One of the most famous passages of scripture is Jesus' teaching on the Mount of Olives (also known as the Olivet Discourse). This sermon had two themes running through it… God's extreme Holiness, as conveyed in the law; and man's depravity, as displayed in our attitude. In the law we see the character of God revealed to mankind. We see that God does everything for his own glory. The very first command is paraphrased, “I alone will be worshiped”.

As the Creator, He has the right and authority to demand from His creation anything He desires. The first four commandments, in fact, are regarding God himself.

 

In Jesus' teaching, we see the contrast between the perfection of God and man's utter inability to achieve that perfection. In Matthew 5 we see Jesus plumbing the depths of God's law, not to encourage rigid self-reliance, but to bring man to the end of himself. The law told us what to do but gave us no power to do it!

 

“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal. 3:24)

 

Jesus intended to establish the fact that works will not illicit the righteousness that God seeks. Six times in v. 21-48 he contrasts the outward actions of a man with the inward attitude of the heart, which is of course what God judges.

 

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”  (I Sam 16:7)

 

And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15)

 

But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, "Why do you harbor evil in your hearts? (Matt 9:4)

 

Possibly the saddest scene in the bible is told by Jesus himself; in Matthew 7:21-23 we read

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

 

Much could be said here regarding the deity of Jesus or false prophets and wolves in sheep's clothing. However, the saddest part of this to me is, on that day people will stand before the Lord of all creation; and instead of pleading for mercy, declaring as the tax collector did in Luke 18:13, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’; they would rather rely on their works as a basis of acceptance by God! Which is not even righteousness at all. Our works are as filthy rags compared to the holiness of God. Religion always puts it in the lap of the man!

Unfortunately, throughout the ages and especially today, many are on a crusade to carry themselves to Heaven. Entire religions and denominations within evangelicalism espouse views contrary to the heart of the Protestant Reformation and the gospel itself.

No sign or miracle or experience will suffice on that day to deliver our soul from damnation.

 

I must give a word of warning here. Just because something looks spectacular or supernatural, don't be fooled into automatically believing it is from God. 2 Thess. 2:9 teaches us plainly that “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,”

 

Seeing how Jesus was constantly combating religious Pharisees and Sadducees during his ministry, I want to back into this text from these stark words by Jesus - “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:20) On the surface, it sounds as though Jesus was telling his listeners that if they wanted any hope of entering his kingdom they had better really step it up and get themselves together. However, we must remember the basis of sound biblical interpretation which is; context, context, context. Here Jesus is directly teaching Jews who had their whole lives seen the religious elite living out the perfection required by the law... on the OUTSIDE. When He told this crowd that to get to heaven it required them outperforming the scribes and Pharisees, I can imagine them throwing up their hands in disgust and thinking “I have no hope”. In this sermon, Jesus intended to flatly reject this notion by this one statement,

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy them but to fulfill them.”  (Matt 5:17)

 Here is Jesus declaring there is a way to get to the father through the law he instituted, and that way was through Him! In Romans 8 Paul put it this way: 

“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin (mine) in the flesh (Jesus'),  that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

 

The law is eternal and binding, you'll either try to keep it all perfectly and perish in your sins OR you will die to yourself and fully rely on the substitutionary atonement offered through Calvary.

 

My prayer for saint and sinner alike is that we come to the point that Paul did when he said,

 

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, NOT HAVING A RIGHTEOUSNESS OF MY OWN that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—“ (Phil. 3:8-9 ESV)