Not only does Jesus expect His followers to be holy, He expects them to be holy for the right reasons. It is quite possible to obey God’s commandments and still be very displeasing to Him if one’s obedience stems from a wrong motive. Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees because they did all their good deeds purely to impress others (see Matt. 23:5). He expects His disciples to be different.

Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets [Jesus’ audience knew of whom He was speaking], that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you (Matt. 6:1-4).

Jesus expected that His followers would give alms to the poor. The Law commanded it (see Ex. 23:11; Lev. 19:10; 23:22; 25:35; Deut. 15:7-11), but the scribes and Pharisees did it with the blowing of trumpets, ostensibly to call the poor to their generous public distributions. Yet how many professing Christians give nothing to the poor? They haven’t even made it to the point of needing to examine their motives for alms giving. If selfishness motivated the scribes and Pharisees to advertise their alms giving, what is it that motivates professing Christians to ignore the plight of the poor? In this regard, does their righteousness surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees?

As Paul would echo in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, we can do good things for the wrong reasons. If our motives are not pure, our good deeds will go unrewarded. Paul wrote that it is possible even to preach the gospel from impure motives (see Phil. 1:15-17). As Jesus prescribed, a good way to be sure our giving is purely motivated is to give as secretively as possible, not letting our left hand know what our right hand is doing. The disciple-making minister teaches his disciples to give to the poor (providing they have the means), and he quietly practices what he preaches.

The seventh commandment was the subject of Jesus’ second example of how the scribes and Pharisees kept the letter while neglecting the spirit of the Law. Jesus expected His disciples to be more sexually pure than the scribes and Pharisees.

You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery”; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to go into hell (Matt. 5:27-30).

Note again that Jesus was keeping with His primary theme—Only the holy will inherit God’s kingdom. He warned again about hell and something one must do to stay out of it.

The scribes and Pharisees couldn’t ignore the seventh commandment, so they outwardly obeyed it, remaining faithful to their wives. Yet they fantasized about making love to other women. They would mentally undress women they watched in the marketplace. They were adulterers at heart, and thus were transgressing the spirit of the seventh commandment. How many in the church are no different?

God, of course, intended for people to be completely sexually pure. Obviously, if it is wrong to have a sexual relationship with your neighbor’s wife, it is also wrong to meditate on having a sexual relationship with her.

Were any among Jesus’ audience convicted? Probably they were. What should they have done? They should have immediately repented as Jesus instructed. Whatever it took, no matter what the cost, those who were lustful should stop lusting, because those who practice lust go to hell.

Of course, no reasonable person thinks Jesus meant that lustful people should literally pluck out an eye or cut off a hand. A lustful person who cuts out his eye simply becomes a one-eyed luster! Jesus was dramatically and solemnly emphasizing the importance of obeying the spirit of the seventh commandment. Eternity depended on it.

Following Christ’s example, the disciple-making minister will admonish his disciples to “cut off” whatever it is that is causing them to stumble. If it’s cable TV, the cable needs to be disconnected. If it’s regular TV, the TV needs to be removed. If it’s a magazine subscription, it should be canceled. If it’s the Internet, it should be disconnected. None of those things are worth perishing in hell over, and because the disciple-making minister truly loves His flock, he will tell them the truth and warn them, just as Jesus did.

Is it not possible that Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was only applicable to those followers of His who lived prior to His sacrificial death and resurrection? Were they not under the Law as their temporary means of salvation, but after Jesus died for their sins, were then saved by faith, thus invalidating the theme expounded in this sermon?

This theory is a bad one. No one has ever been saved by his works. It has always been by faith, prior to and during the Old Covenant. Paul argues in Romans 4 that both Abraham (before the old covenant) and David (during the old covenant) were justified by faith and not works.

Moreover, it was an impossibility that any of Jesus’ audience could be saved by works, because they had all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (see Rom. 3:23). Only God’s grace could save them, and only faith could receive His grace.

Unfortunately, too many in the church today view Jesus’ commandments as serving no higher purpose than to make us feel guilty so we’ll see the impossibility of earning salvation by works. Now that we’ve “gotten the message” and have been saved by faith, we can ignore most of His commandments. Unless, of course, we want to get others “saved.” Then we can pull out the commandments again to show people how sinful they are so they will be saved by a “faith” that is void of works.

Nevertheless, Jesus did not tell His disciples, “Go into all the world and make disciples, and make sure they realize that, once they’ve felt guilty and are then saved by faith, My commandments have served their purpose in their lives.” Rather, He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20, emphasis added). Disciple-making ministers are doing just that.

Jesus’ third example of the unrighteous conduct and scriptural misapplication of the scribes and Pharisees is related to God’s commandment to tell the truth. The scribes and Pharisees had developed a very creative way to lie. We learn from Matthew 23:16-22 that they did not consider themselves obligated to keep their vows if they swore by the temple, the altar, or heaven. However, if they swore by the gold in the temple, the offering on the altar, or by God in heaven, they were obligated to keep their vow! It was an adult equivalent of a child’s thinking he is exempt from having to tell the truth as long as his fingers are crossed behind his back. Jesus expects His disciples to tell the truth.

Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, “You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.” But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, “Yes, yes” or “No, no”; and anything beyond these is of evil (Matt. 5:33-37).

God’s original commandment concerning vows said nothing about making an oath by swearing on something else. God intended for His people to always speak the truth, so there would be no need to swear, ever.

There is nothing wrong with making an oath. In fact, oaths to obey God are very good. Salvation begins with an oath to follow Jesus. But when people have to swear by something to convince others to believe them, it is an outright admission that they normally lie. People who always tell the truth do not need to swear, ever. Yet the church today is full of liars, and the ministers are often the leaders in deceptiveness and guile.

The disciple-making minister sets an example of truthfulness and teaches his disciples to always tell the truth. He knows John warned that all liars will be cast into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone (see Rev. 21:8).

Jesus’ next example is very much related to the one that we just considered, which is probably why it is mentioned next. It should be considered a further elaboration rather than a new subject. The subject is, “Another thing Pharisees do that is equivalent to adultery.”

And it was said, “Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce”; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (Matt. 5:31-32).

Here is another example of how the scribes and Pharisees kept the letter of the law while rejecting the spirit of it.

Let’s create an imaginary Pharisee in Jesus’ day. Across the street from him lives an attractive woman after whom he is lusting. He flirts with her when he sees her each day. She seems attracted to him, and his desire for her grows. He would love to see her unclothed, and imagines her regularly in his sexual fantasies. Oh, if he could only have her!

But he has a problem. He is married and so is she, and his religion forbids adultery. He doesn’t want to break the seventh commandment (even though he’s already broken it every time he’s lusted). What can he do?

There is a solution! If they both were divorced from their present spouses, he could marry the mistress of his mind! But is it lawful to get a divorce? A fellow Pharisee tells him Yes! There is a scripture for it! Deuteronomy 24:1 says something about giving your wife a divorce certificate when you divorce her. Divorce must be lawful under certain circumstances! But what are those circumstances? He reads closely what God said:

When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house… (Deut. 24:1).

Aha! He can divorce his wife if he finds some indecency in her! And he has! She’s not as attractive as the woman across the street!^[1]

So he lawfully divorces his wife by giving her the required certificate (you can pick one up in the lobby of the local office of the Pharisees’ Club), and quickly marries the woman of his fantasies, herself also just legally divorced. And all without incurring an ounce of guilt because God’s Law has been obeyed!

^[1] This is not a far-fetched example. According to Rabbi Hillel, who had the most popular teaching regarding divorce in Jesus’ day, a man could lawfully divorce his wife if he found someone who was more attractive, because that made his current wife “indecent” in his eyes. Rabbi Hillel also taught a man could divorce his wife if she put too much salt on his food, or spoke to another man, or didn’t produce a son for him.

Now we arrive at a verse that should be considered a statement that summarizes practically everything Jesus said up to this point. Many commentators miss this, but it is important that we don’t. This particular verse is obviously a summarizing statement, as it begins with the word therefore. It is thus linked to previous instructions, and the question is: How much of what Jesus has said does it summarize? Let’s read it and think:

Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 7:12).

This statement can’t be a summary of just the few verses before it about prayer, otherwise it would make no sense.

Remember that early in His sermon, Jesus had warned against the error of thinking that He had come to abolish the Law or the Prophets (see Matt. 5:17). From that point in His sermon until the verse at which we’ve now arrived, He did essentially nothing but endorse and explain God’s Old Testament commandments. Thus, He now summarizes everything He’s commanded, all of which He derived from the Law and Prophets: “Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do so for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (7:12). The phrase, “the Law and the Prophets,” connects everything Jesus said between Matthew 5:17 and 7:12.

Now, as Jesus begins the conclusion of His sermon, He reiterates His primary theme once more—Only the holy inherit God’s kingdom:

Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it (Matt. 7:13-14).

Obviously the narrow gate and the way that leads to life, which few find, is symbolic of salvation. The wide gate and broad way that leads to destruction, the route of the majority, symbolizes damnation. If everything Jesus said prior to this statement means anything, if this sermon has any logical progression, if Jesus possessed any intelligence as a communicator, then the most natural interpretation would be that the narrow way is the way of following Jesus, obeying His commandments. The broad way would be the opposite. How many professing Christians are on the narrow way described in this sermon? The disciple-making minister is certainly on the narrow way, and he is leading his disciples on that same way.

It is puzzling to some professing Christians that Jesus said nothing about faith or believing in Him in this sermon in which He said so much about salvation and damnation. To those who understand the inseparable correlation between belief and behavior, however, this sermon presents no problem. People who obey Jesus show their faith by their works. Those who don’t obey Him don’t believe He is the Son of God. Not only is our salvation an indication of God’s grace toward us, so is the transformation that has taken place in our lives. Our holiness is really His holiness.

Jesus concluded His sermon with a final warning and summarizing example. As you would expect, it is an illustration of His theme—Only the holy will inherit God’s kingdom.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them [literally, “does them”], may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them [literally, “does not do them”], will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall (Matt. 7:24-27).

Jesus’ final illustration is not a formula for “success in life” as some use it. The context shows that He was not giving advice on how to prosper financially during tough times by having faith in His promises. This is the summary of all that Jesus had said in His Sermon on the Mount. Those who do what He says are wise and will endure; they need not fear the wrath of God when it falls. Those who don’t obey Him are foolish and will suffer greatly, paying “the penalty of eternal destruction” (2 Thess. 1:9).

While on the subject of prayer, Jesus digressed a little to offer more specific instructions to His disciples regarding how they should pray. Jesus wants us to pray in such a way that we don’t insult His Father by denying, through our prayers, what He has revealed about Himself. For example, since God knows what we need before we ask Him (He knows everything), there is no reason to use meaningless repetition when we pray:

And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him (Matt. 6:7-8).

Truly, our prayers reveal how well we know God. Those who know Him as He is revealed in His Word pray to the end that His will be done and that He be glorified. Their highest desire is to be holy, fully pleasing to Him. This is reflected in Jesus’ model prayer, what we call the Lord’s Prayer, contained next in Jesus’ instructions to His disciples. It reveals His expectations for our priorities and devotion:^[1]

Pray, then, in this way: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:9-11).

The foremost concern of Christ’s disciples should be that God’s name be hallowed, that it be respected, revered, and treated as holy.

Of course, those who pray that God’s name be hallowed should be holy themselves, hallowing God’s name. It would be hypocritical to do otherwise. Thus this prayer reflects our desire that others would submit themselves to God as we have.

The second request of the model prayer is similar: “Thy kingdom come.” The idea of a kingdom implies that there is a King who rules His kingdom. The Christian disciple longs to see his King, the one who rules his life, rule over the whole earth. Oh, that everyone would bow their knee to King Jesus in obedient faith!

The third request echoes the first and second: “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Again, how can we sincerely pray such a prayer without being submitted to God’s will in our own lives? The true disciple desires that God’s will be done on earth just as it is in heaven—perfectly and completely.

That God’s name be hallowed, that His will be done, that His kingdom would come, should be more important to us than sustaining food, our “daily bread.” This fourth request is placed fourth for a reason. Even in itself, it reflects a right ordering of our priorities, and no hint of greed is found here. Christ’s disciples serve God and not mammon. They aren’t focused on laying up earthly treasures.

May I also add that this fourth request seems to indicate that this model prayer is one that should be prayed daily, at the beginning of each day.

^[1] Some unfortunately claim that this is not a prayer that Christians should employ because it is not prayed “in Jesus’ name.” Applying this logic, however, we would have to conclude that many prayers of the apostles recorded in the book of Acts and epistles were not “Christian prayers.”

But, of course, God sees things differently. The “indecency” of which He spoke in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 for divorce must have been something very immoral, probably something just short of adultery.^[1] That is, a husband could lawfully divorce his wife if he discovered that she was promiscuous before or during their marriage.

In God’s mind, the imaginary man I’ve just described is no different than an adulterer. He has broken the seventh commandment. In fact, he’s even more guilty than the average adulterer, because he is guilty of “double adultery.” How is that? First, he’s committed adultery himself. Jesus later said, “Whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery” (Matt. 19:9).

Second, because his now-divorced wife must seek another husband to survive, in God’s mind the Pharisee has done the equivalent of forcing his wife to have sex with another man. Thus, he incurs guilt for her “adultery.”^[2] Jesus said, “Everyone who divorces his wife, except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery” (Matt. 5:32, emphasis added).

Jesus may even have been charging our lustful Pharisee with “triple adultery” if His statement, “and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery” (Matt. 5:32), means that God holds the Pharisee accountable for the “adultery” of his former wife’s new husband.^[3]

This was a hot issue in Jesus’ day, as we read in another place where some Pharisees questioned Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause at all?” (Matt. 19:3). Their question reveals their hearts. Obviously, at least some of them wanted to believe divorce was lawful for any cause.

I must also add what a shame it is when Christians take these same scriptures about divorce, misinterpret them, and place heavy shackles on God’s children. Jesus was not talking about the Christian who was divorced when he or she was a sinner, and who, upon finding a wonderful potential mate who also loves Christ, marries that person. That is not anywhere close to being equivalent to adultery! And if that is what Jesus was talking about, we’ll have to change the gospel, because no longer does it provide forgiveness for all the sins of sinners. From now on we’ll have to preach, “Jesus died for you, and if you repent and believe in Him, you can have all your sins forgiven. However, if you’ve been divorced, make sure you never get remarried or else you’ll be living in adultery, and the Bible says that adulterers will go to hell. Also, if you’ve been divorced and remarried, before you come to Christ you need to commit one more sin and divorce your present spouse. Otherwise you’ll continue to live in adultery, and adulterers aren’t saved.”^[4] Is that the gospel?^[5]

^[1] Under the Old Covenant, those who committed adultery were to be stoned.

^[2] Of course, God doesn’t hold her accountable for adultery when she remarries; she was just the victim of her husband’s sin. Obviously, Jesus’ words make no sense unless she does remarry. Otherwise, there is no sense in which she could be considered to be an adulteress.

^[3] Again, God would not hold the new husband accountable for adultery. He’s doing a virtuous thing, marrying and providing for a divorced woman. However, if a man encouraged a woman to divorce her husband so he could marry her, then he would be guilty of adultery, and that is more likely the sin Jesus had in mind here.

^[4] There are, of course, other situations that could be addressed. For example, the Christian woman whose unsaved husband divorces her is certainly not guilty of adultery if she remarries a Christian man.

^[5] In a later chapter about divorce and remarriage, I address this issue more thoroughly.

We should always note who is doing the speaking in any given biblical passage, as that bit of contextual information will help us rightly interpret it. Although everything in the Bible is inspired to be in the Bible, not everything in the Bible is the inspired Word of God. What do I mean?

In many passages of Scripture, the uninspired words of people are recorded. Therefore, we shouldn’t think that everything spoken by people in the Bible is inspired by God.

For example, some make the error of quoting the words of Job and his friends as if they were the inspired words of God. There are two reasons why this is a mistake. First, Job and his friends argued for thirty-four chapters. They disagreed. Obviously not everything they said could be God’s inspired Word because God doesn’t contradict Himself.

Second, at the close of the book of Job, God Himself speaks, and He rebukes both Job and his friends for saying things that were not correct (see Job 38-42).

We must take the same precautions when reading the New Testament. In several cases, Paul plainly stated that certain portions of his writings were only his own opinions (see 1 Cor. 7:12, 25-26, 40).