Matthew 5:20 (ESV) 20For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. The Pharisees had the cleanest drinking cups in Jerusalem. But their hearts were much different than their cups because inside their hearts they embraced pride and self-centeredness and self-sufficiency. The outside looked good but inside was a perfect storm of ungodliness. Jesus says it is not what goes into our mouth that makes us unclean but what proceeds outward from our hearts. What we want is a clean heart before God and a clean heart is a heart trusting fully in the Lord Jesus and resting in his righteousness. When we see Jesus as Savior and God, we see ourselves as totally dependent upon him and then in our dependency upon Christ God declares us righteous. It is what’s on the inside is that counts and what is on the inside needs to be none of me and all of Jesus. When Jesus is on the inside (Galatians 2:20) that’s when we know things are right – In Him. Amen.
