Self-Centered Righteousness of Scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 5:20)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/31/2020 9:51 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  “Self-Centered”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Matthew 5:20

 

            Message of the verse:  “20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

            I mentioned at the end of our last SD that I would be giving a very short Spiritual Diary for today and as you can see it is about the self-centeredness of the Scribes and the Pharisees.  I suppose that the sin that would rank number one on the “sin list” would be selfishness and selfishness certainly leads to self-centeredness.

 

            We have talked about the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees as being external, partial, and redefined, and now we add self-centeredness to that list.  This was produced by self and the purpose was of self0glory, not something that one would want to do as a believer for all glory is to go to the Lord.  MacArthur adds “Above all else, those leaders sought to be self-satisfied, and their system of religion was designed to enhance that self-satisfaction by providing ways to accomplish external, showy things about which they could boast and be proud.  Their satisfaction came when they received approval and commendation from men.”  I have talked to several pastors who are just the opposite of what the Pharisees and scribes were and when they preach a sermon and people come up and tell them how great it was it seems hard to react to that praise.

 

            As born-again believers who are walking with the Lord closely this self-centeredness of the scribes and the Pharisees should be in stark contrast as the godly person is broken about his sin and he will mourn over the wicked condition of his inner life, the unrighteousness that he sees in his heart and mind.  This person will have absolutely no confidence in what he is or in what he can do, as he longs for the righteousness that only God can give out that comes from His mercy and His grace.

 

            The scribes and the Pharisees and all others like them who is righteous in his own eyes sees no need for any other righteousness, nor need for salvation, mercy, forgiveness, or even grace.  We have looked at several passages from Matthew 23 and I want again go to that chapter to quote several verses:  “27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ’If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?” (Matthew 23:27-33)   My point here is that these scribes and Pharisees were doing the same things as their forefathers did and Jesus tells them about it a very forceful way as only our Lord can do.  Some of the OT prophets who were false did terrible things, but these scribes and Pharisees were a part of the worst thing that would ever happen on planet earth, and that was to crucify the Lord of glory.  The sad thing about this is that these scribes and Pharisees wanted nothing to do with their Messiah’s grace and forgiveness, but wanted their own self-righteousness which as Jesus asked in 23:33 “how will you escape the sentence of hell?”  We conclude with a verse from the pen of the apostle Paul as he writes the following in Romans 10:3 “For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”  In Romans 9-11 Paul is addressing the children of Israel.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Humility is something that I am always in need of, something that the scribes and Pharisees never wanted, but I do.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to bring about in my life the opposite of what the scribes and Pharisees wanted.

 

7/31/2020 10:24 AM

 

 

The Pharisees Partial and Redefined Righteousness (Matt. 5:20)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/30/2020 9:50 AM

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  The Pharisees Partial and Redefined Righteousness

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:20

 

            Message of the verse:  “20  "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

            Partial Righteousness:  I mentioned in our last SD that we would try to get through two sub-sections which continue to describe the “false” righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees, which is woefully incomplete.  Once again we will go to the 23^rd chapter of Matthew and verse 23 to look further into this topic as Jesus explains “"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”  As we look at this verse we can see that what they were practicing was things on the outside, as they were meticulous in tithing the smallest plants and seeds from their garden, but that was not really specifically commanded in the law as once again we see them making up things to do what they thought would bring true righteousness to them.  Next we see that they had total disregard for showing justice and mercy, something we looked on the 5^th and 6^th of May when we looked at the Beatitude from Matthew 5:7, which is about the merciful.  14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation” Matthew 23:14.

 

            John MacArthur writes “To the extent this second evil was caused by the first.  They disregarded such things as justice, mercy, and faithfulness because those things are essentially the reflections of a transformed heart.  It is impossible to be merciful, just, and faithful without a divinely wrought change.  No external formality can produce that.

 

            “Quoting God’s scathing words to their forefathers , Jesus told them ‘7  ’BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’ 8  "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.’  Yet they considered themselves to be Israel’s religious elite and the objects of God’s special affection.”

 

Redefined:  What the Scribes and Pharisees were in their day is similar to what liberal theologians of our own day do.  Both modern day “Pharisees” and the Pharisees of Jesus day took biblical terms and redefined them to suit their own human perspectives and their own philosophy.  How did they do this?  Well they reworked biblical teachings, commands, and standards to produce variations in keeping with their own desires and their own capabilities.  What can we notice from this?  Well I think we can notice that Satan never stops using things that work for him.

 

            The following is an example of what they do:  They interpreted this verse in a different way to what it says:  “’For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth” (Lev. 11:44).  We are only interested in the highlighted portion of this verse.  They interpreted not as a call to pure attitude of heart, but as a requirement to perform certain rituals.  Why would they do this?  Well they knew that they could not be holy in the same way that God was holy, and really they had no desire to do so, so they simply changed the meaning of holiness. 

 

            God made us to worship and if we don’t worship God in the way that He sets forward in His Word, they we will worship falsely like the liberal theologians do today, and like the Scribes and Pharisees did in Jesus’ day.

 

            We have one more short sub-section to look at and Lord willing we will do that in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can only please God by doing things that He desires me to do through the power of His Holy Spirit, and not through my own strength.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Do things that please the Lord, for after all He did it all for me.

 

7/30/2020 10:23 AM  

                                                                     

"The Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees" (Matt. 5:20)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/29/2020 8:25 AM

 

My Worship Time                                Focus:  “The Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Matthew 5:20

 

            Message of the verse:  “20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

            In our SD for this morning we will be looking briefly at the next main section which is listed in the “focus” portion of this SD, and then we will move to the first sub-section after that.

 

            Now we have written about the kind of righteousness that the Scribes and the Pharisees promoted in their beliefs and it surely is not like the kind of righteousness that is taught in the Word of God, by the God of the Word, as it differed in several important ways.  Here is a list that MacArthur mentions in his commentary:  God’s righteousness is 1) eternal, 2) practical, 3) redefined, and 4) self-centered.

 

Eternal

 

            As we look at the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees we find that they concerned themselves entirely with observances of the law and tradition.  What they did not pay attention with were motives or attitudes.  For instances no matter how much that they hated a person, if they did not kill him then they were not guilty of breaking the commandment, and it did not matter how much that they lusted after a woman that they were not guilty of that commandment either, the commandment of adultery or fornication. 

 

            Let us look at Matthew 23:25 where we will find that our Lord gives a graphic picture of the external character of that religion “"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.”  So we see that they had nothing wrong with evil thoughts as long as they did not carry out those thoughts externally.  When you think about this you can figure out that all sin begins in the mind, eternal.

 

            Jesus states that that is precisely that sort of “righteousness” to be the worst sort, as He condemned such externalism for the reason that those who practiced it were really thieves, that they were self-indulgent, unclean, that they were lawless, and also murderous and enemies of God.  “25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ’If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets” (Matt. 23:25-31).  As Jesus moved on in His sermon we find that His next teachings show that God first concern is with the heart as He deals with such things as anger, hatred and lust, not just with their outward manifestations in murder or adultery as seen in Matthew 5:22, 27-28.  “22  "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ’You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ’You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.  27 "You have heard that it was said, ’YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; 28  but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

 

            As we move onto God’s concern about religious ceremony we find that it is the same.  Matthew 6:5-18 is where we will find that teaching.  I will not quote those verses at this time but will when we get to that section later on, Lord willing.

 

            Another external thing that the Scribes and Pharisees were proud of was that according to Matthew 23:2 “1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.”  This means that they were the custodians and teachers of the law that God gave to Moses, “3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them” (Matthew 23:3).  Jesus speaks of their ungodly system of works righteousness later on in 23:13 “13 ¶  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”  We find that in another occasion that Jesus told the Pharisees ““You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.”

 

            Lord willing we will continue to look at the sub-sections of “Partial, and Redefined” in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I remember a long time ago, back in the 1970’s that I was listening to Hal Lindsey giving his testimony and he mentioned this section stating that after reading that his righteousness must succeed the Scribes and the Pharisees that he thought that they were pretty good and wondered how his righteous would be better than theirs. 

            I surely don’t want to fall into the trap of trying to do things for the Lord on my own, but I desire to do the things that the Spirit of God leads me to do.  Col 2:6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”  My walk has to be the same way that I was saved, by faith through grace.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Colossians 2:6.

 

7/29/2020 9:09 AM

 

 

 

 

The Identity of the Scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 5:20)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/28/2020 8:59 AM

 

My Worship Time                                               Focus:  The Identity of the Scribes and Pharisees

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:20

 

            Message of the verse:  “20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

            I want to begin by looking at what my Online Bible has to say about the word for scribe (grammateon) is the Greek word for scribe.  In the OT book of Ezra we also see the Hebrew word for scribe used of Ezra and that word means a secretary according to my Online Bible dictionary.  I want to give the last two definitions for the Greek word so we can better understand what this word means:  “2) in the Bible, a man learned in the Mosaic Law and in the sacred writings, an interpreter, teacher. Scribes examined the more difficult and subtle questions of the law; added to the Mosaic Law decisions of various kinds thought to elucidate its meaning and scope, and did this to the detriment of religion.  Since the advice of men skilled in the law was needed in the examination in the causes and the solution of the difficult questions, they were enrolled in the Sanhedrin; and are mentioned in connection with the priests and elders of the people. See a Bible Dictionary for more information on the scribes.

“3) A religious teacher: so instructed that from his learning and ability to teach advantage may redound to the kingdom of heaven.”  John MacArthur writes “Like Ezra (Ezra 7:12), the earliest grammateon (scribes) were found only among the priests and Levites. They recorded, studied, interpreted, and often taught Jewish law.  Although there were scribes among the Sadducees, most were associated with the Pharisees.”

 

            During the time of Christ on earth Israel had two kinds of scribes, the first was civil and second ecclesiastical.  If one thinks of how a notary functions in today’s world that is close to how the civil scribe functioned during the time of Christ.  They were also involved in various governmental duties.  Once again from the book of Ezra (Ezra 4:8) we read that Shimshai was such a scribe.  “Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes, as follows.”  Now as we have touched on the ecclesiastical scribes devoted their time to study of the Scriptures and they came to be in primary interpreters and articulators of it.  I want to mention that in order for a person to truly understand the Scriptures they must be a believer, for an unbeliever does not have in them the Holy Spirit, and one of His functions is to teach believers what is written in the Word of God, for after all He is the Author of the Bible.  This goes along with what Jesus had to say about the scribes of His day, and that is that they failed to understand what they studied and what they taught.  MacArthur adds “With all their exposure to God’s Word, being superficially immersed in it continually, they missed its profound spiritual intent.”

 

            Now as we move briefly onto the Pharisees, we find that they were very rigid and particularly confident in their system of righteousness.  MacArthur writes that “The Jews had a saying, ‘If only two people go to heaven, one will be a scribe and the other a Pharisee.’  Those men were completely convinced that God was obligated to honor their devoted and demanding works.  In comparing themselves with the standards they had established—and especially in comparing themselves with the average Jew, not to mention Gentile—they could not imagine God was not favorable impressed with their goodness.”

 

            If we look back at the history of the church we can find men like the scribes and Pharisees who spent their entire lives studying the Bible and yet did not understand the greatest thing that it teaches and that is that salvation is by grace through faith alone, and really has nothing to do with works.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Before I became a believer I had a hope that I would go to heaven, but after I became a believer I knew I would go to heaven.  Nothing to brag about as I had nothing to do with me getting into heaven as Jesus paid it all.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord as believers are now going through some very difficult times in our country, especially those who are standing up for the Word of God, like John MacArthur and the church that he is the pastor of.

 

7/28/2020 9:32 AM

 

           

The Purpose of Scripture (Matt. 5:20)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/27/2020 9:12 AM

 

My Worship Time                           Focus:  Christ and the Law Part 4—The Purpose of Scripture

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:20

 

            Message of the verses:  “20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

            In today’s SD we begin the last section that covers Matthew 5:17-20 and the title that John MacArthur has given to each of his chapters in his commentary begin with “Christ and the Law” and today’s we begin to look at part four “The Purpose of Scripture.”  We will begin to look at the introduction to this subject in our SD for today.

 

            The question we must ask and then do our best to answer is “What is Jesus talking about in this 20^th verse of Matthew chapter five?”  I’m sure that there are more points from this verse than the one that I want to point out, but it seems to me that Jesus is talking about a false salvation that people from the time of Cain, who killed his brother Able, and that is trying to do it on your own.  You can read from Genesis to Revelation and you will not find a single verse that teaches that salvation can be obtained on oneself.  You will see verses that teach that after a person is truly born from above that they will work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, but that happens after they are saved, always after a person is saved.  “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10).  Here is the story of salvation and then works to be done for the glory of God, as verses 8-9 tell of how we are saved, and then verse 10 teaches that the works that we do for the glory of God have been planned in advance, even before the world was created.  Why?  The answer is that all of this will bring glory to God, and that we will have nothing to brag about like what the Pharisees had during the time when Jesus was preaching this sermon.  John MacArthur adds “Outside of sin itself, the Bible opposes nothing more vehemently than the religion of human achievement.”

 

            Let us look at a story, a parable that Jesus taught to make this point:  “9  And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ’God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 ’I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ’God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted’” (Luke 18:9-14).

 

            The tax collectors in Jesus’ day were the most hated man because they were Jews who were the one’s collecting taxes.  There is a new series that I have watched called “The Chosen” and, to me, it portrays the life of Jesus and His disciples in a way that probably is pretty genuine.  In the story we find Matthew the tax collector and they portray Matthew as a hated man just like the gospels portray him.  Matthew has to pay a man to take him from his rather expensive home to where he is working, as he rides under a tarp so that no one can see him.  When one compares the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable with the hated tax collector perhaps Jesus was telling the story of what happened to Matthew, the dreaded Jewish tax collector.

 

            As we look at verse 20 we see that Jesus teaches that the sort of righteousness exemplified by the Pharisees was not sufficient to gain entrance into the Kingdom of God.  Think for a moment of the crowds that Jesus was talking to and as we read this verse we certainly can believe that as Jesus speaks of legalistic, works-oriented hearers, that this was the most radical thing that Jesus had taught.  Think about what some of the people in the crowd may have been thinking “If the Pharisees with all that they do ‘for the Lord’ cannot get into heaven then who can?”

 

            John MacArthur writes “After showing the preeminence (v. 17), permanence (v. 18), and pertinence (v. 19) of Scripture, Jesus now shows its purpose.  From the context of shoes preceding three verses it is clear that He is still speaking of ‘the Law and the Prophets,’ the Old Testament Scriptures.  In saying that true righteousness exceeds the kind displayed by the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus said that, whatever they did with man-made tradition, they did not live up to the standard of Scripture.

 

            “The implied truth of Matthew 5:20 is this:  The purpose of God’s law was to show that, to please God and to be worthy of citizenship in His kingdom, more righteousness is required than anyone can possibly have or accomplished in himself.  The purpose of the law was not to show what to do in order to make oneself acceptable, much less to show how good one already is, but to show how utterly sinful and helpless all men are in themselves. (That is one of Paul’s themes in Romans and Galatians.)  As the Lord pointed out to the Jews in the first beatitude, the initial step toward kingdom citizenship is poverty of spirit, recognizing one’s total wretchedness and inadequacy before God.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  What I can see from this section that I have written on this morning is not only have I been saved totally through what Jesus did for me, and that I have been called to this before the world began, but that I have to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit to do things that will glorify God, as I believe that Ephesians 2:10 teaches that in eternity past that God has given me works to do, and so from salvation to my entrance into heaven it has been all about God.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  It is my desire to do the works that God has chosen for me to do before the world was created.

 

7/27/2020 9:59 AM

 

           

PT-2 "The Clarification of the Law" (Matt. 5:19)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/26/2020 8:59 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-2 “The Clarification of the Law”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:19

 

            Message of the verse:  “19 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

 

            I want to begin this SD with another quote from the pen of John MacArthur:  “There is even a sense in which God’s moral law is no longer binding on believers.  Paul speaks of our not being under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14).  But just before that he had said, ‘Do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts’ (v. 12), and immediately after verse 14 he says, ‘What then?  Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?  May it never be!’ (v. 15).  Those in Christ are no longer under the ultimate penalty of the law, but are far more free of its requirements of righteousness

 

            “To the Romans Paul said, ‘For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes’ (Rom 10:4), and to the Galatians he wrote, ‘But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law’ (Gal. 5:18).  Be he had just made it clear that Christians are not in the least free from God’s moral standards.  ‘For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please’ (v. 17).  The law that was once ‘our tutor to lead us to Christ’ (Gal. 3:24) now leads us as “sons of God through Christ Jesus’ to be clothed with Christ (vv. 26-27), and His clothing is the clothing of practical righteousness.  If Christ’s own righteousness never diminished or disobeyed God’s moral law, how can His disciple be free to do so?”

 

            Paul goes on to state in 1 Cor. 9:21 “to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.”  Since we are in Christ we are anything but lawless.  Why?  Because Christ’s law is totally different from the Jewish judicial and ceremonial law, and it is also different from the Old Testament moral law, which has its penalties and curses for disobedience, however it is not different in the slightest from the holy, righteous standards that the Old Testament law taught.

 

            Let us look at Romans 7:7 to see that the OT law is still a moral guide, as in revealing sin “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET.’”  Now we have seen the words “may it never be”  a couple of times today and that means that this is the strongest form of the Greek language stating that it will never happen.  “Even when it provokes sin (v. 8), ‘But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead,’ it helps us see the wickedness of our own flesh and our helplessness apart from Christ.  And even when we see the condemnation of the law (vv. 9-11), it should remind us that our Savior took that condemnation upon Himself on the cross (5:18; 8:1; 1 Peter 2:24; etc).  Whenever a Christian looks at God’s moral law with humility, meekness, and a sincere desire for righteousness, the law will invariably point him to Christ—as it was always intended to do.  And for believers to live by it is for them to become like Christ.  I could not possibly be otherwise, because it is God’s law, and it reflects God’s character.  ‘So then,’ Paul is careful to remind us, ‘the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteousness and good’ (v. 12).”

 

            Let us now look and see how Paul closes Romans seven by looking at verse 25 “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”  “The penalty of the law has been paid for us by Jesus Christ, but also in Him the righteousness of the law is ‘fruitful in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit’ (Rom. 8:4; cf. Gal. 5:13-24).”

 

7/26/2020 9:30 AM

The Clarification of the Law (Matt. 5:19)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/25/2020 8:42 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-1 “The Clarification of the Law”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:19

 

            Message of the verse:  “19 "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

 

            John MacArthur begins this last section on Matthew 5:19 with a very important statement:  “We know from the thrust of the New Testament epistles that Jesus is speaking here of God’s permanent moral law.  The Sermon on the Mount is just as valid for believers today as it was for those to whom Jesus preached it directly, because every principle and standard taught here is also taught in the epistles.  The other writers make absolutely clear that believers’ obligation to obey God’s moral law not only did not cease at Christ’s coming but was reaffirmed by Christ and remains energized by the Holy Spirit for the entire church age.”

 

            When one reads through the NT letters they will find a paradox in regard to the law, as this especially seen in the letters that Paul wrote.  We see on one hand we are told of the law’s being fulfilled and done away with, yet on the other hand that we as believers are still obligated to obey them.  I have to say that all of the Ten Commandments are seen repeated in the New Testament with the exception of keeping the Sabbath.  Paul writes the following in Ephesians 2:14-15 to address the Jews and the Gentiles:  “14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace.”  MacArthur concludes “When the church came into existence the ‘dividing wall’ of civil, judicial law crumbled and disappeared.”

 

            From the eyes of God Israel was temporarily set aside as a nation at the cross where the killed their King and thus rejected His kingdom.  If we look through the world’s eyes we see that this ended in 70 A. D. when Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus who led the Romans to destroy it. In May of 1948 God brought Israel back to their land and made them a nation again, but this is a preparation for her restoration spiritually as we can see from Romans chapters 9-11.

 

            Here is another important quotation from John MacArthur who writes “The ceremonial law also came to an end.  While Jesus was still hanging on the cross, ‘the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom’ (Mark 15:38).  The Temple worship and the sacrifices were no longer valid, even symbolically.  That part of the law was finished, accomplished, and done away with by Christ.”

 

            Lord willing we will complete this last section in our next SD.

 

7/25/2020 9:03 AM

The Positive Consequence (Matt. 5:19)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/24/2020 9:02 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  “The Positive Consequence”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:19

 

            Message of the verse:  “19  "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

 

            In our SD for today we move into the positive side of the consequences of men’s response to the law, and the positive result is that “whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”  Jesus again mentions the two aspect of doing and teaching.  Kingdom citizens are to uphold every part of God’s law, and they are to do this in both living and also in teaching.

 

            Paul gives an example that the Thessalonians did in 1 Thes. 2:10-12 “10  You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; 11 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, 12  so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”  The letters that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians are my second favorite books in the NT with of course Revelation being my first one.  The Thessalonian letters show how great that church was and it only took a short time for this to happen as Paul was not there too long.  Another reason that I like these letters so much is because in every chapter of both letters there is mention of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.  John MacArthur explains more from the three verses in 1 Thessalonian as he writes “Paul had been faithful to live and teach among them all of God’s Word, just as he had done at Ephesus and everywhere else he ministered.”

 

            When we look at God’s moral law we can see that it is a reflection of God’s very character and therefore it is changeless and eternal.  The things that His law requires will not have to be commanded in heaven, and the reason for this is because they will be manifested in heaven because they manifest God.  However while God’s people are still on earth they do not naturally reflect the character of their heavenly Father, and His moral standards continue to be commanded and supernaturally produced.  “1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4).

 

            Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:11-12 “11 Prescribe and teach these things. 12 Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.”  MacArthur writes “Near the end of the same letter Paul tells Timothy to flee from all evil things and, as a man of God to ‘pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.  Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called.’”

 

            We have looked at the following part of verse 19 at the beginning which says “be called great in the kingdom of heaven,” and Paul kept and taught the full Word of God so he is therefore a part of those that Jesus is talking about.  MacArthur adds “No one who does not do the same will not be in the ranks of God’s great saints.”

 

            I think that sometimes we get the wrong idea of what greatness is all about as greatness is not determined by gifts, success, popularity, reputation, or even the size of one’s ministry. Greatness is determined by a believer’s view of Scripture as revealed in his life and also in his teaching.

 

            We conclude this SD with a final quote from John MacArthur:  “Jesus’ promise is not simply to great teachers such as Paul—or Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Wesley, or Spurgeon.  His promise applies to every believer who teaches others to obey God’s Word by faithfully, carefully, and lovingly living by and speaking of that Word.  Every believer does not have the gift of teaching the deep doctrines of Scripture, but every believer is called and is able to teach the right attitude toward it.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  To be a believer like the last highlighted portion of MacArthur’s quote.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to use the things that I write and put onto my blogs to help both believers, and for unbelievers to become believers, through the power of His Holy Spirit.

 

7/24/2020 9:34 AM

           

PT-2 "The Negative Consequences of men's response to the Law" (Matt. 5:19)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/23/2020 8:40 AM

 

My Worship Time      Focus:  PT-2 “The Negative Consequence of mans response to the Law”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:19

 

            Message of the verse:  “19  "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

 

            Jesus is teaching that the person who “teaches others” to disregard or to disobey any part of God’s word is even a worse offender.  He not only annuls the law himself but he causes others to annul it too.  There is actually more as his disobedience obviously is intentional.  Now it is possible to break God’s commandments by being ignorant of them or even perhaps forgetting them.  However to teach others to break them has to be conscious and intentional.  I remember a verse from the pen of the apostle Paul as he begins his letter to the Romans, and towards the end of his writing in the first chapter where he is talking about how men and also mankind go through a series of downward steps he writes the following “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32).

 

            James talks about wanting to be a teacher and cautions this idea by writing in James 3:1 “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”  Now we know that every believer is accountable for himself but James is saying that those who teach are also accountable for those whom they teach.  I have been teaching a Sunday school class for a few years to some very spiritually minded adults, some with high educations in the Bible, and I can say that it would never be my intention to steer them wrong.  We may have some disagreements on certain things in the Word of God, but that is not teaching wrong things like what Jesus is talking about.  I have studied the attributes of God and in learning about them, that is my goal to not teach anything that would go against the attributes of God.  Some have problems with the subject of election, but I don’t and the reason that I don’t is because election does not go against the attributes of God, as one of His attributes is that God is sovereign.  Isaiah writes the following in Isaiah 9:15-16 “15 The head is the elder and honorable man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail. 16 For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.”

 

            John MacArthur writes “Jesus’ warning does not simply apply to official or formal teachers.  Every person teaches.  By our example we continually help those around us either to be more obedient or more disobedient.  We also teach by what we say.  When we speak lovingly and respectfully of God’s Word, we teach love and respect for it.  When we speak disparagingly or slightingly of God’s Word, we teach disregard and disrespect for it.  When we ignore its demands, we give loud testimony to its unimportance to us.”

 

            We have been talking about Paul’s warning to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 and I want to go there again and look at 20:28-30 where Paul writes “28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”  This certainly is an example of what Jesus is teaching here in Matthew 5:19.

 

            John MacArthur states that “The consequence of practicing or teaching disobedience of any of God Word is to ‘be called least in the kingdom of heaven.’  I do not believe, as some commentators suggest, that ‘called’ refers to what men say about us, but to what God says about us.  Our reputation among other people, including other Christians, may or may not be adversely affected.  Often other people do not know about our disobedience, and often when they know they do not care.  But God always knows, and He always cares.  It is only what we are ‘called’ by God that is of any ultimate importance.  It should be the concern of every believer who loves his Lord that He never have cause to call him ‘the least.’”

 

            MacArthur goes on to write something near to my heart as he writes “Determining rank in ‘the kingdom of heaven’ is entirely God’s prerogative (cf. Matt. 20:23), and Jesus declares that He will hold those in lowest esteem who hold His Word in lowest esteem.  There is no impunity for those who disobey, discredit, or belittle God’s law.”

 

            One of the things that I battled with and people still battle with is whether or not a genuine born-again believer can lose his salvation. Jesus does not refer to the loss of salvation and it is clear from the fact that, through offenders will ‘be called least,’ they will still be ‘in the kingdom of heaven.’  However blessing, reward, fruitfulness, joy and usefulness will all be sacrificed to the extent that we are disobedient.  John writes in 2 John 8 “Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.”  John MacArthur adds “It is possible to lose in the second phase of our Christian lives, what we built up in the first.”

 

            If we disdain even the smallest part of God’s Word then we demonstrate disdain for all of it.   The reason is because its parts are inseparable.  James teaches the following in James 2:10 “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.”  I have to say that this is probably the first time that I looked at this verse in the vein of believers.  MacArthur concludes “To ignore or reject the least of God’s law is therefore to cheapen all of it and to become ‘the least’ in His kingdom.  Such Christians receive their rank because of their ill treatment of Scripture, not, as some imagine, because they may have lesser gifts.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have highlighted a paragraph above and that is what I want to be my spiritual meaning for my life today.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to understand more about the law of God, so that I will live a better life for the cause of Christ.

 

7/23/2020 9:40 AM