IDEA: Keeping the spirit of the Law goes beyond the commandments to the principles on which the commandments are based.
TEXT: "For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20).
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand what keeping the spirit of the Law means.
Keeping the spirit of the Law is often contrasted with keeping the letter of the Law. What do those two terms mean?
I. The spirit of the Law deals not only with the commandments but with the principles on which the commandments are based.
How is our righteousness to be greater than that of the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law?
Our inclination is to believe that we are to keep more rules.
Righteousness is always "right relatedness" to God and to others.
That is why, when Jesus sums up the Law, He talks about loving God and loving our neighbor as the ultimate principle.
Is this principle Jesus laid down the letter of the Law or the spirit of the Law?
II. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus goes beyond the letter to the spirit of the Law.
How does he interpret the Ten Commandments?
You shall not kill: anger, hatred.
You shall not commit adultery: lust.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor: Don't swear at all but let your word be your bond.
We can see the principle at work when we look at the positive that lies behind the negative. What is the principle?
You shall not kill: You shall protect your neighbor's life.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor: Let your word be your bond.
Do not covet: Be satisfied with what God has given.
III. Is it really more freeing to live by the principles rather than the letter?
The answer can be both Yes and No.
The principles are much less defined for us, but they go beyond the particular commands. They are not less than those commandments.
"You shall not steal" goes beyond the commandment to the fact that you should protect your neighbor's property.
Going by the spirit should not lead us to the breaking of the principle.