Surpassing Righteousness

Matthew 5:17-20 serves as an introduction of Jesus' sermon as he begins to break down all the misconceptions the people had with God's laws. However, even today we tend to get so caught up trying to follow our discipline that we sometimes forget why we are even doing it.

If spiritual discipline is defined as acts we take as Christians then we can view legalism as spiritual discipline gone awry. Jesus heavily criticized the Pharisees for taking God's laws and skewing them into something cold and rigid. Just like the Pharisees back in the day, we also tend to forget the heart of the law. When it comes to our daily walk with God, there are three things to keep in mind when it comes to our spiritual discipline.

1. Purpose - There should only be one purpose in your heart, and that is to know God. There is no other purpose. The moment you begin to forget this is the moment you begin to distort it
2. Practice - There is no discipline if there is no commitment. Your words will not define who you are, it will always be your actions. It is a way for you to live your life.
3. Pitfalls - Ultimately it is the danger of distortion. Don't get so caught up with following spiritual discipline that you forget why you are doing it. Because once you follow that path, you will find yourself in the presence of pride. Things like bible study, QT, going to church, etc. should be a means to God, not an ends to a mean. Think of a nice long drive way in front of a beautiful mansion. The purpose of the driveway is to lead us to the nice house, it can never be the point of the house. In other words, just because you do QT everyday, spend hours reading the bible, it does not make you better then someone who doesn't. You should be doing all this because your love for God.

After all, God loved us long before we even knew him. No matter what we do he will continue to love us, because his love is everlasting and never changes.

--from Nakwon EM August 26th 2007 Sunday Worship Service
*To listen to this sermon in its entirety, please contact James Kim

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