A week of growing in righteousness and purpose

Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

We are to be reflecting Jesus where ever we go and in whatever we do. And we do this to not bring attention to ourselves but to God the Father. That quite simply is our purpose. And thank God that he did not leave us as orphans to fend for ourselves in this area. He has given us the Holy Spirit to convict of us sin and to help us walk lives like Christ’s.

The Holy Spirit when he starts to work in a believer’s life gives him a couple of things. Namely the Fruits of the Spirit and Spiritual Gifts. These things help us to become more like Jesus and to bring Glory to the name of God.

But sadly, some Christians do not use the things that the Holy Spirit has given them to bring Glory to God. They can do one of two things; they can use their gifts to bring glory to themselves or they can bury their gifts way down inside and never use them.  Both of these circumstances are just plain sad.

And sadly I have been in both situations, so many times in my own life. I have always struggled with the balance between these two things. And I would like to say that I have the answer to getting that balance but I do not. But I will tell you what I do know. That in James it says that if any of you lacks wisdom that we are to ask for it. Every single day I need to be asking for God’s wisdom and for His heart. I want to use my gifts that has given me in a pure way that would be that light for others, to point to Christ. And I need His help to do this.

Matthew 5:17, “Do not think I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”

Jesus did not come down to earth to make it so the Old Testament would become obsolete. No my God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He would not change His mind all of a sudden and switch everything. But Jesus came down to earth to fulfill what is in the Old Testament.

Whenever I think of the fact that Jesus is the fulfillment my mind automatically goes to the book of Hebrews and then to the entirety of the New Testament. All throughout the Gospels the Old Testament is quoted whether it was Jesus a specific scripture, or one of the apostles showing how Jesus fulfilled a prophecy. 

In fact, Jesus after He rose again on the third day was walking with two guys and He told them all the scriptures concerning Himself. And guess what! The New Testament wasn’t written yet. So He was talking solely from the Testament.

Now why am I stressing this point? Well because I don’t know how many times I have heard that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. And that breaks my heart because they are missing the beauty! You can definitely see the beauty in the gospels but there is just a completely fantastic point of view if you put it in light of them Old. Phrases like the sacrificial lamb, our great High Priest, the name I AM, or anything of that nature come to life when you look back at the Old.

Jesus Himself quoted the Old, and pointed to them to show God love and Character throughout History.

Matthew 5:18, “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law until all things are fulfilled.”

Why is the law so important? Well in Galatians 5:24, “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith.” The law was meant to point to Christ in another passage it compares the Law to a mirror that shows us who really are. The law shows me that I am completely sinful and there is no way that I can live up to it.

I think of Martin Luther and how when he was a monk and how he studied the Bible. He studied it very intensely and the more he studied the Bible the more miserable he became. Because he just saw how wretched he was and no matter what he would do he could never live up to the standard. Until one day he finally found peace. He found peace when he looked to the cross and realized it was through Christ that he is made righteous. And when he came to this realization that was when he changed the world for Christ.

I don’t know how many times I am in the same place that Martin Luther was in when he was in complete despair over his sin. I look at the law and I know that I am found wanting. I know what is going on in my thought and I know that I cannot seem to change my life. But then I look to the cross and I find freedom from all those sins that seem to so easily ensnare me. I look to the grave and find it empty and know that I can walk in newness of life. I am not under the power of sin, I am the child of God and I will walk accordingly. I should walking in the light empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 5:19, “Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Ok, I think I am about to go off on something crazy but bear with me for a moment or two. We all know the saying, “Practice what you preach.” It is a very common saying that I have used for many comebacks in my life. And normally that is what I think about when I read this verse. But when looking at this verse I saw something quite interesting in the second half of this verse. The verse says, “does and teaches.” It does not stop and say whoever does. It has the word “and” in it. You need to be doing it and teaching it.

Now I know that everyone does not have the gift of teaching. But throughout the Bible there has always been this thing about the older teaching the younger. It does not say that the older people that have the gift of teaching need to teach the younger. No it is just an all-inclusive thing. You need to be teaching and pouring into somebody’s life. What is the point of you knowing what is right and doing what is right if you do not show someone how to do it also? If you are more mature in the faith and you see someone that needs guidance, why not pull them aside and show them how to walk how Christ has shown you?

My Dad has always told me that you need a Paul, and a Timothy. In other words you need a Father in the Faith to pour into you and a Timothy to pour into. God does not give you wisdom, so you can hoard it away and never share it. He wants you to use it to bless other people.

Matthew 5:20, “For I say unto you, that unless your righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Talk about a radical statement! To be as righteous as the Pharisees. These guys were known for keeping the law and even going beyond what the Law commanded them to do. And Jesus said that we had to be just as righteous as them

Immediately I think that this statement is an impossible one to accomplish. I know myself and I know that every minute of every day, I am having to ask forgiveness for some thought that I had let alone the actions that sometimes follow those thoughts. I have probably broken every one of the Ten Commandments. How am I supposed to be as righteous as the Pharisees, let alone Jesus?

Well that’s where the beauty comes in. It is not my righteousness that I know live in. I have put on the righteousness of Christ when I accepted Jesus into my heart and made Him my Lord and Savior. And not only that but when I put Him as the Lord of my life, He begins to change me from the inside out. He begins to sanctify my life. I am not perfect but my God is still working on me. He is doing all of the work and I am simply trying to respond to the work that he is doing in my life.

Me, outside of Christ is a weak and pathetic thing. But Christ in me and I can move mountains, I can come boldly to the throne of Grace to receive help in my time of need.