Being Righteous Enough to Enter the Kingdom

Encountering Jesus

Allen Snapp

Grace Community Church

May 31, 2026

Being Righteous Enough to Enter Kingdom

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20 ESV)

Many states across America have old laws on the books that seem crazy to us today. For instance, in Michigan it’s illegal to tie up an alligator to a fire hydrant. In Kentucky it’s against the law to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket. Over the years I’ve gotten many ice cream cones at Peaches and Cream, but I’ve never had the urge to carry one in my back pocket. And you might be interested to learn that whaling is prohibited in Oklahoma, a state that is land-locked and 500 miles away from the nearest ocean.

These laws make no sense to us today but at one time they probably served a purpose. The law against tying an alligator to a hydrant may be a throwback to when traveling circuses and exotic animal shows would come to town. The ice cream in the back pocket stems from the 1800s when horse thieves used ice cream to lure horses away without technically stealing them. The thief would put ice cream in their pocket, and when a horse followed them home attracted by the sweet treat, they could claim the animal had followed them home of its own accord. The whaling prohibition is possibly the result of OK lawmakers adopting the legal codes from a seacoast region without removing the irrelevant sections. They were cutting and pasting even back then.

To understand the sermon on the mount, we need to recognize the parallel between Jesus and Moses. Moses went up Mt. Sinai to receive the law from God and to bring it down to the people. Jesus went up a mountain and invited the people to ascend with him as he taught them the law of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is the new and greater Moses bringing a new and greater law. 

The question is, what do we do with the law of Moses? I think a lot of Christians are a little unsure about that. Does the law apply to us as Christians or is the law outdated and irrelevant to us today? Last summer Janice and I drove out to Michigan to visit my family and I didn’t see any alligators tied to fire hydrants anywhere. That could be proof that the law is working, or more likely, it’s proof that that law is meaningless because no one has 1) an alligator and 2) any desire to tie an alligator to a hydrant if they had one.

Is that what the law of Moses is to us? Meaningless? Something we just ignore – it was good for them but times have changed, we don’t need it anymore? 

I think the question of Moses and the law would have very much been on the mind of the Jews listening to Jesus on that day. It would be hard for us to overstate how important Moses and the law was to Jesus’ listeners and especially to the religious leaders. The law was the centerpiece and anchor of the Jewish faith. The law was as important to the Jew as the cross is to the Christian. Imagine a cross-less Christianity (and sadly there are those who preach a cross-less Christianity which is not Christianity at all), and you get an idea of what Judaism would be without the law. To abandon the law of Moses was to be a heretic of the worst kind, a teacher not worthy of being called a Jew, deserving death by stoning.

So the question especially on the minds of the Pharisees and scribes was, is Jesus trying to do away with the law? Is he out to destroy it? After all, from their perspective Jesus has violate the fourth commandment by healing a man’s withered hand and allowing his disciples to pluck grain on the Sabbath. The religious leaders already hate Jesus and they begin to scrutinize his teaching to determine where he stands regarding their hero Moses and the law. 

Jesus answers those questions by saying I have not come to abolish the Law and Prophets, but to fulfill them. Law and Prophets was a way of saying the entire Old Testament. Jesus didn’t come to abolish the Old Testament. Contrary to what Andy Stanley teaches, the church must never unhitch it’s theology or teaching from the Old Testament. Jesus came to fulfill, not destroy, the law. What does that mean? Several things. Jesus fulfills all the prophecies from Genesis to Malachi in particular about the One who would come and save His people. He fulfilled the foreshadowing of lambs being slain for the atoning of the people’s sins. Jesus fulfilled the law by obeying it perfectly and completely. 

Jesus upheld the unchanging, eternal nature of the law when he says heaven and earth will pass away before one dot of an “i” or cross of a “t” in the law passes away. A million years from now it will still be wrong to steal or dishonor your parents or take the Lord’s name in vain. Unlike putting an ice cream cone in your back pocket, the law of Moses will always be relevant and true. 

Jesus also fulfilled the law through his teaching on the law of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus wasn’t abolishing the law, he was revealing God’s true intent all along for the law. The religious leaders had become experts on keeping the law superficially while breaking God’s intent for the law inwardly. In the weeks to come we’ll see as Jesus teaches the law of the kingdom it doesn’t undermine the law of Moses, it puts the law on blast. 

So getting back to my question, what are we as Christians to do with the law? Two simple truths:

1. We aren’t meant to keep the law…in order to enter the kingdom of heaven
2. We ARE meant to keep the law…because we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven

Let’s unpack this a bit more…

1. We aren’t meant to keep the law…in order to enter the kingdom of heaven

Jesus said: For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 5:20

This sets the bar incredibly high. We tend to get down on the Pharisees and scribes but they took being righteous incredibly seriously and worked very hard at it. Jesus says we need to achieve a higher standard than they do. 

The men’s high jump world record was set in 1993 by Javier Sotomayer. He jumped 2.45 meters or 8’ ¼”. No one has jumped higher in 33 years. If God said to you, to go to heaven you need to jump higher than 8’ ¼” you probably wouldn’t have much hope of going to heaven. That’s what Jesus does: he goes to the highest bar they knew and he said, “this isn’t high enough, you need to go higher.” 

The Pharisees had a long list of do’s and don’ts that needed to be obeyed in their quest to be righteous. The list was made up of 248 regulations (do's) and 365 prohibitions (don'ts) for a total of 613 do's and don'ts. They didn’t keep all of them perfectly, but they worked really hard at it. That’s a high bar but Jesus says you’ve got to do better, you’ve got to jump higher. Notice he doesn’t say how much better, how much higher. If the most righteous Pharisee kept 600 of the 613 regulations and we need to be more righteous, would 601 do it? Or 609? Or all 613?

By the way, legalism is all about that: setting up do’s and don’ts that if we keep them, we’re good enough for God and if we don’t keep them, we’re not good enough for God. Legalism is exhausting because we’re always left with the nagging question, did I do enough? Did I jump high enough to please God?

When Jesus tells us our righteousness needs to exceed the Pharisee’s righteousness if we are to enter heaven, he’s not moving the bar up from 8’1/4” to 8’1/2” or 8’3/4”. More like he sets the bar at a million feet and says there’s the standard of righteousness you need to keep if you are ever to enter heaven. Jesus wants us to recognize we couldn’t do it in a million years. If we derive our righteousness by keeping the law we have no hope of entering heaven. Jesus isn’t saying try harder and jump higher. Jesus is saying you need a Savior. Jesus came to clear that million foot high bar of righteousness for us. This is the gospel and I’ll be going back to this time and again not only in this chapter but for as long as I’m preaching. Jesus did what we could not. He lived the obedient, righteous life. He died on the cross to pay for our sins with his precious blood, and for all who believe in him, Jesus gives us his righteousness as a gift. 

There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Rom. 3:22-24

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…Phil. 3:8-9.

If you struggle with legalism, my appeal is stop trying to earn God’s acceptance and approval through your performance. Receive the righteousness of Christ through faith in Christ. Be free from the treadmill of “am I doing enough?” and live in the freedom Jesus purchased for you. We aren’t meant to keep the law in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. 

2. We ARE meant to keep the law…because we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven

If legalism is on one end of the error spectrum, licentiousness is on the other end. Licentiousness is thinking it doesn’t matter what you do or how you live, God’s ok with anything. In the 2^nd century there was a guy named Marcion who taught there were two Gods, the God of Law revealed in the OT, and the God of Love, revealed in Christ. We can do anything we want, live anyway we want, and it’s ok because Jesus is all about the God of love, not the God of law. 

The Bible teaches us that when we believe in Christ, when we answer his call to follow him, the Holy Spirit takes up His residence in our hearts…and He gives us a new heart. A heart that as the law of God written on it and wants to obey God. Not to enter heaven, because heaven has entered us. 

So when people live like, it’s ok to leave my wife for a younger woman, or it’s ok to steal from my employer, it’s ok to cheat and lie in order to get ahead, it’s ok to verbally or physically abuse my spouse or children, it’s ok to dishonor my parents, the most loving thing we can say is it’s not ok. You’re not safe, your soul is in terrible danger. If there’s no evidence in your life that you have been born again and are a citizen of heaven, you probably aren’t. Repent of your sins and believe, truly believe in Jesus Christ. We can’t be saved by changing how we live, but saving faith in Christ will change how we live. 

Let’s close by hearing the words of the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus:

5 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ² And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³ But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴ Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. ⁵ For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Eph. 5:1-6