BROADCASTS.com

Being a Good Person: Many people think that being a Christian is synonymous with being a good person. But Jesus teaches that we will not enter Heaven unless our righteousness exceeds the best, most righteous people we know. How, then, can we achieve the righteousness required by God to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Recorded on July 17, 2022, on Matthew 5, by Pastor David Parks. This message is part of our sermon series "The Unexpected Way," from the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7 in the Bible. The way of Jesus is totally unique, it's different from every other way of life, philosophy, or religion. Why? Because the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way. Sermon Transcript For the past few weeks, we’ve been working on our new annual theme for our preaching ministry, which is Learning the way of Jesus. So, for the next year (and really for the rest of our lives), we’ll be asking the question, “If the gospel is true, how then should we live?” And we’ve said that the answer is rooted in learning a new way of life, the way of Jesus. To kick off this new theme, we started our first sermon series exploring a very famous teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount. And we’re calling this series The Unexpected Way because the way of Jesus is radically different from every other philosophy or religion, every other way, and it’s not at all what we’d expect. The reason is that the teaching of Jesus — emphasizing holiness, humility, justice, faith, and sacrificial love — leads to a whole new gospel-centered ethic. This ancient ethic, if actually practiced, has the power to bring abundant love and joy and peace to anyone, anywhere today. This is the way. So far, we’ve considered how to have a life of blessing and also how Christians should relate to the world. Today, we’ll be considering what it means to be a good person. I think many people in our culture think that being a Christian means simply being a decent, kind, helpful human being — being a good person. But what does it mean to be a good person when “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”? If the gospel is true, what does it mean to be a good person? As is so often the case, the way of Jesus is not at all what we’d expect. If you have a Bible/app, please open to Matthew 5:17. Matthew 5:17–20 (NIV), “17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 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.” Ok, so this short passage has a lot of stuff to unpack. Let’s start again with v. 17. Matthew 5:17 (NIV), “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Let’s pause here. There are so many things to say about this one short verse, but today I’ll just give you three. First, “do not think.” Jesus wants to make sure his disciples have the right way of thinking. Thinking about what? About why Jesus came, about his mission and purpose in the world. And this is vital for us to this day. So many people, including many Christians today, are confused about who Jesus is or what he came to do.