Upping the Ante

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”

Matthew 5.17

Our “sin nature” is very capable and quite entrepreneurial. It specializes in outlining the parameters of the law and flounting it’s purpose. Jesus would have none of it. To the smug, self righteous super religious, he had a simple message. Your friends and acquaintances may be impressed with appearances, God isn’t.

By nature we are intent on giving ourselves a pass, when evaluating our behavior against the ten commandments. We haven’t murdered anyone or had sex outside of marriage, God ought to be impressed. Jesus said, he isn’t: You see… God doesn’t look at things the way we do: He sees the purpose of our behavior…He see’s the heart.

Jesus raised the “ante” when it comes to the self-righteous appearances. God’s standard is not what’s on the outside, it’s what’s on the inside, hidden from view. OK, so you didn’t kill that person, but are you nursing a grudge? Until you repent of the hatred in your heart, sin’s grip on your soul is no different then if you had actually murdered them.

Jesus is not making a consequential equivalence of the various behaviors mentioned in Matthew five; he’s illuminating the spiritual consequences. In terms of God’s righteous standard, our self satisfaction shields us from God’s grace. God will take nothing less than our heart. Change comes from the inside, not from the nice looking facade we’ve constructed for public viewing.

Our hope is not in convincing others or lifting ourselves up by our own bootstraps; it’s being changed from the inside out. It’s receiving the gift of salvation, freely offered by Jesus Christ; to those who have been exposed. The one’s who know they need a spiritual physician.

“…for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

Ist Samual 16.7b