The Standard
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Matt 5:17 "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. 18 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. 19
Anyone who breaks 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 practices and teaches these commands will be called
great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 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.
God's grace is amazing. It covers all of our sin. It erases every violation. Some might assume from this that
sin doesn't matter.
Think about it! God has promised to forgive sin. He has promised to remove our sins - to forget our sins,
and to declare us innocent.
Wouldn't that make some people think that they could live any way they choose and never be accountable
for it.
But that is just not true.
We are not free TO sin. We are free FROM sin. We have been set free from the power of sin.
Jesus said he didn't come to remove the law. No! Jesus came to satisfy the demands of the law. He took
our punishment and removed our sin.
But he also gave us the power to live according to God's righteous standards.
He even went so as to say that our righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the
law.
Jesus said that each of us should be more righteous than the top religious leaders of his day.
How could that be?
First of all, the religious leaders of his day were not that good. They were religious but not holy. Jesus
said, ''You'll have to do better than that.''
God's standard is not set by religious leaders. His standard is perfection.
There is no way we will ever achieve perfection. But we do have an obligation to do our best. Although we
can never be perfect, we can be good. It is a matter of your choices.
Good or bad.
This is best exemplified by Jesus' story of the woman caught in the act of adultery.
John 8:3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her
stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the
Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a
trap, in order to have a basis foraccusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with
his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is
without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the
ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was
left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?" 11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared.
"Go now and leave your life of sin."
Once we are forgiven, we are expected to live victorious over sin.
Romans 6:2 says, ''We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?''
Romans 6:6 ''For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done
away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.''
them but to fulfill them. 18 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. 19
Anyone who breaks 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 practices and teaches these commands will be called
great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 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.
God's grace is amazing. It covers all of our sin. It erases every violation. Some might assume from this that
sin doesn't matter.
Think about it! God has promised to forgive sin. He has promised to remove our sins - to forget our sins,
and to declare us innocent.
Wouldn't that make some people think that they could live any way they choose and never be accountable
for it.
But that is just not true.
We are not free TO sin. We are free FROM sin. We have been set free from the power of sin.
Jesus said he didn't come to remove the law. No! Jesus came to satisfy the demands of the law. He took
our punishment and removed our sin.
But he also gave us the power to live according to God's righteous standards.
He even went so as to say that our righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the
law.
Jesus said that each of us should be more righteous than the top religious leaders of his day.
How could that be?
First of all, the religious leaders of his day were not that good. They were religious but not holy. Jesus
said, ''You'll have to do better than that.''
God's standard is not set by religious leaders. His standard is perfection.
There is no way we will ever achieve perfection. But we do have an obligation to do our best. Although we
can never be perfect, we can be good. It is a matter of your choices.
Good or bad.
This is best exemplified by Jesus' story of the woman caught in the act of adultery.
John 8:3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her
stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the
Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a
trap, in order to have a basis foraccusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with
his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is
without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the
ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was
left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?" 11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared.
"Go now and leave your life of sin."
Once we are forgiven, we are expected to live victorious over sin.
Romans 6:2 says, ''We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?''
Romans 6:6 ''For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done
away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.''