Matthew 5:17-20 (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. 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.”
The standards of the kingdom are high – even higher than those for the Jewish people. The people of God’s kingdom are to have a righteousness, a genuine holiness, that far surpasses that of the most observant, conscientious Pharisee. I am not sure how God’s people got the idea that He doesn’t care if they sin any more, or that He has somehow lowered the bar for post-Jesus believers. Surely not from anything said by either Jesus or the apostles! Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, he fulfilled (not nullified) the ceremonial part of the law – there is no more sacrifice for sin given or accepted. Through His glorification, He sent the Holy Spirit to live in the hearts of believers, transforming them from the inside out, and enabling them to live a genuinely holy life, and transforming them steadily into the very image of Jesus. Only with the power of the Holy Spirit can God’s people obey all of His commandments as He requires; only with the power of the Holy Spirit can they keep from breaking “one of the least of these commandments;” only with the power of the Holy Spirit can they have a “righteousness (that) surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law,” and so “enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Father, thank You for all that You do in and through us to make us genuinely righteous, genuinely holy. Help us to live his out today and every day by lives of conspicuous obedience and blessing. Amen.