KOG.
alright, so i've been reading through matthew and today i was going thourgh chapter 5 vs 17-20. to me this is one of the passages in the bible that it's easy to just look over you know. but it has so much in it. this section shows the importance of obeying the whole law fully i.e. it's not that there are some laws which are less important than others...even the smallest details count.
Jesus says
"I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."
one of the ideas also given in a commentary i read suggests that the verse is indicating that an uncommitted christian is not a christian at all...
I mean Jesus was basically telling these people (His disciples) to get their act together. for me it almost seems that there's an element of perfection in this passage that we're supposed to live up to if we are to adhere by every single detail in the word. kind of tough if you ask me. but the great thing about it is that Jesus also says:
"for i tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."
what about this? well i guess we know that more than often the pharisees based their religion on their performance...on their acts. righteousness was all about how they performed and whether they got everything right. this was a pretty legalistic approach to righteousness which if we followed would be simply mad difficult. so, what Jesus was saying, was that even us doing our best to follow the commandments so that we get everything right is inadequate for salvation because this is what the pharisees were doing.
salvation starts from the inside. we can do and do and do as much as we want but if we're not changed on the inside a whole lot of our work is in vain. it almost seems to me that before we even act there has to be a basis for our actions. as christians this foundation is none other than the Holy Spirit who prompts us and shows us what to do. we're not robots simply made to do what the word says without even thinking or believing for that matter. i think we reach a point where we are convicted and we realize why what we did is not profitable to us anymore and then we just let it go. when we come to this realization it is much easier to act differently than if we apart from God know that our action is wrong and we try change it. for SOME of us it's as good as trying to hit the health club every now and them when the new year begins.
changing our ways is so much a part of God and that's where we should run when we feel a need to change not look to our own strength and will. i think that goes for a whole lot of stuff even what is not explicitly mentioned in God's word. when i need to step up in my studies or hit the gym...bless God He can help me do that.
also another thing is the fact that Jesus said "we will not enter the kingdom of heaven unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees."
i think this idea of the kingdom of heaven has so often been pushed to some time in eternity which makes our life on earth seem light years away from this "kingdom of heaven." but when he comes Jesus says: "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
i personally think that this "at hand" means now. it's not about a zillion years down the road where there will be some bright light or something it's now. kingdom of heaven being God's way of doing things. Jesus said in John 10:10 that He has come to give us life and life more abundantly. i believe that the abundant life that we are supposed to enjoy NOW comes when we understand that our being righteous does not come out of our own actions but out of simply believing in who God is and whom He has called us to be. it comes out of realizing that in God we're everything and when we act on our own we're not. God is our abundance and when we truly embrace Him we embrace abundant lives.
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