Matthew 5.21-48 - ‘Our Actions Matter [part 001]’

R&R Devotional Bible Study
040 - Matthew 5.20-48
'Our Actions Matter [from Intent to Action] [part 001]'

'21-You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not murder' and 'Whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.' 22-But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says, 'Raca' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. 23-Therefore if you are presenting an offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24-leave your offering there before the alter and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

The Lord Christ Jesus tells us in Matthew 5.16-17:
'16-Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 17-Do not think that I have come to abolish The Law or the prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.'

We have been discussing how we are to be light and salt in the world, and that this is shown through our actions...
-Let your light shine, let people see your good works...

We also see that there is actually a manner in which we are to act in, namely that we are required to obey Yahweh in our good works, which He prepared for us to walk in...

Also, the Law is not to give life, and the Law cannot save...
-The Law is to shut everyone up under the Law, and is to show us our sin, and is to drive us to Christ...
-The Law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Christ, and it is Christ alone who has fulfilled the Law...
-This ties into, or flows out of, how The Lord Christ Jesus says that the Law is not abolished, but fulfilled; and how we are told that our righteousness is to surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees...

We are being show just how strict and relentless the Law of Yahweh actually is...
-From this, we are to see the fact that we are poor in spirit, we are morally bankrupt, we are totally depraved...

Let us consider Galatians 3.21-24 once again:
'21-Is The Law then contrary to the promise of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed be by law. 22-But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23-But before faith came, we were held in custody under the Law, being shut up for the coming faith to be revealed. 24-Therefore the Law has become our tutor unto Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.'

If we are truly of God, we have been given new life...
-In having been given new life, God has given us a new nature...
-Thus we are slaves to righteousness, and are to act in like manner [obedience is required]

Now, this next section shows us samples of how we are to act amongst one another, and we are given compare and contrast statements of how natural man looks at what was said, but what is actually required:
-You shall not murder [v.21]
-You shall not commit adultery [v.27]
-Certificate of divorce [v.31]
-Do not make false vows [v.33]
-Eye for an eye [v.38]
-Love your neighbor [v.43]

To keep this in context, let us remember what we are told in Matthew 5.20:
'For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.'

From this, we are being told that we are to act in a manner that is better than the scribes and the Pharisees.

Now, we might think that this is supposed to be something that we can achieve in and of ourselves. But we have to remember the phrase:
Responsibility vs Ability

We are responsible, but as we have been seeing in our studies, we are not able...
-Any command that is given in the Bible by God is to show us our inability...
-Even when The Lord Christ Jesus tells us to '...Go and sin no more...', this is to show us that in and of ourselves we do and will continue to sin...

In being told that our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, we are lead back to the very first part of the Beatitudes:
'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...'
-We are to be broken of ourselves, and we must see out inability

Just on a side note, bad morals corrupt good character
If sin is left uncheked, it gets worse and worse
This also ties into the church body, if you let sin continue, it does effect the body

This beginning portion of this section is another key portion, from which the others really flow. Here in Matthew 5.21-22, we are told:
'21-You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not murder' and 'Whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.' 22-But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says, 'Raca' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell...'

Love your neighbor as yourself...
-We are self focused and self serving, and we only loo for our best interest...
-We are to look outside ourselves...

Ill will toward someone is the opposite of being lowly and merciful...
-Instead of looking at others with compassion with the aim of being reconciled to God The Father, through The Lord Christ Jesus, under the gracious indwelling of The Holy Spirit – Ill will looks at others through our own perceptions...
-Where God judges impartially; we judge partially, we judge with a bias....
-We can only judge the actions of others; Yahweh judges not only the actions, but the heart as well...
-There is no possible way that any of us can judge the heart...

Calling people names, questioning their character and motives, bearing false witness against them, being jealous of them, defamation of character, wishing people harm, having violent thoughts toward others...These are all examples of ill will toward fellow man...

'23-Therefore if you are presenting an offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24-leave your offering there before the alter and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.'

If we come to worship Yahweh, and we have animosity and in-fighting amongst one another, can there be true worship?

We are supposed to keep peace as much as possible with all mankind...
-This actually ties in with how we are to be lowly, merciful, and peacemakers...
-When we are worshiping God, we are not to be harboring anything against one another...

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