“Indeed I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and experts in the law, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:20, EHV
If salvation were dependent on us knowing and keeping the law of God, there would be no hope for any of us. Righteousness is a tricky thing. We like to think of the Ten Commandments as being the standard, but within the Bible, there are many more things that were meant to be done and kept by the followers of God. In a quick search of how many laws or rules that Pharisees kept, it was 613. Jesus’ words remind us that not even they were righteous enough if they were to keep them all perfectly to enter the kingdom of heaven. Salvation comes not from the keeping of the law, but from being obedient in faith to the calling of our Lord. This doesn’t mean that we will always get it perfectly. King David was called a man after God’s own heart, and one need only read a portion of his life to know that he certainly was not a truly righteous person in everything he did. It is in the realization of our inability and humbling ourselves to God that we find His mercy and grace. We are called to look at the cross and remember all that our Lord has done for us to know His full redemptive promise. This is the gift that God has given us all in the sending of His Son and His subsequent death on the Cross for all our sins. In our knowledge of this, we find the gates of heaven have been opened to us and salvation is certain for all who believe. If we could do it on our own, the cross would have been unnecessary, but in Christ’s sacrifice, our salvation has been made certain as we have been washed and renewed through the waters and His body and blood and made new. In this, we may find our peace.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.
Please subscribe to my newsletter to receive this in your email inbox every day and follow my channel on Rumble. Feel free to share!