Matthew 5:48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

In Matthew 5:21- 47, Jesus deals with relationships on many different levels. The Law forbade murder, but Jesus said, don’t be angry with your brother. If you remember when giving your offering, someone has something against you, leave your offering and go get reconciled to your brother. Read through these laws of the kingdom of God and ask the Holy Spirit to help you rise up to the life that our Lord has called us to live. The higher bar is what Jesus calls us to, even the perfection of our heavenly Father. This sounds impossible, but we have the Holy Spirit to help us.

The word perfect translates “mature”. The Lord is looking for mature sons and daughters, those that will allow the life of Christ to be released in them by yielding to the Holy Spirit. We have been led by our flesh for so long that it is strange to think about being led by the Spirit. The only way we can consider being “perfect” is as the Holy Spirit takes control of our mind and we submit to him in everything.

My experience is that I have to take one situation at a time. This means, I must pray about every relationship and submit it to God. Through the Spirit’s empowerment, choose to keep short accounts with people, forgiving quickly, not letting the sun go down on my anger. These things are not easy, but the Holy Spirit will help us if we will stop and ask for His involvement.

In 1 Corinthians 14:20 the apostle says, “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be babes, but in your thinking be mature”. Paul is communicating the same view that Jesus is declaring in Matthew 5:48, “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. The New Creation is all about a new way of thinking, God’s way of thinking. It is possible to be mature and live in righteousness, because we have been redeemed from our sin condition to a life of righteousness in the Holy Spirit.

Let the Holy Spirit search you heart and reveal any areas that are childish and not mature. Repent of childish views and attitudes. Then receive His infilling power to grow as a son or daughter of God.

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

This is a powerful statement by our Lord that draws a line in the sand regarding righteousness. Jesus came to establish righteousness as God intended it. The Holy Spirit was sent to produce His righteousness in each one that puts their faith in the work of Christ. Titus reminds us, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). The “surpassing righteousness” of which Jesus is speaking, became established in the work of the cross as He bore our sins. Our Father in heaven accepts the righteousness of Christ on our behalf. A believer is accepted by God, as one fully fulfilling the Law of God, and its entire requirement for dealing with the penalty of sin. The Holy Spirit raised Christ from the dead (Romans 8:11), and now is given as God’s gift to all who trust Christ. He washes us, causing “regeneration” that is, He makes alive what was dead. The Holy Spirit “renews” us to the original purpose of God when He had created man.

As soon as we receive the work of Christ we are ushered into the kingdom of God. Some think that the kingdom is a future event. The scriptures make it clear “the kingdom is now, in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). In the future, there will be a greater manifestation of God’s kingdom. Presently, each believer is to live under the reign of King Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is teaching two important principles. First, it takes a righteousness which exceeds the attempt of keeping the Law. This righteousness is connected to entering Jesus’ Kingdom. Secondly, in the Roman passage above, Paul teaches we enter the kingdom by receiving the Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit of God can supply the grace of righteousness and only the Spirit of God can usher us into the kingdom where Christ Jesus reigns as Lord.

Be renewed today in the righteousness of God. Let go of your own attempts to please God. Fully trust in Christ in all He has done. Enjoy His kingdom rule, and walk out His righteousness in the power of His Spirit.

Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

Some teach that the Law has been done away with in the sacrifice of Christ. Some teach that the Old Testament is not relevant anymore because we now are living in New Testament times. “Fulfilled”, does not mean done away with, but to accomplish the purpose. The Ten Commandments are eternal truths. That means they cannot be put aside and neglected. It took the righteousness of Christ to fulfill all of the intent of the Law of God. Under the Law, the Sabbath was kept on prescribed days that were sanctified by God. Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath by becoming our Sabbath. Our rest is found in His Work (Hebrews 4:10). The writer of Hebrews goes on to say, “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest …” (Hebrews 4:11).

God began His Sabbath rest in Genesis. He then established it in the Law and the Prophets, and found its completion in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why Paul told the early churches not to let anyone act as your judge concerning food, drink, festival, new moon or Sabbath day (Colossians 2:16). The whole second chapter of Colossians addresses this freedom that Christ purchased for all of us. The Holy Spirit has been sent from Heaven to be our comforter and to bring forth the life of Christ in us. He enables us to enter into God’s Sabbath Rest and live out the life of Christ fulfilling the Law and all that the Prophets had envisioned. Today, the people of God can live in obedience to God’s Commandments, not through religious works, but by the grace and rest of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

If you are burdened with religious works and guilt, release them today to the Holy Spirit. In faith receive the rest of Christ. Be free to obey the Word of God, not by your works, but by His grace and power supplied by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

What a clear word from our Lord! “Let your light shine”. We have to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in this matter of letting our light shine. He has placed the light in us, but we must choose to shine. How many times I have heard God’s people say, “I know what I should do”. But they struggled in doing it. I remember one time I was very angry at an individual. My dad reminded me of my responsibility to forgive. I told my dad, “I know, but right now it feels good to be angry”. Our emotions can snare us and keep us from being the kind of light God has ordained for us to be. A few hours later, I chose to forgive that person and be a light of forgiveness to them.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray in secret. There is a time to do business with God in secret, but here He says let your light shine before all men so they might “see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven”. Witnessing is not simply about speaking words, but it is more about how we live our lives. The first week I was in the army, I asked God, “How I can live for you in this place?” He spoke a surprising word to me. “Be you.” That meant, continue to serve the Lord, pray, read the Word of God and share when I can. That is what I did. I had the privilege of leading many men to Christ with the evidence of changed lives. Letting our light shine is a life style lived out. It is in the living out our faith on a daily basis that others will glorify our Father in heaven. When they begin to acknowledge there is something different about you, they are recognizing the light that is shining. God is glorified!

Ask the Holy Spirit to give you good works that will cause people around you to glorify your Father in heaven. Ask Him to quicken your mind to how you should respond in any given situation. He will show to you your responsibility and give to you the ability to reflect His nature. He will give to you of His wisdom and His power in order for you to carry out His good pleasure.

2 Chronicles 13:5 Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave the rule over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?

Salt, in the scriptures speaks of covenant. All the offerings in the Old Testament were made with salt. As 2 Chronicles 13:5 states, God made a covenant of salt with David, “that his sons would rule over Israel forever”. God fulfilled His word to David when David’s greater son was seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who is now reigning as “the King of kings and Lord of lord’s”.

In the mountain, Jesus is teaching His disciples, and now us that we are to demonstrate the quality of salt. If we lose that divine attribute, we will be like sand, trodden under foot. Sand looks like salt, but is not cohesive like salt. Because the nation of Israel lost it’s quality it was trodden under. The church in like manner, has lost it’s ability to influence society as it once did. All is not lost though, because God desires to revive His people. He revived the nation of Israel throughout the Old Testament. His purpose was fully completed in Christ, the son of David. Jesus Himself had in mind the restoration of the House of Judah and Israel who became divided after the reign of Solomon. His message of repentance was to the nation of Israel, to repent and receive the New Covenant sealed in His blood. The majority refused and thus was trodden under foot in 70 AD, when Jerusalem along with their Temple was destroyed.

Today, God is reviving His church, who like Israel of old, has lost her saltiness. Jesus’ words ring strong and true as they did when He spoke on the mountain. Today, He is calling His church to be revived and be the salt of the earth. His message is also going out to Jewish people. “Come to your Messiah, the son of David, and He will revive you and place you in the “household of God”. In the same way He spoke to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor, He speaks today, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:22).

Father, I pray for your revival power to be manifested in my life. Thank you for the covenant of salt made with David. Thank you for the covenant’s fulfillment in Christ Jesus our Lord. Father, make me salty to my generation. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and use me to lead others to Your covenant promises.

Matthew 5:13 It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

Jesus is speaking to the multitudes of Israel. For centuries this people had been “stiff-necked and stubborn” Acts 7:51). For the next forty years, from the Day of Pentecost to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, the gospel was preached throughout Israel. That preaching reached out to the nations where the children of Israel had been scattered many years prior. Although only a remnant of Israel believed, many Gentiles turned to the Lord and began to become the salt for which God was seeking.

Even the church over time began to lose its saltiness and God would have to send the reviving power of the Holy Spirit. There comes a time when people won’t receive what God the Holy Spirit is doing. I call this “becoming crystallized”. This is the history of the church since the Reformation. God moves to revive His church and a remnant receives, but the last move rejects what God is currently doing. The last move becomes “tasteless” and “good for nothing” in effecting God’s purpose.

We are presently in what some have called a “post-denominational” time. That means “denominationalism” is becoming less and less of an importance. Each of the denominations served a purpose at a particular time in history, but when they crystallized, they began to become saltless. I respect the denominations and their respective contributions to God’s restoration plan for His church. There is nothing wrong with being part of a particular denomination as long as you can embrace the larger work of the Spirit in the whole of His Church. Paul helps us to understand the Lord’s view when he says, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13).

Ask the Holy Spirit to enlarge your view of His work in the earth. Ask Him to protect you from being tasteless. Ask Him to fill you afresh with Himself, that you might share with others the wonderful news of His salvation.

Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

As Jesus addresses the multitudes He is speaking to the people of the Nation that God had chosen to impact all the other nations by pointing them to Jehovah, the redeeming God. They started out as “salt” when God made promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses was to lead the enslaved people out of Egypt to receive God’s Law at Mount Sinai. Joshua then led them into the land of promise to be God’s hand of judgment and to be an example to the nations of what it is like to serve the living God and not idols. The Holy Spirit of God made the people of Israel “salt” to the nations.

They were still called to be the salt of the earth when their Messiah came to revive them by becoming the sacrifice for their sins and healing their land. All they needed to do was to believe on Him and receive the promise of the coming Holy Spirit. Only a remnant of Israel trusted Christ by believing the scriptures through preaching. On the Day of Pentecost, a handful believed and received the Holy Spirit that Jesus poured out upon them. This was the beginning of a revived Israel which Jesus called “My Church” (Matthew 16:18). Through the preaching of the Gospel of the kingdom, the Gentiles also believed and were included in this work of the Holy Spirit. The whole book of Acts tells the story of this great revival of God and the salty people He raised up by the work of the Holy Spirit.

The work of the Spirit continues today, as both Jewish people and Gentiles are coming to Christ. We are called as the salt of the earth. As it was then, so it is today. We need a revival of our saltiness. Ask the Holy Spirit to make you salty so you can be the preservative He has ordained you to be.

Father, I ask you to show me any areas of my life that are not salty as you have purposed. Keep me from being “good for nothing”. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, allowing your life to overflow in all I do.

Matthew 5:13 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great.

Although there are many challenges in this life, we are passing through to a greater time where rewards will be given to us. Jesus promises “great” reward for those who have suffered insults and persecution for Christ’s sake. “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet, are promised a prophet’s reward” (Matthew 10:41). “When you receive a righteous man in the name of a righteous man you receive a righteous man’s reward” (Matthew 10:41). Even the giving of cold water qualifies one for a reward (Matthew 10:42). “When you lend expecting nothing in return your reward is great” (Luke 6:35). Paul says, “Each one will receive their own reward according to their own work “(1 Corinthians 3:8). The works that are built upon an imperishable foundation will receive reward according to 1 Corinthians 3:14.

Don’t throw away your confidence, because it has a great reward (Hebrews 10:35). John the apostle said, “Watch yourselves that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward” (2 John 8). Finally, we are promised that Jesus “is coming quickly and His reward is with Him, to render to every man according to what he has done” (Revelation 22:12).

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you about the Father’s reward for you. The Father loves to give to His children. Don’t be bashful about expecting to receive rewards from Him. The Holy Spirit loves to honor the sons and daughters of God in this life. So be in a receiving mode now and in an expectant mode about the future.

Matthew 5:11-12 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

It is amazing how some Christians expect everyone to like and honor them for good works on behalf of Jesus. As we stand against all that is represented in this worlds system, we draw fire from those who love the system. The Psalmist asks the question, “Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from among us” (Psalm 2:1-3). In a few parts of the world, there has been a higher tolerance for Christ’s people, but in most places He and His people are hated. We know from the scriptures why! Satan influences the mind through demonic strongholds. The apostle Paul speaks to this subject in detail in his writings to the churches, (2 Corinthians 10:1-5; Ephesians 1:15-23; 6:10-20 and Colossians 2:8-15.

The Holy Spirit has been sent to fill God’s people with the life of Christ and His power over Satan’s domain. Whenever the church has been persecuted, it seems to advance. In Matthew 5:11, the Lord promised blessing when insulted or persecuted. Our flesh wants to run from the pressure of resisting evil, but Paul encourages us to be strong in our spirit, “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents— which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God” (Philippians 1:27).

The great testimony of Christ in us is the ability to conduct ourselves in a fashion which honors our Lord. His Holy Spirit gives us power to live above the world’s system. Standing firm is standing strong. It is a corporate action, that is, we need others who are also standing firm in the faith. Together, we resist demonic strongholds and knowing their destruction is assured.

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you areas in your life where He can help you live in a manner worthy of the gospel. Ask Him for strength to stand firm in your spirit and to give you others that also are standing firm with the same mind.

Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Most in the western world do not have an appreciation for Jesus’ statement. We might receive some rejection from folks, but for the most part, Christianity has been accepted. This is not at all true in many places in the world. A Jewish convert may be rejected in their own family. In the Islamic world, a price can be put on one’s head. Even a family member would be honored for killing the Christian convert. In places like Pakistan, the
Christian is paid the lowest of wages and has, a difficult time getting ahead. In China, many are in prison for not being part of the state run church.

When the church in the West begins to stand up against unrighteousness, it will draw persecution. Today, many have suffered financially and even gone to jail for trying to protect the life of an innocent baby in the womb. In the US Government, there are those who want to silence voices that are crying out against the injustices in today’s society. The Scriptures command us to obey the laws of the land. There are those that are calling on the government to enforce laws that were implemented to protect us. But for this righteous position, many are persecuted by the government that is sworn to uphold the law and provide protection for the people.

Today, in America, preachers have to make choice between easy street and persecution for righteousness sake. The true believer must be willing to be persecuted, but one must be sure it is for righteousness and not one’s individual morality. It must be a righteousness that comes from God, rooted in Jesus Christ and is clearly support by the Word of God.

Ask the Lord to help make clear what He considers “righteousness”. Surrender to His will for your life and ask Him for strength to endure hardship for righteousness sake. Then enter into your Lord’s kingdom reign in your life allowing the Holy Spirit to lead you.