Gospel of the Kingdom: Scriptural Studies in the Kingdom of God by George Eldon Ladd

Author:George Eldon Ladd [Ladd, George Eldon]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Eerdmans Publishing Co - A
Published: 1959-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER VI

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE KINGDOM

IN the Sermon on the Mount our Lord describes the righteousness of the Kingdom. The importance of this Kingdom righteousness is found in Matthew 5: 20, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” The Sermon on the Mount outlines the conditions of entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. This verse links together the future and the present aspects of the Kingdom. The qualification for entrance into the future Kingdom is a present righteousness, a righteousness which exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees. What kind of righteousness is this?

The righteousness required for entrance into the future realm of God’s Kingdom is the righteousness which results from God’s reign in our lives. The Kingdom of God gives to us that which it demands; otherwise, we could not attain it. The righteousness which God requires is the righteousness of God’s Kingdom which God imparts as He comes to rule within our lives.

In our text the righteousness now demanded is set in contrast with the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees. This is significant because the Scribes and Pharisees were profoundly interested in righteousness. The Scribes were the professional students of religion. They were the men who gave their full time, like professors in a theological seminary, to the study of the Scriptures and whose main objective was the definition of righteousness. The Pharisees were those who accepted the teachings of the Scribes—their disciples who put their teachings into practice, thereby aiming to achieve a life of righteousness.

The Scribes and their disciples were motivated by the sole concern of achieving righteousness. Yet our Lord says that His disciples must possess a righteousness which exceeds that of the Pharisees. How can this be done? The Scribes had developed an enormous body of law to define what was right and what was wrong. They devoted more attention and study to the definition of righteousness than any of us do.

For instance, the law says that men should not work on the Sabbath Day. If righteousness consists of obedience to law, the law must be explicit. The question then arises, “What is work?’ If conformity to the will of God is defined in terms of law, then one must know precisely when he is obeying the law and when he is breaking it. The Scribes and the Pharisees did not leave anything to private judgment or to the leading of the Holy Spirit. They wanted a definition of what was right and what was wrong in every possible situation. Therefore they had compiled a great mass of tradition providing this necessary definition of righteousness which became embodied in the Mishnah and later still in the Talmuds.

What is work? Let me illustrate the problem. As I come home from worship on the Sabbath I see a dead leaf on a rose bush beside my walk. I stop and pick off the dead leaf. Have I worked? Probably not.

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