How good is good enough?

"For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:20

In Matthew 5:20, Jesus summarizes one of the two major themes of the Sermon On the Mount (SOTM).  What is it?  The impossibility of earning entrance into Heaven by being righteous.  Most people sincerely believe that we must earn entrance into Heaven by what we do—or stated another way—by how righteous we are. A common (incorrect) way of thinking is that as long as my good deeds are better than the bad deeds of so-and-so, I am a shoo-in for Heaven.  And of course, most choose to compare themselves with someone less righteous than themselves. Being better than someone else is not the standard by which God judges. His standard is His sinless perfection.

Jesus demolished the “at least I ‘m not as bad as so-and-so” mindset by saying: “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  You see, in Jesus’ day the scribes and Pharisees were believed to be the most righteous people of all.  People believed they could never be more righteous than these religious elitists.(1)

Was Jesus saying that we had to become more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees?  No.  He was saying that it is impossible to become righteous enough to earn Heaven.  He said this so that in despair we would cry out to God for a forgiving Savior, since we cannot save ourselves.

The greatest news is that God has provided a Savior—the one and only Savior: Jesus. Forgiveness is graciously given to those who trust solely in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins.

I said there are two major themes of the SOTM.  That is the first.  What is the Second?  Next time.

(1) The scribes’ and Pharisees’ righteousness could not earn them entrance into Heaven either. Their righteousness was imperfect self-righteousness, which is no less damning than no righteousness at all.