This is that last of the “You have heard that it was said, but I say to you” sayings in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has been correcting the misinterpretation and misapplication of the law that was being taught by the scribes and pharisees. Matthew 5:43-48

Over the last few weeks, Jesus has been correcting the scribes’ and the pharisees’ misunderstanding and misapplication of the law. In some cases, they were leading people to do the EXACT OPPOSITE of what the law required! To understand this correction, then we first need to understand the original law and the ways that the […]

The religion of the pharisees was DEAD. It was fuelled by PRIDE and empowered by LAW – but THAT ROAD LEADS TO RUIN! The obedience God requires is to be fuelled by LOVE and empowered by the SPIRIT. Matthew 5:33-37

God makes a promise, through His Son, of loyal love to us where He passionately acts in our best interest despite our brokenness and sin. This love acts sacrificially, in the face of imperfection and changing performance. Matthew 5:27-32

Last Sunday we learned that followers of Jesus are to be marked by a righteousness that is qualitatively different than that of the scribes and Pharisees. Their righteousness was merely external, but our righteousness will flow from transformed hearts. For the rest of chapter 5, Jesus is going to contrast the OLD standard of the […]

In our passage for this morning, we are transitioning into a new section of the Sermon. In this section, Jesus will teach us HOW WE NOW SHOULD LIVE. Matthew 5:17-20

The metaphors that Jesus uses in today’s passage, just like the beatitudes, highlight and emphasize our distinctiveness from the world and our witness to the world. The overarching point is that Christians are different from the world around them and, through their difference, they are able to witness to the world. Matthew 5:13-16

This, the final beatitude, serves to build off of the others; it adds to our understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Matthew 5:10-12

The self-realizing, self-forgetting aspect of meekness, the complete and utter trust and dependence on God that allows us to be meek, has a direct bearing on the ability of the Christian to be a peacemaker. Matthew 5:9

Being pure in heart is inherently tied to mourning our sin and the desire to be redeemed. If we do not see our impurity, we cannot long for purity. Matthew 5:8