More Than the Pharisees

"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" (Mat. 5:20). I remember many years ago when I was just starting out in Christ, a young woman that I knew mentioned this scripture, saying that she didn’t know how someone could be more righteous that the scribes and Pharisees. That is not a good sign at all of someone understanding the meaning of the Gospel. The truth is, the scribes and Pharisees only APPEARED to be righteous, because they paid so much attention to things that pertained TO an appearance of righteousness. Jesus called their self righteous bluff with no uncertain words that were spoken with authority from heaven: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also OUTWARDLY APPEAR righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Mat. 23:25-28). Jesus died and rose again to make a way for us to have far more than what these men only appeared to have. And that far more is for us to be truly washed from sin and thereby sanctified and justified in the inner man by the soul cleansing power of God’s Spirit, through faith in Jesus (I Cor. 6:11). The apostle Paul told it like it is in regard to what the holy Ghost by faith in Christ does for the inner man: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” (Tit. 3:5). So true faith in Jesus produces a transforming experience in the heart and soul by the power of God’s Spirit. Again the apostle to the Gentiles told us exactly how we receive the entire law and it’s real purpose into our hearts and souls, when we truly place our full faith in the Lord Jesus: “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Rom. 5:5).

It really doesn’t get any more integral than having “the love of God shed abroad in our hearts,” except to KEEP it shed abroad in our hearts. As Paul once again stated: “For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13:9,10). Jesus plainly told us that those who do NOT continue to follow hard after the love of God will not be saved (Mat. 24:12,13). When someone has the love of God radiating from the center of their being, they don’t feel any necessity to “make a fair shew in the flesh,” as the Pharisees and scribes did (Gal. 6:12). But if someone is lacking the only thing that really matters, and they are content to be dissatisfied, then they will be more attracted to a religious environment full of religious activity and commandments of men that promote an appearance of righteousness, rather than true righteousness itself. This kind of worship and service is what Paul said would be commonplace in the last days: “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (II Tim. 3:5). In light of these things, we should be reminded of the ancient prophecy of Isaiah which completely rebuked the religious mindset of his day and today as well: “Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word” (Isa. 66:1,2). God shewed forth the exact same mindset of non-religious simplicity through the prophet Micah as well: “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Mic. 6:6-8). If we heed these words my friend, and do them, then our righteousness will surely exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. If we do not, then we are positioned to BE the scribes and Pharisees of our time. Amen.