A Surpassing Righteousness

An Important Cornerstone

Righteous living has always been a cornerstone of godly living. Ever since the Creation, God has had the expectation of man and woman that he and she both live according to His command. However, both man and woman failed – as every man and woman have since. So what is Jesus teaching when He declares:

For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:20 (NASU)

The Word Endures Forever

Perfection’s Impossibility

Perfection is an incredibly difficult, and ultimately impossible, goal to attain. This is true in the life of man in a moral sense, and also just in day to day experience where we will inevitably make mistakes. This is true in a manufacturing sense where all materials have a degree of imperfection, the concept of entropy means everything will at some point break down, and design flaws eventually occur. This is true in the realm of government where, inefficiency and corruption aside, the best worded law will never perfectly encompass every situation.

Proven Holiness

A Proven Holiness

In the Bible we read of the concept of a proven holiness. James describes as “all joy” the testing on one’s faith through trials because “the testing of your faith produces endurance” (Jam. 1:2, 3, NASU). Peter describes our faith as “more precious than gold” and tested through fire with the result being “praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:7). However, some may ask: Why should we have to prove our holiness? Is it not cruel for God to ask such things of His created? These questions miss an important reality concerning holiness and its demands. God has not asked us to do anything He has not already done.

God Only Knows

A Common Expression

In modern English, the expression “God only knows” has become common in its use. Whether such a phrase is meant literally or not, and the ramifications of such vain address of God aside, this phrase describes something which, from the viewpoint of the speaker is, unexplainable.