Am I truly obeying God from my heart or from external pressure and rule following? 

20 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.

INSIGHT:  Jesus is warning me, and you, that unless we have a righteousness that is greater than the righteousness of the most religious and legalistic followers of the Law, during His time, we will not be considered righteous enough to enter God’s presence in heaven.  It is clear from the context of many of Jesus’ teachings, that God is after an internal righteousness, which stems from an internal sacrificial love for God.  Having the beliefs, and even deeds, of the Christian religion is not enough.  God demands that our religion and righteousness be that of the heart, which comes from a changed, born-again heart.  The Pharisees were zealous, loved their religion, and looked like they loved God, but according to Jesus they did not (Lk 11:42, Jn 5:42). 

Because the work of Christ on the Cross had not yet been done, the Holy Spirit was not yet given to all men (Jn 7:29), so they were unable to achieve that standard of internal righteousness, that only the Holy Spirit can give.  No matter how precise the Pharisees kept the Law externally, in their hearts, where God would live, they were filthy and did not even truly love the God they claimed to worship.  They may have been able to hide it from themselves, or others, but not from the maker of their hearts, who desires to take up residence there by His Spirit (Rom 5:5). 

The Old Covenant writings and the Pharisees were all proof that everyone under the Law was stuck in Romans 7, unable to do the good they wanted to do, but instead continuing in the evil they did not want to do.  Fear of God’s wrath, or the terrible experiences of God’s punishment, were about the only thing that could force them into righteousness, but even that would only work for a short time.

It is often very difficult to understand and accept, but men can have no righteousness with God, apart from His Spirit in them.  That is our humiliation, that we bring absolutely nothing good to God, and we have nothing in us, to earn merit before Him. 

The Law of Moses dealt almost entirely with external regulations and righteousness, “do not touch, do not eat, do not drink, do not wear, do not sit, do not go near,” etc.  Religion has the appearance of humility, but under the mask of it, there is a deep root of pride, which causes men to feel they have gained favor and merit with God.  It takes deep God-given humility to understand and say, “God I bring absolutely nothing but sin, rebellion, selfishness, and corruption in me, and I have no righteousness in me whatsoever, apart from you putting it there by your grace and Spirit.”  The Pharisees were not willing to humble themselves in this way and could not possibly set aside their works for righteousness in Christ alone. (Lk 7:30)!

When I was a child, I could have likely been talked into eating dog poo brownies, faster than I could have been talked into eating bell peppers.  I would get almost nauseated at just the smell of them, but my mother made me try everything and more than once.  As I got older, she would make me try them in small amounts and she would bribe me with things like, being able to sleep in my bed instead of at the kitchen table (I fell asleep many times after refusing to eat my vegetables).  I had no internal desire, but I developed an external willingness, largely so I could get up from the table, or even better, have a dessert.  But then something happened, and over a few years I started to develop a taste for them, such that now I really enjoy them. Often, I pick them up raw, right off the cutting board, and eat them.  I initially agreed to choke them down, to please my mother, but now I have an internal and very natural desire to eat them.  No one must force feed me or bribe me anymore, and it’s been a long time since I had to count sheep at the kitchen table. 

“Churches” are filled with people practicing a form of Christian religion by external pressure rather than an internal desire.  Saving faith is not about “playing the part”; it’s about loving God from a born-again heart.  This is the righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees and that will open heaven’s gates to you.  Are you certain that you have it?