The Surpassing Righteousness
_Matthew 5:20 (NET) For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven._
Deryl wanted to live a life that pleases God. He understood that if a man walked righteously in the fear of the Lord, he would be pleasing to the Lord. He tried to live a holy sanctified life and avoided all appearances of evil. But in his heart, he knew that something was still wrong. He was not walking in the reality and power of the kingdom of heaven.
After several months of trying his best and inquiring what could be wrong, he had a dream that made him realize that he had little faith. He trusted more in his ability to obey God than in the faithfulness of Jesus to preserve him from falling. He was always afraid of failing because of this.
The Pharisees were one of the strictest sects of the then-Jewish religious world. They were very particular about their understanding and adherence to the law of God. As far as conditioning your flesh and mind to obey the requirements of the law of God was concerned, the Pharisees were at the top of the ladder. But their righteousness was based on trust in themselves to obey God, so it was floored. They had so disciplined themselves over so many years that they could muzzle their flesh and put it in subjection to their will which had been trained to obey God's law, but they had no way of dealing with the sinful nature of the heart.
Walking in holiness without understanding faith is a fruitless mission. In order for a believer to truly walk in God's holiness and reap the fruit of God's power, he must be grounded in faith. Righteousness by faith is always superior to righteousness by works [which is depending on one's ability to obey God]. If you stop depending on your ability and start trusting in the Lord Jesus as the reason why you will not fail, your faith will produce such true righteousness from within that the righteousness of the pharisee doesn’t even come close to.
Go into today remembering to trust in the faithfulness of Jesus as the reason why you will not fall.
Confession: I belong to Jesus and I obey Him. He is the reason why I will not fall but inherit The Kingdom at last.
—Abraham Damilola Arigi
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