Changed hearts. This is what Jesus is after in this part of His Sermon on the Mount. It is not about check lists. They will ALWAYS be imperfect. Even when we have a TO DO list, and start crossing things off on it, you can still see through the scribbles and be reminded of not being able to be perfect when it comes to DOING what is needed to be done. Also, there are some things that remain on our TO DO lists unchecked as we either run out of time to do them or ignore them out of inconvenience.
Jesus reminds us in these verses that our imperfections are not going to go away on our own. However, Jesus, Himself, absolutely can and did perfectly fulfill the LAW for us. His righteousness redeems us, not our “trying” hard enough to DO the things we have to do. No, God promises to give us NEW HEARTS through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our lights shine because of our transformed hearts, not out of our ability or inability to be righteous by upholding, perfectly, the Law of God, which we can’t. But HE can and HE did, for You and for me. He took our imperfections to the cross and he finished what was needed for us to be saved. Check√
- Isaiah 49:1-6
- Philippians 2:12-18
- Matthew 5:13-16