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The Spirit of the Law 2: Man must be Righteous at Heart (Matthew 5:27-37)

Elder Dorai Manikam

07-02-2021


The Sermon on the Mount is about right living—living with God, living with one another, and living with one self.

 

How do we live in a pandemic situation where everything seems to be spinning out of control? We want to restart and reset and yet as the days go by, these things seem to be going further and further away from us. What is it that we need to right and what is it that we need to be right so that we can navigate through this situation?

 

The Sermon on the Mount is not only about right doing but it is also about right being in accordance with the Kingdom of God.

 

In Matthew 5:20, Jesus says that our righteousness needs to exceed that of the Pharisees and the scribes. Otherwise, we will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

 

It is also not only in our outward doing but also our being in the heart. For example, He says, “You shall not murder” but at the same time He says, “But if you have anger in your heart, you are subject to judgment.”

 

The good news is this: By ourselves, we cannot attain these standards. But Jesus came to change our hearts that we might walk in His standards. He didn’t just come to teach us but He came to make us and to give us a new disposition and a new heart that we might keep these standards.

 

Matthew 5:27-37

New International Version

Adultery

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Divorce

31 It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Oaths

33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

 

Romans 8:1-2

New King James Version

Free from Indwelling Sin

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

 

When Jesus comes into our lives, He gives us the Holy Spirit. This Law of the Spirit is the Spirit of life.

 

A three-fold structure in each discourse:

1)    The thesis – “It was said,” – The Law

2)    The antithesis – “But I tell you,” – The Spirit of the Law

3)    The Kingdom imperative – Clear command or directive – The Law of the Spirit

 

LUST

A.   Law – “You shall not commit adultery”

B.   Spirit of the Law – Adultery at heart – Lust

C.   Law of the Spirit – Remove yourself from the cause or place of temptation

 

Matthew 5:28

The Passion Translation

28 However, I say to you, if you look with lust in your eyes at the body of a woman who is not your wife, you’ve already committed adultery in your heart.

 

You shall not covet another man’s wife. (Exodus 20:17)

 

Lust is the root cause of adultery.

 

Lust is an unlawful desire of carnal pleasure. It is an unlawful desire to possess and dominate for one’s carnal pleasure.

 

Sex within marriage is good but sex outside marriage becomes unlawful.

 

However, Jesus says if you have lust in your heart towards a woman, then you have already committed adultery and you are subject to judgment.

 

Matthew 15:19

New International Version

19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

 

“Can the legs follow where the eyes go?

Can the heart follow where the legs go?

Can the man go where the heart goes?

Can the man forget the path of righteousness and go astray?”

-       Translated from an Indian song

 

“Don’t look! Behave as if you had actually plucked out your eyes and flung them away, and were blind and so could not see the objects which previously caused you to sin.

 

"Don’t do it! Don’t go! Behave as if you had actually cut off your hands and feet, and had flung them away, and were now crippled and so could not do the things or visit the places which previously caused you to sin.”

-       John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, The Bible Speaks Today, p. 89.

 

1 Corinthians 6:18

New International Version

18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

 

In Genesis 39, Joseph fled from Potiphar’s wife.

 

It’s the new life in Christ by the Holy Spirit that enables us to do this.

 

We live in a very sensual culture. There are a lot of things that stir lust in our eyes such as pornography which is so rampant. The root cause of pornography is lust. Pornography portrays women as sex objects.

 

But I want to say this: Women are made in the image of God and they are worthy of respect and honour. Therefore, we need to evaluate the worldview that we carry. And that worldview has to be shaped not only by the Word of God but the Spirit of God needs to give us that power to see that a woman is made in the image of God, not as a sex object.

 

Philippians 4:8

New International Version

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

 

Job 31:1

New International Version

31 “I made a covenant with my eyes
    not to look lustfully at a young woman.

 

Law of the Spirit – Remove yourself from the cause or place of temptation

 

DIVORCE

A.   Law – “Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.”

B.   Spirit of the Law – Cause adultery

C.   Law of the Spirit – Be reconciled and be faithful in marriage

 

Deuteronomy 24:1-4

New International Version

24 If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

 

Jesus says that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” (Matthew 5:32)

 

Matthew 19:3-12

New International Version

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

 

1 Corinthians 7:10

New International Version

10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

 

Law of the Spirit – Be reconciled and be faithful in marriage

 

Marriage is a picture of the covenant between God and His people; marriage is a picture of Christ and His church.

 

SWEARING

A.   Law – “Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.”

B.   Spirit of the Law – Do not swear an oath at all.

C.   Law of the Spirit – Tell the truth – All you need to say is simply “Yes” or “No”

 

Leviticus 19:12

New International Version

12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

 

Zechariah 8:17

New International Version

17 do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the Lord.

 

God hates swearing falsely. We swear just to make our words as if they appear true. But swearing doesn’t make it true. Again, it comes from the heart. For out of the heart come[s]… false testimony.” (Matthew 15:19)

 

Peter denied Jesus three times.

 

Matthew 26:72-74

New International Version

72 He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

73 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”

74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed.

 

Zechariah 8:16

New International Version

16 These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts;

 

Mean what you say and say what you mean. Ask ourselves, “Why do we lie? Why do we want to deceive? Why don’t we speak the truth?” While the root cause could be deception, the deception is rooted in one form of fear or another. That is why we need Jesus Christ to change our hearts.

 

John 18:37

New International Version

37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

 

Law of the Spirit – Tell the truth – All you need to say is simply “Yes” or “No”

 

SUMMARY

The Kingdom imperative for:

-       Lust is to remove ourselves from the cause of temptation

-       Divorce is faithfulness in marriage and reconciliation

-       Swearing is truthfulness or truth speaking

 

Consider:

-       Outward ramifications of adultery, divorce, swearing

-       Inward ramifications of lust, unfaithfulness and deception in the heart

 

Sin in our hearts will victimise us! There is a betrayal of trust in our own hearts! You will not be at peace with your own self! You cannot live with your own self!

 

But thank God for Jesus Christ! He comes and changes us!

 

Closing Remarks:

1)    It is by the Kingdom imperative that we live in the surpassing or greater righteousness.

2)    It is by the Kingdom imperative that makes us the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

3)    Jesus by giving His nature to us through the Holy Spirit enables us to keep the Kingdom imperatives.

 

The Good News is that Jesus came to change our hearts!

 

“Jesus Christ did not come to teach us only. He came to make us what He teaches we should be. The redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into any man the disposition that ruled his own life, and all the standards God gives are based on that disposition.”

-       Oswald Chambers

 

What if we have failed? For these are high standards and we frequently fail. These are pardonable sins. Just as Peter was pardoned and restored may we come before God and confess our sins. The heart is the issue. May the Lord cleanse and purify our hearts of anger, lust, unfaithfulness, and false testimony and restore us to His disposition by His Holy Spirit.

 

WHOLENESS OF THE SOUL

 


Galatians 5:16-26

New International Version

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

 

RELATED:

Keys to the Kingdom (Matthew 5:1-6): Towards Spiritual Understanding 


Kingdom Principles for Kingdom Living (Matthew 5:7-12): True Spiritual Righteousness


Salt, Light and the Law (Matthew 5:13-20) 


The Spirit of the Law 1: Anger and Reconciliation (Matthew 5:21-26)


The Spirit of the Law 2: Man must be Righteous at Heart (Matthew 5:27-37)


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