Messiah to die on a cross and bear the penalty for their sins.
The Pharisees and religious sects of the day had come to the conclusion that they had no sin because of the religious traditions which they fulfilled.
Therefore, when it became apparent that Jesus was not going to remove the Romans and set Himself upon a throne, those who followed Him for that reason turned against Him.
The same crowds that a few days before had been crying “Hosanna” now were crying “Crucify Him.”
They refused to believe they were sinners and needed a Savior. Their pride and self-righteousness blinded them to their need for a redeemer to pay the penalty for their sin.
They did not understand that they were sinners in the eyes of God. No amount of religious works and traditions could establish their righteousness in God’s eyes.
Second Corinthians chapter five and verse 21 says,
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2Cor. 5:21)
Jesus came to establish His righteousness, and then to give us His righteousness in exchange for our sins at Calvary. He came to give us a new spirit, a new heart, a new attitude and will.
“And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:” (Eze. 11:19)
Jesus said,
“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)
The Pharisees were concerned only with the letter of the Law and their appearance unto men.
God is concerned with the spirit of the Law, our attitudes, our hearts, our will, and our emotions.
Hebrews chapter ten verses 16 and 17 tells us,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” (Heb. 10:17)
The Bible tells us that God speaks to us.
Jesus said,
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:” (John 10:27)
If we have been born again, then God speaks to us. He impresses our hearts and speaks into our minds. We don’t have to go through someone else to hear from God.
God is our Father.
He will speak to us and deal with us personally. He will give us strength in our inner man to overcome the flesh and the carnal mind.
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” (Rom. 6:12)
The Bible says:
“If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.” (1Tim. 6:3-5)
We are to follow the words of Jesus. These are the principles for walking in the Kingdom of God.
This is the righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees.
Matthew chapter five verses 21 and 22 tells us,
“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:”
“But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” (Matt. 5:21-22)
Let’s look at the spirit of the words of Jesus. In these verses we see Jesus presenting the double standard of the Pharisees.
The Pharisees had come to a point where they said if a man commits murder then he is in danger of the judgment, but if a man just says Raca or vain fellow then he would have to go before the Sanhedrin Council and receive a minor reproof.
In other words, instead of making spiritual and moral decisions, the Pharisees had become civil and criminal judges issuing physical punishments.
But Jesus judged the issues of the heart that could lead to eternal consequences. Jesus said if a man has anger without cause he is in danger of the judgment, and if a man goes on to say thou fool he is in danger of hell fire.
Jesus was showing that it is the same consequence for either action or attitude.
God is concerned with the heart. We must have a new heart. Man’s righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees.
The Pharisees had a double standard. Jesus was illustrating the spirit of the Law.
In First John chapter three and verse 15 the Word tells us,
“Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (1John 3:15)
God equates hatred with murder. This is God’s standard.
First John chapter three and verse ten says,
“In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” (1John 3:10)
According to the Word of God a person who hates their brother, hates a fellow Christian, has ought against them, will not relinquish that ought, or will not forgive them is not of God.
The Bible tells us that if we are of God we will love and forgive our brother.
Jesus teaches that a man who would say “thou fool” is revealing the anger or judgment that is in his heart.
It is an outward manifestation of an inward wrong attitude.
Jesus says in the Gospel of Luke chapter six and verse 45,
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” (Luke 6:45)
Whatever is in abundance in our heart we will speak. We may try to deceive, but what is really in our heart will come out in an unguarded conversation or emotional words.
Ephesians chapter four verses 26 and 27,
“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.” (Eph. 4:27)
Notice the colon mark after wrath. The Bible is telling us that if we close our eyes in sleep without repenting of our anger and forgiving others, then we have given the devil an opportunity. We have sinned.
There are two ways to anger unto sin. One is to act upon our anger in a sinful way. The other is to do nothing about our anger and let it fester and become hatred.
The Scripture tells us that the devil is the accuser of the brethren. (Rev. 12:10)
He is standing before the throne of God continually and likes nothing better than to see unrepentant sins in our lives that transgress the Word of God so that he can accuse us before our Heavenly Father.
He wants to accuse us as to why God shouldn’t answer our prayer or meet our need. He is the accuser of the brethren.
The Bible says he accuses us day and night before God.
This is why the Bible says, “Let not the Sun go down upon our wrath: neither give place to the devil.”
Take care of it quickly, because if we let the sun go down upon our wrath, if our head goes to the bed pillow still angry at someone, we can be assured that the devil is standing by to report what we have done before God’s throne and argue against our righteousness.
However, when we repent of our sins and forgive others their trespasses, we are washed in the blood of Christ and the devil has no case against us. We stand in the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Eph. 4:31-32)
This is the righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees.
Tomorrow- “The Letter Killeth but the Spirit Giveth Life”
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As Seen Through the Eyes of Faith 