The word, ‘Gospel’ means, “Good news.” And that is what I will be talking about this afternoon – good news.
As we look at our text in Matthew 5 – and then let that text propel us across God's word – we will ask ourselves two critically important questions, questions important to our walk of faith and the joy of that faith which the Lord promised us throughout the scriptures.
Here are the two questions: First: On what basis does God consider us righteous? And the second: Can a person have absolute assurance of eternal life in heaven?
Now, here is our text for today: Matthew 5:17-20 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 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. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
The Pharisees, the priests, the scholarly Sadducees and all the rest of the people mistakenly believed that righteousness was based on meticulous observance of the law of Moses. The more observant, the more righteous. So, the people would’ve been shocked to hear the Lord Jesus say that unless their righteousness exceeded the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, they could not be saved. The average Jew would have thought surely there is no hope for him or her.
But they were wrong. They were wrong to think their righteousness was based on their scrupulous observance of the Law. And the laity were wrong to think they could never attain to righteousness. They each stumbled over the stumbling stone of which Jesus spoke, because the righteousness that God required of them – and of us in the 21st century – was and is based on faith Abraham demonstrated way back in Genesis, and long before God gave the law to Moses.
Some of you remember the story in the 15th chapter of Genesis. God had promised a son to the aged and childless Abraham and Sarah. God told him: “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And [God] said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then [Abraham] believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him (He imputed it to him, He counted it to him) as righteousness. (Genesis 15:5-6)
Let’s pause here a moment. God credited righteousness to Abraham not because of some works he had done but because of his faith that God would do as He promised to do – regardless of how far-fetched and impossible that promise seemed.
Is that not how the writer to the Hebrews defines the kind of faith that pleases God? “Now faith is the ASSURANCE of things hoped for; the EVIDENCE of things unseen.” (Hebrews 11:1).
We all need to be alert all the time to the temptation toward a works-based righteousness and salvation. It is a temptation because our human nature cannot comprehend such grace as God's grace.
Now, as a brief aside, let me say I will not today focus again on the difference between faith and works as they relate to salvation or righteousness. We looked at that distinction in some detail over the last few weeks as we examined the Christian’s call to be salt and light.
But we will focus attention on FAITH-based righteousness because if we don’t get that right, we will be forever chasing after an unattainable goal, trying to earn God's favor. Such a thing just cannot and will not be done. God makes it quite clear throughout His inerrant and timeless Scriptures that righteousness is credited to us, as it was to Abraham, by faith in God and in His promises.
The former Pharisee we know as St Paul knew all about trying to establish his own righteousness before God. Here is what he wrote to the Christians at Philippi: “If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the nation 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 the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” (Philippians 3:4ff)
I hope you caught that last verse -- not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, The Pharisee of Pharisees no longer stumbled over the works-based righteousness of his former practice. He understood the OLD Testament scriptures in the way God intended them to be understood. Which is why he looked back at that text in Genesis 15 and wrote to the Christians at Rome:
“Without becoming weak in faith [Abraham] contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform . . . Therefore, it was also credited to him as righteousness.” (See Romans 4:19-14)
Paul then makes the application of this faith-based righteousness to his readers, saying the SAME righteousness will be credited to “those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” (Romans 4:24)
In another place, the Paul wrote this: Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for [my brethren according to the flesh] is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:1-3)
Seeking to establish our own righteousness is simply a dead-end street. And as for that faith-based righteousness – here is what he wrote to the Christians at Corinth: “[God] made [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Again, I say, I implore – we’ve got to get this or we’ll forever be on a treadmill going nowhere, exhausting ourselves trying to attain an unattainable goal because God MADE IT UNATTAINABLE, so that we will forever know our righteousness was not imputed to us by our works of the Law and tradition, but is the result of God's GIFT to us as a result of our faith in Him and His promises.
Why else would the writer to the Hebrews tells us: “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
Faith in Him and His promises. Promises such as what? The list would take a college semester to scratch their surface, but for starters, God promises us forgiveness of sins when we confess and repent. For the sake of time, here is only one of dozens texts that speak to that promise:
“If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10)
Here also is His promise to never leave
us alone: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
fear no evil, for You are with me.” Psalm 23:4; And in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus
promised: “I am with you always, even to the end of the
age.” (Matthew 28:20)
Once again, let me repeat what I said earlier about works so no one will misunderstand my point. Good works are important to our Christian faith and witness. Being salt and light gives evidence of our true and obedient faith. But we must not put the proverbial cart of works before the horse of faith. To do so will put us into the same and unenviable place of the Christians at Galatia. If you have not read that letter in a while, I urge you to do so in light of today’s message about establishing our own righteousness.
Let’s pause a moment to make personal application. Are you seeking to establish your own righteousness based on how well you follow the Law of God and the traditions of the Church? Or are you letting the Scriptures change your attitude from a works-based false righteousness to a faith-based true righteousness?
So, I hope I have sufficiently demonstrated from the Scripture the answer to the first question with which I opened this message: On what basis does God consider us righteous?
Now for the second question – which is inextricably linked to the first: Can the Christian have absolute assurance of eternal life after the grave? I will answer that question this way: Absolutely, without doubt, unequivocally, ‘Yes.’
Listen, if we cannot be certain our salvation, despite the abundance of Scriptural evidence that gives us that assurance, then of what else should we be uncertain despite the overabundance of scriptural evidence? I mean, the gospel message – the GOOD NEWS message is that God is true to His promises, and our FAITH in His promises is, as we have already seen, is precisely what credits us with the righteousness of God in Christ.
Salvation is a gift – a free gift from God, as the Scriptures tell us time and time again. For example, “For by grace have you been saved by faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a GIFT from God; not as a result of works, so that no one can boast.” (See Ephesians 2:8-10 for context).
If we hold to the opinion that we have to earn salvation and righteousness, then we are no different from most pagan religions wherein their adherents have to earn their way into heaven.
Once again, Paul knew of what he was speaking about faith, forgiveness and righteousness. The former vicious religious terrorist was guilty of brutal persecutions against Christians, throwing some into dungeons, forcing others to blaspheme God, and killing others. But when he met Christ, he learned what the Old Testament really meant when it spoke of those concepts. And despite his bloody past, he did not doubt for a moment his eternal salvation. Listen to what he wrote to Timothy:
“It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” (1 Timothy 1:15-16)
If Paul believed we EARN our salvation, when the Philippian jailer asked him, “What must I do to be saved?”, Paul would not have told him: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” (Acts 16:31)
He would not have written this word of encouragement to the Christians at Corinth: “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heaven . . . Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”
And finally, for the sake of time, listen now to the apostle John’s assurance to all who put their faith in God's promise of redemption through Christ’s death on the cross:
“God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13)
I know I have thrown a lot of Scripture at you, but we NEED to hear and believe God's word, so as to NOT FALL PREY to the false teachings and opinions and philosophies of those who choose to ignore the clear teaching of Scripture. As the psalmist cautioned: “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” (Psalm 118:8-9)
My brothers and sisters here at Ashwood, please, please, place your faith and your confidence in what God tells us in His word about righteousness and salvation and forgiveness. His promises about those things are so clear a child can understand it.
God wants us to have assurance of our salvation. And we need not live our Christian lives wondering and worrying each day whether God considers us righteous, or if we have ‘done enough’ to be saved.
Jesus told His audience of the first century and now in the 21st century – unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
So, as I conclude this message, I will go back to the two questions. First: Does God consider you righteous? If you trust Him and His promises, then according to Scripture, the answer is a resounding ‘yes.’
And as for the second question: Can any Christian have an ASSURANCE of eternal life? If he or she trusts Christ’s death to have paid the penalty we all deserve to pay for our sins, then the answer is also a resounding, ‘yes.’
Be encouraged. God is always, always, always trustworthy.
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