CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS.
TEXT
"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." (Matthew 5 verse 20, King James Version)
In Jesus' time, scribes were highly educated individuals responsible for copying and interpreting religious texts, including the Hebrew Scriptures. They played a key role in preserving and transmitting religious knowledge. Scribes were often associated with the Pharisees and were experts in Jewish law, serving as legal scholars and teachers. The Pharisees were in Jesus' time a very strict sect among the Jews (Acts 26 verse 5). They ensured that the Law was strictly followed by their adherents. They believed in the righteousness which is of the Law through works.
But what does our Lord mean when He says, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven”? (Matthew 5 verse 20).
Several times in Matthew chapter 5, we see the Lord Jesus clearly setting a higher standard of conduct for His followers, in contrast to the requirements of the Law of Moses. He did this by the use of the familiar phrase “Ye have heard that it was said . . . but I say unto you." (see Matthew 5 verses 21, 27, 31, 33, 38 and 43).
The question is, why would the Lord raise the standard of conduct for His followers when it's well known that for many centuries, men had sought to do the Law but had failed? (Isaiah 64 verse 6, James 2 verses 10 to 11).
The answer is that Jesus could do so only because He believed in His own life's ability to meet or keep those moral conducts. In Matthew 5 verse 17, Jesus categorically told us that He came to fulfill the Law for us. Knowing Who He is, the Lord is not afraid of making the most exacting demands upon Himself, because His life would eventually be replicated in us being His followers.
We are well aware that Christ's sacrifice was a substitutionary one meant for our benefit. For everyone of us in Christ Jesus, His experience has become our experience. His victory has become our victory, etc. (see Romans chapter 6 from verse 1 to verse 11)
Matthew chapters 5 to 7 are in effect taxation of the divine life. The enormity of the Christian tasks enumerated there only goes to show that in us are enough resources made available to us by the Lord to enable us to meet them.
God does not command us to do what He will not enable us to do; but we must throw ourselves back on Him for the performance of those tasks.
The secret of the believer's ability is that in Christi, there's a divine exchange of the Lord's life for our lives, of His Power for our power, of His Wisdom for our wisdom, etc. For instance, Colossians 3 verse 4 tells us that Christ has become our Life. In other words, the Christian lives the exchanged Life of Christ.
Briefly summarized, these are the basic exchanges we enjoy in Christ: (1) Our sin for His Righteousness (2) God's wrath for God's acceptance (3) Death for Life (4) Our weakness for His Strength}. In Christ, the Righteousness which is of God by faith has been imparted to us to enjoy. (see Philippians 3 verse 9 and 1st Corinthians 1 verse 30)
So therefore, the Scripture reading for today means that except we possess God's Righteousness; which Righteousness is of faith in Christ Jesus (which far exceeds that of the Scribes and the Pharisees) we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
PRAYER:
Father, it's of You that I'm in Christ Jesus, whom you have made unto me Righteousness. Blessed be Your Name for ever.