The Sermon On The Mount

The Sermon On The Mount

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

The Sermon on the Mount was our Lord’s “ordination sermon” for His apostles (Luke 6:12ff.). The theme is God’s righteousness as contrasted with the hypocritical righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (5:17–20; Matt. 23). The sermon is not a second Law with new commandments. It goes much deeper than the Law because it deals with internal attitudes as well as outward actions. It presents a picture of the truly righteous person and shows the spiritual principles that control his or her life.

Jesus opened the sermon with a description of the truly righteous person (5:1–16). Then He defined what sin is (5:21–48) and what real righteousness is in the areas of worship (6:1–18) and wealth (6:19–34). He concluded with warnings against making hypocritical judgments (7:1–12), following false prophets (7:13–20), and failing to obey God’s will (7:21–29).

You are not saved by trying to obey the Sermon on the Mount any more than you are saved by trying to keep the Ten Commandments. Because they involve inner attitudes, the demands of the Sermon on the Mount are much more difficult than those found in the law of Moses. Only the true believer in Jesus Christ can put the Sermon on the Mount into practice (Rom. 8:1–4).

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