“For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”—Matt. 5:20. The scribes and the Pharisees of the first century were people with whom Jesus had to deal often. To me they are an interesting case study. They, like a lot of people today, were very religious; but they were also very lost. What they had was a version of the Old Covenant faith that they had somewhat reinvented for themselves. They were sincere, but they were not Heavenbound. They were religious by their definition, but not in line with the plan of God. Jesus acknowledged that they had religion when He said “the r
In a recent visit to Romans, chapter 8, I was impressed afresh with the absolutely amazing provisions the Lord God has supplied for you and for me. The very first verse provides a mountainous vantage point that I want to call shouting ground. When we read Romans 8, we, like the apostle, understand that we are but men. Men are frail, flawed and fickle. Men fail frequently. What they did yesterday is already in the past today, but the shadow of it lingers today and tomorrow. But here is why we are living on shouting ground. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”—Rom. 8:1. Clearly some things are never the
