A Deeper Look at the Sermon on the Mount

This is why entry into God’s kingdom is impossible without a righteousness greater than that of the Pharisees. It is because such a righteousness is evidence of the new birth, and no one enters the kingdom without being born again

Christian righteousness is greater than Pharisaic righteousness because it is deeper, being a righteousness of the heart. The righteousness which is pleasing to God is an inward righteousness of mind and motive. For “the LORD looks at the heart”

None of it will pass away or be discarded, Jesus says, not a single letter or part of a letter, until it has all been fulfilled

consequence is the obedience to the law which the citizens of God’s kingdom must give

The cause is the permanence of the law until it is fulfilled

He does more than obey the commandments himself; he explains what obedience will involve for his disciples. He rejects the superficial interpretation of the law given by the scribes; he himself supplies the true interpretation

Third, the Old Testament contains ethical principles or the moral law of God

The climax was his death on the cross in which the whole ceremonial system of the Old Testament, both priesthood and sacrifice, found its perfect fulfillment

Matthew emphasizes this more than any other Gospel writer by his repeated formula

Second, the Old Testament contains predictive prophecy