Believers have a great expectation of heaven. If I ask any of you, “What is your ultimate goal?” many would probably say, “Heaven is the goal. I just want to make heaven.” And certainly, that is an important goal.
But Jesus said something very important in Matthew 5:20:
“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
There are two important things we can see from this verse.
First, righteousness is required to enter the kingdom of God. Without righteousness, there is no entry into the kingdom of God.
Second, Jesus said that this righteousness must be greater than the righteousness of the Pharisees and teachers of the law.
So, what was the righteousness of the Pharisees like?
The Pharisees were very religious people. They were teachers of the Law and were very serious about keeping the commandments. We can see an example in Luke 18:9–12:
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”
Here we can see a typical Pharisee. He came before God and began to list all the good things he was doing. It was almost like he was reading his good record to God.
I am not like these other people. I don't steal. I don't commit adultery. I fast twice a week. I give my tithe. I am not even like this tax collector.
Jesus also said in Matthew 23:23:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices, mint, dill and cumin…”
This shows us how serious the Pharisees were about keeping religious rules. They were so careful about giving a tenth that they even gave a tenth of their spices.
But something interesting happened in the story in Luke 18. The Pharisee had all these good things to say about himself, yet Jesus said it was the other man, the tax collector, who went home justified before God.
Jesus said:
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.”
Luke 18:14
To be justified means to be declared right before God. We can think of it like a court where someone is declared “not guilty.”
So even though the Pharisee had many religious works, Jesus did not say that he went home justified before God.
This shows us something very important. The righteousness God requires goes beyond what we do on the outside. It is more than saying, I don't do this. I don't do that. I pray. I fast. I give. I go to church. I try to be a good person.
Jesus explained this further in Matthew 23:25–26:
“You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence… First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”
Jesus said they were cleaning the outside, but there was still a problem on the inside.
Then He gave another example in Matthew 23:27–28:
“You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
Imagine a tomb that has been beautifully painted. Maybe it is even decorated with expensive marble. From the outside, it looks very beautiful. But if you open it, what will you find inside? Bones and decay.
Jesus was saying that a person can look very good on the outside while something is still wrong on the inside.
That is the problem when all we have is our own righteousness. We may try our best to do good things. We may pray, fast, give, attend church and stay away from many wrong things. These things may be good, but they cannot by themselves change what is inside us or make us right before God.
We need something more than good behaviour. We need to be changed from the inside.
That is why Jesus said:
“First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”
So now the question is, how can the inside be made clean? How can we have a righteousness greater than that of the Pharisees? How can a person be justified before God?
This brings us to the need for transformation.
And in the coming weeks, we will begin to look at this journey of transformation and how God makes a person righteous.