BIBLE PASSAGE:
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.
(Matthew 5:20)
MEDITATION:
The scriptures tell us that one of the things which will disqualify us
from Heaven is ‘a righteousness that does not exceed the righteousness
of the Pharisees and teachers of the law’.
The Pharisees and teachers of the law created their own ideas and guidelines
for righteous living as a replacement for the standards established by God.
We see the same thing happening in our world today
as some consider God’s laws to be unnecessary obstacles
which prevent them from living the selfish life they desire.
Rather than changing their lives to fit His laws,
they are choosing to change His laws to fit their lifestyle.
As a result of seeking self-gratification, they have distorted God’s laws in
order to please themselves, instead of satisfying their Creator through obedience.
Self-satisfaction has become the focus of many in today’s world.
God wants us to enjoy life, but to find joy within His boundaries,
and not by exceeding, or ignoring them.
When we disregard His commands, it indicates
a lack of trust that God can actually bring joy into our lives.
The Pharisees showed us what a “me” (and not God) generation looks like.
My money, my house, my desires, my power,
and my morals became their new religion.
Their self-exaltation rose to a level where they placed themselves above God.
They adopted their own rules and expectations as replacements
for God’s guidelines, which are to be obeyed by those who belong to Him.
As far as salvation, they had convinced themselves that since they were obeying
their own laws for living, they would have to be included as residents Heaven.
Think about that for a moment.
God established the requirements for entering the kingdom He created, yet they
felt they could enter His kingdom by replacing His standards with their own.
As a result of their thinking, they could not see a need for a Savior, nor did
they see the need for obeying God’s requirements for entering His kingdom.
Another habit of the Pharisees was
to seek praise from others for their prayers and good deeds.
However, Jesus tells us to pray in private and do our good deeds quietly.
(Matthew 6:1-8)
If we want to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, then we
should pray for God’s hearing, and not for pleasing the ears of man.
In the Christian community, we can hear someone pray eloquent prayers
that sound good to man, but may not be necessarily directed toward God.
In the scriptures we read about a tax collector who knew he was a sinner
who needed help, and he could not even look up to heaven when he prayed.
In recognizing his shame, we see that his repentant heart was more sincere
than the pompous and self-satisfied heart of the Pharisee. (Luke 18:9-14)
We should also do good deeds without expecting praise from others.
This does not mean we blindly walk in circles unaware of what we are doing.
Jesus is cautioning us to avoid doing things for self-praise from others,
but to do them out of a heart’s desire to please our Heavenly Father.
Some Christians allow pride to creep into their lives, and when it does,
they have a tendency to boast about the good things they have done for others.
There may be times to share things with fellow believers during discussions
about reaching lost souls, but whenever our goal is to garner praise from others,
it conflicts with Christ’s instructions to ‘let our light shine to bring glory to God’.
One other disqualification for entering heaven is habitually sinning.
No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues
to sin has either seen Him, or know Him. (1 John 3:6)
No one who is born of God will continue to sin,
because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning,
because they have been born of God. (1 John 3:9)
Most followers of Christ know the disappointment and shame
of falling prey to sin, but when we belong to God’s family,
we experience remorse and have a desire to abstain in the future.
However, when we ‘continue to sin’, it shows the lack of a repentant heart,
and exposes a life that is controlled by self-gratification.
There are some who claim to be Christians
who are frequently attending worship, tithing, etc.
but away from the church and other believers, they are ‘living in sin’.
It’s not a temporary stumble, but a chosen lifestyle.
They know what God’s Word says about self-control, but they have
chosen to justify their actions and create their own rules to replace His.
And when another believer says anything about it, they become indignant,
irate, and accuse their brother or sister in Christ of being no better than them.
They interpret the efforts of others as a ‘holier than thou’ attitude,
rather than realizing a friend is concerned about them, and remembers
that God says those who ‘continue to sin’, will be disqualified from Heaven.
Those who ‘continue to sin’ know that what they are doing conflicts with God’s
laws, but rather than admitting it and having remorse and a repentant heart,
they respond with an emotional outburst of anger when confronted.
ACTION:
According to God’s Word, we can be disqualified from Heaven, if our
righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and teachers
of the law, if we pray and do good things to receive praise from others
rather than to receive blessings from the Lord, and if we continue sinning.
So, can we overcome those disqualifications
and if so, how?
We have to make a conscious and committed decision
to develop a sincere and authentic relationship with Jesus Christ.
When we do that, we receive His righteousness
in exchange for our unrighteousness.
That is why Jesus went to the cross – so that His blood
would cover our unrighteousness and we could appear
righteous before our Heavenly Father.
If you are like me, then you may have questions regarding
how a Christian can be disqualified by the things listed above.
I guess the answer to those questions are:
apparently the person guilty of those things has convinced themselves they
are a believer, but they have never surrendered their lives to the Lord.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, help be to evaluate my own life in comparison to
Your commands, and to be honest about the areas where I am falling
short. If I have failed to sincerely surrender my life to You, and have
been fooled into believing I belong to You, then make me aware of
it now, and help me to humbly commit to You today.”
blog: UTVOLWOODY.WORDPRESS.COM
BREAD FOR BELIEVERS 
Discussion
No comments yet.