The Bible: Matthew 5:17-20 (kankanaey)

"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. I tell you the truth, 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. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same 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. 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."

God's moral and ceremonial laws were given to help people love God will all their hearts and minds. Throughout Israel's history, however, these laws had been often misquoted and misapplied.  By Jesus' time, religious leaders had turned the laws into a confusing mass of rules.  When Jesus talked about a new way to understand God's law, he was actually trying to bring people back to its's original purpose.  Jesus did not speak against the law itself, but against the abuses and excesses to which it had been subjected. (refer to John 1:17)

If Jesus did not come to abolish the law, does that mean all  the Old Testament laws still apply to us today? In the Old Testament, there were three (3) categories of law: ceremonial, civil and moral.

Some of those in the crowd were experts at telling others what to do, but they missed the central point of God's law themselves.  Jesus made it clear, however, that obeying God's law is more important than explaining it.  It's much easier to study God's laws and tell others to obey them than to put them into practice.  How are you doing at obeying God yourself?

The Pharisees were exacting and scrupulous in their attempts to follow their laws.  So how could Jesus reasonably call to us to a greater righteousness than theirs?  The Pharisees' weakness was that they were content to obey the laws outwardly without allowing God to change their hearts (or attitudes),  Jesus was saying, therefore, that the quality of our goodness should be greater than that of the Pharisees.  They looked pious, but they were far from the kingdom of God.  God judges our hearts as well as our deeds, for it is in the hearts that our real allegiance lies.  Be just as concerned about your attitudes that people  don't see as about your actions that are seen by all.

Jesus was saying that his listeners needed a different kind of righteousness altogether (love and obedience), not just more intense version of the Pharisees righteousness (legal compliance).  Our righteousness must (1) come from what God does in us, not what we can do by ourselves, (2) be God-centered, not self-centered, (3) be based on reverence for God, not approval from people, and (4) go beyond keeping the law to living the principle behind the law.

SOURCE:  Life Application Study Bible