Category: Trinity 6

Righteousness on the Inside

7/21/2023

Trinity 6
Matthew 5:17-26
Pastor James Preus
July 16, 2023

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

What does Jesus mean by righteousness? Righteousness is an attribute of God. It is the order by which He runs the universe. Righteousness is what is right. Righteousness is the will of God. God expresses His righteous will in the Law and the Prophets, which are the Holy Scriptures. If you are to be righteous, you must conform yourself to God’s holy Word. You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
The righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees falls short, because it is superficial. Their righteousness is all outward works. Jesus calls them whitewashed tombs, clean on the outside, but filled with dead men’s bones and all uncleanness on the inside. They add rules to God’s commandments, not to become closer to God, but to make it easier for sinners to follow. And what is worse, they teach others to be like them. So, they not only refuse to enter the kingdom of heaven, but they prevent others from entering as well. But the Holy Spirit didn’t cause this to be recorded for our learning, so that we can judge and condemn a bunch of religious zealots who lived two thousand years ago. The scribes’ and Pharisees’ superficial righteousness is prevalent today. You should be concerned for yourself. Do you think you’re a good person, because you have conformed yourself to a few rules, because you have controlled your behavior? That is not the righteousness of God.
Jesus’ teaching is much different than the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus gets to the heart. “You have heard it said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement.” Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Some think that by contrasting His teaching from what they had heard from of old, Jesus was contrasting His teaching from the Law and the Prophets. But Jesus is the true teacher of the Law and the Prophets. Jesus has not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them.
So, for you to be righteous, you must not simply behave properly on the outside, but your very heart must be righteous. You must desire to do God’s will from the heart and to serve your neighbor out of sincere love for him. Yet, this is impossible by your own power. Scripture says in Romans 8, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” God indeed made mankind in His image with original righteousness, so that the first man and woman desired to do God’s will from the heart. Yet, that original righteousness was lost in Adam’s Fall. Now, all born according to the flesh can do nothing but sin, as our Hymn of the Day states:
From hearts depraved to evil prone,
Flow thoughts and deeds of sin alone;
God’s image lost, the darkened soul
Seeks not nor finds its heav’nly goal. (LSB 562:3, All Mankind Fell)
So, for you to have true righteousness before God, you must have a new heart. What Jesus says here, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” is very much what He said to the Pharisee Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) For you to have a righteousness that gains entrance to the kingdom of heaven, you must have a new heart. You must be born again.
But how can you be born again? Your first birth is after the image of Adam, the man who fell into sin. In Adam’s image you are a sinner. After whose image can your second birth be, so that you can have a pure and righteous heart? Christ Jesus is the true Son of God from eternity. He took on our human flesh without infecting Himself with original sin. In human flesh, Jesus lived righteously from the heart before God. Yet, He took on the sin of the whole world and was punished in the stead of all people. Being God in the flesh, His passion for our sins and innocent death made full satisfaction for our sins. So, in Jesus we have the image of God restored in human flesh. In Christ, mankind has access to true righteousness. So, if you are to be born again, you must be born again after the image of Christ.
St. Paul, who lived as a Pharisee and exceeded the righteousness of the Pharisees according to the Pharisees’ standard, writes to the Philippians concerning his blameless righteousness under the law:
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. (Philippians 3:7-11)
So, St. Paul makes clear that it is not your works under the Law that will justify you, but only faith in Christ, who gives you His own righteousness as a gift! (Romans 3:20-28; Galatians 2:16)
This righteousness is earned for you by Christ alone. Only Christ’s righteousness gains access to God and His kingdom. And this righteousness of Christ is received through faith alone. This righteousness is given through Christ’s Word and Sacraments. Baptism, which is not just plain water, but water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word gives you the righteousness of Christ. Jesus even teaches that Baptism grants the new birth by which you are born again of the Spirit (John 3:3-6). Without new birth, you cannot believe in Christ or receive His righteousness. The Absolution, where God’s minister declares your sins forgiven in the stead and by the command of Christ also gives you this righteousness of Christ, because righteousness is the opposite of sin. The Lord’s Supper too gives you Christ’s righteousness, because it grants forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The preaching and teaching of the Gospel gives you Christ’s righteousness, because it declares to you God’s grace and mercy for the sake of Christ Jesus, who died for you. All these means of grace are empowered by the same Holy Spirit through the Word of Christ. All these give the same righteousness of Christ, which He earned for you through His perfect obedience. And the righteousness these means of grace give is received through faith alone apart from your works.
This grants great comfort and assurance to the conscience stricken by its own sins. Our sins give us alarm, because we know they set us apart from God. But Christ’s righteousness can never be condemned. So, if you have Christ’s righteousness through faith, then you have certainty that God accepts you. Faith believes the promise of Baptism, Absolution, the Lord’s Supper, and the preaching of the Gospel, that God is reconciled to you for the sake of Christ Jesus. This does not depend on your works, but on Christ’s righteousness alone.
Yet, Satan and our old sinful nature always try to twist this word of comfort for their own perverted uses. St. Paul teaches that as sin increases, God’s grace to forgive sins increases even more (Romans 5:20). So, the mind set on the flesh asks, “Should we continue in sin that grace may abound?” If Christ gives us His righteousness as a gift and our own works don’t get us into heaven, then why not just do whatever we want, no matter how sinful it is? But this is the way of thinking of an unregenerated unbeliever. Sixteenth century Lutheran Pastor, Johan Spangenberg explains it this way, “Just as it is impossible to have fire without heat, it is no less impossible for the righteousness of faith to be without good works.” This is most certainly true. If you have Christ’s righteousness, then you have been born again. If you have been born again, then you have a new self, born after the image of Christ, which desires to do good. Your new birth has caused you to be a good tree, which bears good fruit. St. Paul explains it in Romans 6, “How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
In Baptism, our old self was crucified with Christ, so that the body of sin might be brought to nothing (Rom. 6:6). Your old self cannot believe in Christ. Only your new self, born again of the Spirit can believe in Christ. So, if you have faith to receive Christ’s righteousness, then you also have the desire to do what is right from the heart.
There is a debate whether Jesus means His own righteousness given as a gift or the righteousness done by the Christian, when He says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Yet, the righteousness of Christ received through faith and the righteousness done by the Christian through faith are so closely united as heat is to fire, that the question is almost moot. The righteousness of the Christian indeed exceeds that of the scribe and Pharisee, because it is done by the heart! God is the judge of our works, not humans, who cannot look upon the heart. Yet, it is essential for you to recognize that even your works done from a Christian heart do not earn your salvation. Only the righteousness of Christ earns your salvation. Yet, the works of a Christian can only be done if you possess Christ’s righteousness through faith.
Jesus emphasizes the close relationship between the righteousness of Christ received through faith and the righteousness done by the Christian be exhorting us to be reconciled. Don’t murder; don’t even get angry! Leave anger to God. The anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. What’s more, make friends with those who hate you. Repent if you have sinned against others and forgive those who have sinned against you. Do not even offer God your gift if you are not reconciled with your fellow Christian. This is the righteous fruit Jesus desires to be produced from the heart, because He Himself came to reconcile us to God while we were still sinners.
The righteousness of Christ you hold in your heart through faith, which alone grants you access to heaven, cannot lie dormant! As fire cannot but produce heat, so Christ’s righteousness in a believer’s heart cannot but produce good fruits of righteousness. So, put to death what is sinful in you as often as it rises. Do not get angry at your brother or sister in Christ, but seek to be reconciled and live as friends. Bring your sins and their sins to the blood of Christ to be washed away forever. Don’t hold grudges or be afraid to speak honestly with each other. You have died to such unrighteousness when you were joined to Christ in Baptism. And Christ has ignited a fire of righteousness in you that desires to burn warmly, so that God is glorified by others on account of your good works. Amen.

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The Righteousness That Exceeds That of the Scribes and Pharisees

7/28/2019

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Jacques Callot, French, 1592 - 1635, Sermon on the Mount, 1635, Credit:R.L. Baumfeld Collection, Accession No.1969.15.884, (National Gallery of Art), Open Access

Matthew 5:17-26
July 28, 2019

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

These are frightening words from our Lord Jesus, aren’t they? Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, then you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Never, ever. Well, what does Jesus mean by “your righteousness”? Righteousness usually refers to your right conduct under the law. Those who do good are righteous. Those who do bad are unrighteous. God sets the standard for what is right or wrong. If you want to be righteous, then you must do what God says, you must live up to his standard. The obvious way to do this is to follow the Ten Commandments. You must live as God teaches you in Scripture.
Now, we’re used to thinking of the scribes and Pharisees as the bad guys, because they are Jesus’ main antagonists during his earthly ministry. Yet, we should remember, the scribes and Pharisees did a good job of following the Ten Commandments, at least outwardly. They did not worship other gods or swear falsely. They read and listened to the Scriptures regularly, going to synagogue and attending all the required ceremonies surrounding the temple. They paid their taxes, they didn’t murder, they didn’t comit adultery, they didn’t steal. They tithed, meaning, they gave a tenth of all that they made to God. They really did look like examples of righteous living. You may not like the scribes and Pharisees, but you have to admit that they do a pretty good job.
So, what is lacking in the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees? If they are so good, how can we possible have a righteousness exceed theirs? Well, Jesus tells us what is lacking. In Matthew chapter 23 Jesus says, “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 uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
So, you see, the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees is lacking, because it is superficial. It is only on the outside, while their hearts are far from righteous. And, if you pay attention to what Jesus teaches, he wants us to be righteous on the inside, in our very heart, not just in our outward actions. So, the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees is far from sufficient to enter heaven. Oh, how the mighty have fallen! And while it may feel good to watch the haughty get knocked down from their pedestals, this really isn’t good news for us either. If our outward righteousness does not live up to the snuff of the scribes and Pharisees, how about our inward righteousness? Are we more righteous than they on the inside? Well, examine your heart. Are you? Do you not only do good, but want to do good from the heart both to God and to your neighbor?
No, when we examine our own hearts, we see that we are in the same predicament as these religious elitists. And when we hear what Jesus says about the human heart, it is enough to throw us into despair. He says, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matthew 15:19) It is as God says by the Prophet Jeremiah, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) So how can we, whose hearts are by nature sick beyond understanding, obtain a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees, that is, a righteousness that makes the heart pure? Let us listen to a former Pharisee, who exchanged his lacking righteousness with the only kind that gives eternal life.
St. Paul, who, you might remember, was a zealous Pharisee before his miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus, wrote in Philippians chapter 3, “Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith...” (vss. 4-9)
St. Paul despairs of his own Pharisaic righteousness under the law, a righteousness that depended on his own works, and instead he clings to a foreign righteousness, to be received by faith. The righteousness, which surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees is Christ’s own righteousness. Jesus Christ alone has lived under the law perfectly. He is the one who has fulfilled the Law and the Prophets in human flesh. And he gives us this righteousness to be received by faith and not by our own works.
St. Paul discovered that his best works were still lacking. Even if he got to choose only his very best works, and could cover up all the evil thoughts of his heart, his good works would still be lacking. The righteousness he needed, which we all need, is Christ’s.
This is why Jesus came into the world. He came to fulfill all righteousness. This means that he, as a human being, actively obeyed God’s law; not just outwardly, but from his very heart. Jesus truly loved God with his whole heart and loved his neighbor as himself. Of course, Jesus did not need to do this for his own sake. Jesus has been righteous from all eternity, long before he became man. But he became man in order that he could be righteous for us and in order that he could give us his righteousness by grace, as a gift. St. Peter writes, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous one for the unrighteous ones, that he might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18a)
Christ Jesus not only performed that which is righteous on our behalf, but he suffered what we deserve for our unrighteousness. This is called the great exchange. Christ gives us his righteousness; we give him our unrighteousness. Christ gives us eternal life and salvation; we give him death and condemnation, which he endured on the cross. This is how Jesus fulfilled all righteousness. This is how he fulfilled everything written in the Law and the Prophets. He not only lived in obedience to God’s righteous law, but he fulfilled every promise of God in order to give that righteousness to us.
The Law and the Prophets, which is another way of saying, the Old Testament, prophecy about Jesus Christ. They promised that God would send a Messiah to save his people from their sins. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was lacking, because they relaxed this teaching and they taught others to relax it as well. They taught people to trust in their own righteousness, which could never get them into heaven, instead of trusting in the promised Christ, taught throughout the Law and the Prophets.
The Prophet Jeremiah prophesied, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.” (Jeremiah 23:5-6) Jesus fulfilled this prophecy by becoming man, by perfectly fulfilling the law, and by dying to redeem his people. The Pharisees’ righteousness is lacking, because it rejects the LORD as the only true righteousness. It rejects Jesus. All righteousness that rejects Jesus is lacking.
We are declared righteous through faith in what Jesus has done for us, not on account of our own good works. Yet, that does not mean that we Christians do not do good works or that we can just continue in sin, as if what we do does not matter. Rather, if you are in possession of Christ’s righteousness through faith, then you too will produce works of righteousness. We, who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death, so that we might also rise like him to walk in newness of life. Having been joined to Christ’s death and resurrection, we are no longer enslaved to sin, but Christ has set us free. We are dead to sin and alive to righteousness. God has made us instruments of his righteousness.
This righteousness manifests itself, as you can tell from Jesus’ teaching, in loving our neighbor. Those who love God also love their neighbors. The righteousness of Christ, which faith places within our hearts leads us to not only refrain from murder, but to actually curb our anger toward our neighbor and to be reconciled with him as quickly as possible. Christ’s righteousness leads us to not only refrain from fornication and adultery, but to refrain from lust in the heart. This is the natural response to possessing Christ’s righteousness through faith.
Yet, we must take note of a few things when we consider the works of righteousness, which our faith in Jesus leads us to do. First, while good works are necessary for Christians to do, they are not what save us. Consider the thief, who hung to the right of Jesus on the cross. I don’t think we can find a man, who died with more certainty of his eternal salvation. Jesus actually said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) Yet, what good works did this thief do? He was converted to the faith on the cross and he died that same day on the cross. Yet, he has certainty of his eternal salvation apart from any works.
We must be careful that we do not trust in our good works instead of Christ’s righteousness. Keeping track of our own good works is a dangerous thing, because it leads us to trust in these works. Rather, Jesus teaches us that when we do works of righteousness, to not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing. Our faith must always center on Jesus. This will not hinder us from doing our own good works. Our very faith in Christ Jesus is what empowers us to do works of righteousness; not the law.
The law is still useful to us Christians. Yet, our relationship with the law is quite different than that of the Pharisees and scribes. They thought that they could make themselves righteous by observing the law. We, however, already know that we are righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. He has forgiven us all our sins through his death and resurrection. Rather, we look at the law as an aid, a helper to teach us how to do what we truly desire to do from the heart on account of our faith in Christ. The law is our tool, our instrument, not our master. Christ’s righteousness has freed us from our bonds under the law.
In this life, we will continue to fail to live the righteous life, which our faith has called us to live. St. Paul himself laments this when he says, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:18-19) As long as we live on this side of the resurrection, we will experience this struggle between our new self, which bears the righteousness of Christ, and our old self which still wants to serve sin.
And this is why it is so important that we recognize where our true righteousness is. It is in Christ. It is always in Christ. When we sin, we repent and turn to Christ for forgiveness and we are assured that through faith in him that we have a righteousness that guarantees us our place in heaven. Whether we think we are doing really well holding at bay our worst vices, or whether those vices soil our conscience, our righteousness always remains in Christ. He is where we turn in good days and in evil. He is the one, who gives us certainty of eternal life. Jesus alone. On account of Jesus, we are not terrified when Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Because we have such a righteousness. We have Christ’s righteousness through faith. Amen.

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Trinity 6: Jesus defends us before the judgment seat of God

7/9/2018

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Matthew 5:17-20
July 8, 2018

“Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”

Is Jesus giving legal advice here? But what if no one is suing me? For how many of us does this legal advice even apply? In fact, it applies to every single one of us. Jesus is not giving us legal advice for being sued in an earthly court. He is telling us how to be prepared to stand before the judgment seat of God. Everyone will stand before God’s judgment throne and give an account of all their deeds, both good and bad. The plaintiff, who will accuse you before this court is the Law of God itself, which we just heard in our Old Testament lesson: The Ten Commandments. Every transgression you’ve committed against this Law will be presented before the court. And if you are found guilty in this court, you will be thrown into the prison called hell, where you will pay the penalty of your debt for eternity.

How then can you come to terms with this accuser? What is your legal defense? Are you going to plead not-guilty to breaking the Ten Commandments? Have you had no other gods before the LORD God? Have you honored your parents and all authorities in life? Have you abstained from murder, adultery, and theft? Perhaps you think you have. “I don’t worship Allah or a golden statue. I don’t get into legal trouble. I’ve never killed anyone, cheated on my wife, or stolen anything.”

And, this probably is how most people plan to defend themselves when they get their day in God’s court. But Jesus himself destroys this defense. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment...” Jesus teaches us the true meaning of the commandment. The commandment isn’t simply concerned with your outward expression. That is how the Pharisees treat the Law, who, Jesus says, are like whitewashed tombs, who are clean on the outside but filthy on the inside. No, the commandment is concerned with the intent of your heart.

Yet, even this rebuttal from Jesus doesn’t deter the human pride. “I’m justified in my anger! So-and-so has done me wrong, so I have a right to be angry with him.” You do? Okay, then. Give your defense before the judgment seat of God. Tell him that you are justified in your anger and are not guilty of breaking this commandment. See how that goes for you.

But this is another example of the righteousness of the Pharisees. The Pharisees’ righteousness is hypocritical and self-justifying. They don’t actually care for their neighbor. If you are truly justified in your anger, then go to your brother with whom you are angry and tell him! Confront the one who has sinned against you and seek repentance, so that you can forgive! No? You won’t do this? You just want to remain “justifiably angry?” Then your justification for being angry is in serious doubt. Righteous anger seeks to make a wrong right through repentance and forgiveness. Righteous anger doesn’t stew and hate. This is not the righteousness of God, but the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

Jesus says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” You can’t defend yourself in God’s court by saying, “Well, I’m not perfect, but I’m better than most people.” That won’t cut it. You have to be perfect. Your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. And their outward righteousness, which is the only kind of righteousness you can see with your eyes, surpasses them all.

So, how can you have a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees? Well, you have to have a better righteousness. So, first we have to learn a little more about the righteousness of these religious elites. We already know that theirs is an outward righteousness. They claim to keep the commandment, “You shall not murder,” even while wishing and even demanding that the Governor Pilate crucify Jesus. (They apparently think the commandment says, “Your hands shall not murder, but your mouth and heart may.”) But why is the Pharisees’ righteousness purely outward? It starts with their teaching. The Pharisees teach that you are saved by your works. Their purpose for doing good works is entirely selfish. They don’t refrain from murder out of love for their neighbor. They don’t murder, so that they won't be found guilty. Yet, their heart has no care for their neighbor’s physical safety.

This is a completely different type of righteousness than the one Jesus wants you to have. The Pharisees’ righteousness is external, hypocritical, and phony. The righteousness you need to be saved is internal, sincere, and true.

Jesus says, “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.” and “Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” The righteous works of the Pharisees are inferior, because their teaching is inferior. They relax the commandments of God and teach others to do the same. But the Law and the Prophets are not only about outward works.

The Law and the Prophets refer to the books of the Old Testament. This certainly includes the Ten Commandments. Yet, the Law of Moses is not all law. Within the Old Testament there are also many promises: promises of a Savior, who will crush Satan’s head, be born of a virgin, be stricken for the transgressions of God’s people and rise from the dead and sit on the throne of David forever. Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament scriptures not only by perfectly obeying the Ten Commandments, both inwardly and outwardly, but by fulfilling every prophecy of the Savior. Every sacrifice made in the Old Testament by men of God was a prophecy pointing to Christ Jesus, who would die on the cross. And in his suffering and death for the sins of the world, Jesus fulfilled these prophecies.

Jesus is God. He didn’t need to submit himself to the Law. But he became a man, so that he could fulfill the demands of the Law in your stead. You have broken the Ten Commandments. Jesus obeyed them and gives you the credit through faith. Jesus had no sin whatsoever, but he bore the sins of all people and suffered the punishment for them. When we see Jesus dying on the cross, we don’t simply see the sorry sight of an innocent man falsely condemned to die. We see the righteous judgment of God against every sin ever committed and to be committed. This means that when the Law accuses you as you go to God’s court, you do not try to come to terms with it by justifying your actions and eschewing the blame. No, when the Law accuses you, you point to Jesus on the cross and say: “There is my righteousness. I believe were sinners more than sand upon the ocean floor that Jesus has paid the full ransom and made atonement for them all, including me!” You come to terms with your accuser through repenting of your sins and trusting in Jesus, who is the only one who has fulfilled all righteousness.

You are declared righteous by God through faith in Jesus Christ. Through faith Jesus gives you a righteousness that far exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. With this righteousness you have assurance that your sins are forgiven, that God is pleased with you, and that you will be safe as you stand before God’s judgment throne on the Last Day. This is a righteousness that you cannot see, but dwells within your heart. So, what then becomes of your outward righteousness? Well, you don’t need it to be saved. So, why then do you show love for your brother? Because you actually love him. The righteousness you have through faith in Jesus causes you to desire to love your brother. This isn’t rooted in outward actions, but inwardly.

The unbeliever looks at the righteousness through faith and says, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” But the believer responds, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Through Baptism and faith in Christ, you die to sin and arise a new person. The righteousness that dwells in you through faith in Christ produces outward works of righteousness from the inside out. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 13, “For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” To those who have Christ’s righteousness through faith, more righteousness will be produced through them in outward works of love. But to those who do not have this righteousness of Christ through faith, even their outward works of righteousness will be taken away from them. God will not accept them, because without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)

Having been justified by God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Law cannot accuse you of sin. You are no longer its debtor. Yet, now you are free to do good works, which exceed those of the scribes and Pharisees; good works, which start from the heart. This is why Jesus also tells you to leave your gift at the altar if you remember that your brother has something against you. Being a Christian is not simply about having a good relationship with God. It is about having a good relationship with your fellow Christians as well. Your relationship with God is vertical. Your relationship with your fellow Christian in horizontal. This is what Jesus teaches us in the Lord’s Prayer, when we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Our faith in the forgiveness of sins from our heavenly Father is inextricably connected to the forgiveness we grant our brothers and sisters. This is because the forgiveness God gives you through Jesus, he also gives to your fellow Christian. When you forgive others, you confess the forgiveness of sins freely given for Christ’s sake.

Nowhere is this vertical and horizontal relationship more visible than at the Communion rail. And this is why it is so important to forgive those who have sinned against you and to repent to those, whom you have sinned against before you receive Communion. When you partake of the true body and blood of Jesus you are not simply expressing fellowship vertically with God. This isn’t a personal meal just between you and God. You are also expressing fellowship with those around you, who partake of the same feast. This is why you shouldn’t commune at churches that teach false doctrine and then commune here where we teach and confess truthfully. This is also why you should reconcile yourself with those you are angry with or who are angry with you before you receive Communion. If you will not forgive your brother or sister or refuse to repent for the sin you’ve committed against your brother and sister, then you cannot receive Christ’s body and blood with a good conscience. That means that you would receive the Sacrament unworthily. Instead of receiving it for the increase of faith toward God and fervent love toward your fellow Christian, your reception of the Sacrament can cause spiritual harm and your faith and love will decrease.

So, how do you come to terms with your accuser as you go with him to court? Clearly not by justifying your own actions. Yet, you don’t even come to terms with your accuser by pointing out that you have forgiven others or been reconciled with your neighbor. Because of the weakness of human nature, we never accomplish this perfectly. You come to terms with your accuser only by pointing to Christ as your righteousness and fulfillment of the Law for you. St. Paul says of his outward works of righteousness, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. … and being found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ.” (Philippians 3:8b,9a)

Let Christ Jesus be your defense attorney. Let him plead your case with his pierced hands and feet. Only Christ’s righteousness will give you the confidence to stand before God’s judgment throne without fear. And you receive this righteousness through faith alone. Amen.

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Trinity 6: The Righteousness Greater than The Scribes' and the Pharisees'

7/24/2017

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Matthew 5:17-26
July 23, 2017

It's a common misconception that Jesus presents a completely different religion than that of the Old Testament. Some Christians might even disregard certain uncomfortable passages in the Bible saying, "Well, that's the Old Testament. It's the Pharisees and scribes, who want to harp on the Old Testament. Jesus is here to bring something new." But our Lord makes clear, "I have not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them." And Jesus does.

Jesus will not remove anything from Scripture. This includes the Ten Commandments, which tell us what is right and wrong. If you follow the Ten Commandments, you are righteous. If you fail to follow them, you are unrighteous. Righteous is a word we don't use too often in our everyday lingo. I don't even know if surfer dudes use the word anymore when they see a sick wave. But we Christians should know what the word righteous means. To be righteous means to be in a right relationship with God. It means that you are pleasing to him. You obviously are pleasing to God and therefore righteous if you follow God's commandments. If you are righteous you will go to heaven. If you are unrighteous you will go to hell.

The scribes and Pharisees thought they were righteous. Everyone thought they were righteous. They taught God's Law and followed it (so it seemed) to the letter. But listen to what Jesus says! "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Jesus is God. He knows the correct interpretation of God's Law. And Jesus is not satisfied with outward appearances. He wants you to follow his law both outwardly and inwardly.

So you've never taken the life of another human being? Good for you. But have you been angry at your brother without a righteous cause. Have you ever insulted anyone? Or called him a fool? Or thought him a fool? Well, then, Jesus says you're a murderer. Not only does he call you a murderer, but he says you are liable to the "Gehenna of fire." Gehenna was a garbage pit near Jerusalem where they burned trash; a very descriptive word for hell used by Jesus.

And Jesus goes on. Have you ever cheated on your spouse or had sex outside of marriage? You haven't? Good for you. But have you lusted after a woman, or viewed pornography, or used filthy language? Christ says you have already committed adultery in your heart.

You see, Jesus doesn't want you to have the righteousness of scribes and Pharisees. No, this is just outward righteousness. Jesus says in Matthew 23, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence!" (Matthew 23:25)

Jesus permits no leeway as he preaches the Law. You must obey the Ten Commandments perfectly, not just outwardly to be seen by others, but in secret, yes, even to the innermost parts of your heart! You must love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; at all times; 24-7. You must love your neighbor as yourself. No, I didn't say your wife or mother as yourself (that is difficult enough). Jesus wants you to love your enemy, pray for those who hate you and forgive them. You must be righteous. Your righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees.

Then who can be righteous? No one. St. Paul writes, "None is righteous, no, not one." And "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:10, 23) We sang rightly in our hymn of the day, "All mankind fell in Adam's fall; One common sin infects us all. From one to all the curse descends, And over all God's wrath impends."

No one can say he is without sin. No one can claim that his righteousness meets the mark to go to heaven. We are all sinners.

It is important now that we discuss the main function of the Law when it is used in sermons. The Law tells us what God wants us to do and be. But as we have just heard, we are not righteous. This is called the mirror of the Law. It shows us that we are sinners. We cannot save ourselves by our own good works. We must repent and ask God for mercy.

There is a strange phenomenon that takes place when people hear that all are sinners and all fall short of the glory of God. Many people seem to be okay with saying that they are sinners, as long as everyone else is a sinner too. It's like they find some sort of comfort knowing that they're in the same sinking ship as everyone else. They're fine saying everyone's a sinner, but if you address their specific sin, then they get upset or respond, "Well, everyone's a sinner." As if the statement, "everyone's a sinner" is the Gospel. Is someone who is dying of a terminal illness comforted if everyone else on the ward is also dying of a terminal illness? I don't think so. Yet this is how people behave with the statement everyone's a sinner. "Fornication is a sin. You should stop fornicating." "Yes, well, everyone's a sinner." Yes, and all are likewise children of wrath. There is no comfort in sin.

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" is meant to send a message to you about yourself, not a message to you about your neighbor. Everyone is a sinner. This means you are a sinner. Don't look to the person next to you. His sin is irrelevant right now. God wants you to focus on the fact that you are a sinner. The law must personally condemn you, so that the Gospel will personally comfort you.

But naturally, people don't want to confront their own sin. It's a lot easier to say, "everyone's a sinner" or even, "I'm a sinner" than to address our personal sins. "You're a sinner." "Yes, I know I am a sinner." "You should stop slandering your neighbor." "Don't judge me!" "You're a sinner." "Yes, everyone's a sinner." "You should stop yelling at your wife." "Mind your own business!" "You're a sinner." "What else is new?" "It's a sin to live with your girlfriend before you're married. That is fornication. You should repent." "Stop being so hateful!"

Is this not the way we behave to God's Law? We tell God to mind his own business, to stop judging us. And if a pastor or other brother or sister in Christ addresses a particular sin, this is often the reaction they'll get. But the purpose of God's Law is not for you to simply say that all are sinners, but to repent of your actual, real sins and believe in the Gospel. As Solomon writes in Proverbs 9, "Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you." (vs. 8)

St. Paul writes, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and he continues, "and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." All are sinners. And all are justified by grace through faith. To be justified is to be declared righteous. Not to be declared righteous like the scribes and Pharisees, but to be declared righteous with a righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, the righteousness of Christ himself.

How can this be? Did we not just learn that our works are not good enough to make us righteous and that we are all sinners? Yes, but this righteousness does not come from your own works. It comes from faith in Jesus Christ. Your righteousness will never get you into heaven. Yet, Jesus' righteousness can and does. Jesus' righteousness is the only righteousness that can get you into heaven. For this reason we cannot boast in our own good works or trust in them or trust in the fact that everyone else is a sinner too. We must trust in the righteousness that comes not by works, but by faith, as St. Paul writes in Philippians chapter 3:

Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. Philippians 3:8-9

Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Does your righteousness exceed the scribes and Pharisees? Will it get you into heaven? If you look at your righteousness by your works (what you think, say, and do), you must answer, no, no matter how good you or others think you are. But if you claim the righTrinity Lutheran Church
teousness of Christ through faith, then your righteousness certainly is sufficient. What could possibly be lacking? Your righteousness certainly gets you into heaven, because it is Christ's righteousness!

This brings great comfort to those, who felt the laws painful sting. If the law personally convicted you, then you can be joyful that the Gospel applies directly to you as well! St. Paul again writes, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1) Are you in Christ Jesus? Then you are not condemned! You have peace with God! You have entered the kingdom of heaven!

Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us on the cross. Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets not only by obeying the Ten Commandments and loving God and his neighbor perfectly, both inwardly and outwardly. Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets by winning our salvation according to God's plan. He died the death we should have. He suffered for the punishment of your sins. Just as he fulfilled God's Law perfectly, so did he perfectly suffer for all your sins.

Romans 5 states, "Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men." (vs. 18) Just as the law condemns everyone as a sinner. So the Gospel gives righteousness to everyone to be received by faith. So just as you should not deflect God's Law to "well, everyone's a sinner." so, do not deflect the Gospel. Jesus died for you. He forgives your sins. Jesus gives you his righteousness. And the righteousness he gives you exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees and gives you access to eternal life in heaven. Amen.

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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

Righteousness on the Inside

The Righteousness That Exceeds That of the Scribes and Pharisees

Trinity 6: Jesus defends us before the judgment seat of God

Trinity 6: The Righteousness Greater than The Scribes' and the Pharisees'

Rev. James Preus

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