"Shine for His glory"—that's the theme of the previous article. This time, Rev. Sang Ho Bae explained the kind of righteousness beyond the external religious observance. This is the kind of righteousness that pleases God.
When Jesus began His public ministry, His words and actions deeply shook the religious order of Jewish society at that time. Within a law-centered system, the Pharisees and the scribes were regarded as models of piety, but Jesus did not take their traditions as an absolute standard. He did not rebuke His disciples even when they did not keep the hand-washing regulations; He allowed them to pluck and rub grain on the Sabbath, and He even healed the sick on the Sabbath. Eating with people who were branded as sinners and showing mercy to the woman caught in adultery were also shocking from their point of view. Naturally, questions arose in people’s hearts: “Is this man not one who opposes the law and denies the Scriptures?”
Jesus knew of this misunderstanding and declared the following:
Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets . . . I came to fulfill them (Matt 5:17).
Here, “the Law and the Prophets” means the entire Old Testament. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law but to accomplish its original intention and purpose. In fact, Jesus was the fulfiller of all the words of the Law and the Prophets. As He said, “The Scriptures testify about Me” (John 5:39), the sacrifices and feasts of the Old Testament, the tabernacle and the prophecies, and all the symbols were shadows pointing to Christ. The instruments of the tabernacle—the altar of burnt offering, the golden lampstand, and the altar of incense—were all symbols that represented the work of Christ. Jesus was the high priest and, at the same time, the sacrifice, the altar, and the sacrificial lamb. As the Scripture says, “As many as are the promises of God, in Christ they are Yes” (2 Cor. 1:20), all the promises of the Old Testament were fulfilled in Christ.
The virgin birth, the birth in Bethlehem, the ministry of the Messiah, the event of being sold for thirty pieces of silver, the suffering of the cross, His bones not being broken, His side being pierced, the resurrection, and His sitting at the right hand after the ascension (Ps 110:1)—all these prophecies were fulfilled in Christ. Also, the feasts—the Sabbath year, the Jubilee, the Passover, and the Feast of Booths—are all types that foreshadow the work of Christ. Even on the cross, Jesus obeyed in detail to fulfill the Scriptures to the very end. “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst’” (John 19:28). This was to fulfill the prophecy of Psalm 69:21. The risen Lord said to His disciples, “Everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44), making clear that the entire Scripture must be read with Himself at the center. If Christ is removed from Scripture, Scripture cannot be interpreted; it loses its meaning like a body from which the soul has departed.
Then who is Christ, the center of Scripture? He was revealed to Adam from Eden, and He continued to appear to Enoch and Noah, Abraham and Moses, David and the prophets. He is the eternal Son of God who existed from the beginning (Mic 5:2), who died on the cross bearing the sins of the chosen people, who rose again on the third day, and who even now intercedes for us at the right hand of God. When the time comes, He will come again, judge those who do not believe, and bring those who believe into the eternal kingdom. Scripture says, “Eternal life is… that they know Jesus Christ” (John 17:3). Therefore, the one who truly knows Christ must also rightly understand the righteousness He requires.
Jesus said,
Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:20).
The Pharisees were regarded by the people of that time as very devout religious men. They created regulations stricter than the Law of Moses, fasted twice a week, and gave tithes meticulously. But Jesus rebuked them as hypocrites. It was because their hearts had departed from God. God looks not at outward appearance but at the heart. A true believer serves God from the heart. This is the righteousness that is better than that of the Pharisees.
The new covenant spoken of in Scripture does not refer to a new law different from the former law. God engraved the same Law into the hearts of believers by the Holy Spirit, and this is what He called the new covenant. That the Law is written on the heart means that the Law is no longer an externally imposed rule but has become an internal law that moves a person from within. God, through the Holy Spirit, planted in the believer’s heart an inclination to love the Law, and as a result, the one who is born again follows God’s will not by compulsion but with joy and seeks the glory of God. As the Scripture says, “I will put My Law within them and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jer 31:33), the new covenant is not the literal law engraved on stone tablets but the internal law engraved on the heart by the Holy Spirit.
Whether we are living under the new covenant—that is, whether the Law has been written on our hearts—can be known by whether we keep God’s Word reluctantly or joyfully. Even though America has laws, there are many lawbreakers because those laws are external, coercive laws not written on the heart. But when the Holy Spirit comes, God’s Law is written in a person’s heart, a willing heart arises, and only then are individuals changed and society transformed. A law imposed from the outside cannot change a person; true change occurs only when the law is written on the heart. This is also why societies with highly developed written laws are often more chaotic. Written law is a law enforced externally by the state, but unwritten law is a law engraved on the conscience and kept voluntarily. A voluntarily kept internal law creates a far stronger and healthier order than a law enforced from the outside.
The Lord’s statement, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,” ultimately points to the issue of the heart. The Pharisees kept the Law zealously, but they did not understand the core spirit of the Law. Even though they strictly kept the Sabbath, fasted, and gave tithes, they were not approved by God, for their hearts were far from Him.
The righteousness that serves God with a willing heart far surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, who serve God in a merely formal way. The statement “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees” means that only the one who is born again by the Spirit and serves God from the heart—one who possesses a righteousness better than the Pharisees’ formal righteousness—can enter the kingdom of heaven.
The statement “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees” means that only the one who is born again by the Spirit and serves God from the heart—one who possesses a righteousness better than the Pharisees’ formal righteousness—can enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5 reminds me that true righteousness is not about perfect rule-keeping but about a transformed heart. The Pharisees appeared holy on the outside, yet Jesus revealed that God desires something deeper—obedience that flows from love, mercy, and faith. Christ did not cancel the Law; He fulfilled it, showing its true purpose through His life, sacrifice, and compassion.
This challenges me to examine my own faith. Do I serve God out of habit, tradition, or appearance, or do I serve Him from a heart changed by grace? The righteousness that surpasses the Pharisees is not something I can achieve on my own—it is the righteousness given through Christ when I am born again by the Spirit. Daily, I am called to live not for outward approval but to reflect the life of Jesus in sincerity, humility, and love.
Check the AI-generated song version of this article here.
