Matthew 5:17-20
Big Idea: True Righteousness Flows From A Pure Heart
True Righteousness:
1) Comes Through A Living Relationship Not Dead Religion (v. 17-20)
“Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for all sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
-Romans 8:1-4
“You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ towards God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything apart from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
-2 Corinthians 3:2-6
I Obey God’s Word Faithfully & Reverently Because:
1) God’s Word is authentic
2) God’s Word is my authority
“All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
-2 Timothy 3:16-17
3) God’s Word is inerrant
“For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
-2 Peter 1:21
4) God’s Word is sufficient
“God’s divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
-2 Peter 1:3-4
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion-to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.”
-Isaiah 61:1-3
2) Comes Through Wholehearted Devotion Not Hollow Displays (v. 19-20)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanliness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
-Matthew 23:27-28
3 Evidences Of Wholehearted Devotion:
1) Conviction not compromise
2) Character before conduct
3) Delight more than duty
A Pure Heart Pursuing True Righteousness (v. 19-20):
1) Obeys God’s Word completely
2) Teaches God’s Word faithfully