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Kingdom Righteousness
Matt. 5:17-20
There is nothing more controversial in some circles of Christianity than the statement that those who follow God much seek righteousness. Many people think that the call to righteousness is just rule-keeping and works- based religion. They say things like, “Christianity isn’t about rules; it’s about a relationship.” All of it is true. Some people treat Christianity like it is a list of rules you have to follow in order to be good enough for God to accept you. Such was often the approach of many Christians in recent memory. But our generation has found the ditch on the other side of the road. We believe that nobody is perfect, so we should quit trying to be. We believe we don’t have to pretend. God knows who we really are and came to love us warts and all. Again, all of it is true. But incomplete.
God does know us completely and knows how deeply sinful we are. God does love us, but God’s love isn’t the passive love of a detached and benign grandfather blindly wanting us to do whatever we think will make us happy. We throw terms like legalism and Pharisee-ism at anyone who tries to remind us that seeking righ- teousness is essential to the Christian life. It’s time we learned the word for believing that it doesn’t matter how you live because God will love you no matter what. It is called “anti-nomianism.” “Anti” means “against.” “Nomos” means “law.” Antinomianism means believing that law or righteousness don’t matter.
We have to learn to find the middle path. We need to accept what is right about both positions and reject what is wrong. We need to be reminded that Christianity isn’t about rules but about a relationship and that God does know and love us for who we are. We don’t have to behave a certain way in order to be accepted by God. But we’d be foolish if we thought that being close to God wouldn’t change us.
That is what today’s passage is about. When Jesus began his ministry, He was breaking rules and associating with people He shouldn’t. Many misunderstood what He was doing. They thought He was dismissing the law as old fashioned and denying the importance of righteousness. So, Jesus dedicates time in his famous sermon to address this issue. He tells his followers that He didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it, and that He didn’t come to excuse them from some seeking righteousness but to require them to be more righteous than those they considered the most righteous. He is giving His followers the rules for living in His kingdom.
It might sound odd to use rules in a discussion of Jesus’s kingdom, which is characterized by grace. But, these rules aren’t rules for admission. You don’t have to follow these rules before you are allowed to enter. Jesus already laid out the list of entrance requirements for His kingdom in the beatitudes. These rules are a prescrip- tion for how to find life.
Imagine you had a friend who was a genius doctor. He was incredibility knowledgeable about the causes of various illnesses, and he knew how to cure anything. Maybe when you met him you were really sick, and he restored you to health. And you, amazed by his talent, decided you wanted to stay as close as you could to him to benefit from his ability. It would be a sign of reckless stupidity and ignorance if you thought you could keep living dangerously and stupidly expect him to heal you every time. Wouldn’t the best course of action be to try to stay healthy by listening to your friend and believing what he says about what constitutes healthy living? You may not be able to follow his instructions perfectly every time, and when you get sick again, he is there is restore. But to live in conscious neglect of the doctor’s orders shows that you don’t really value the doctor or want to be truly healed.
The same applies to Jesus and the righteousness He calls His followers to. We aren’t trying to get well enough that we can go to the doctor’s office. We are being restored by a doctor and now try to follow his prescriptions
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