"Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." - Jesus (Matthew 5: 19-20)
Teachers beware. That is Jesus' message in these two sentences and He makes the point razor sharp. The teachers of His day were not teaching "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" and He was not happy about it. I am not sure about the "great" and "least" thing and what that means exactly, but undoubtedly His point is this a teacher is to live out His commands and teach others to do the same. (see Matthew 28:18ff) Anything less than that was unacceptable and His warning is unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
So, we're dealing with serious stuff here... stuff that will keep someone out of the kingdom of heaven. This is not the only place that teachers are warned about the importance of teaching truth... But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse! (Galatians 1:8) and Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly (James 3:1). Teaching someone the truth found in God's word is a great responsibility and the teacher must use great care and diligence.
I don't want to put the entire responsibility on the teacher. Certainly it is the hearer's responsibility to make sure that what they are taught and accept as truth is just that...truth. Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11) Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15) So, there is shared responsibility, the teacher must teach truth and the hearer must verify it. Then, Jesus tells us that when truth is given and understood, it must change us... make us righteous. (the whole wise and foolish person thing found at the end of chapter 7 of Matthew)
It is important for us to understand that Jesus expects us to learn His will and submit to it. The idea that every good person is going to heaven is just not Biblical. To see the kingdom of heaven our righteousness must exceed that of those that Jesus saw as hypocrites, those that talked a good game but didn't live it out.
I'll give you an example of teaching that is not found in scripture, but is almost universally accepted. This is taught in churches around the world every Sunday, yet not a single scripture can be quoted to establish it as a valid Biblical teaching. When the invitation is given, when the preaching is finished and people are encouraged to respond to the gospel call of Jesus... they are told to "pray Jesus into their hearts". That is not Biblical. There is not a single instance of that being the response to the gospel, yet this Sunday millions of people will be instructed to do just that. I don't know where it started or why it continues, but I know it is not Biblical. (if you know a single verse that would teach that, please give it in the comment section) The Biblical response can be found in numerous places in scripture, but turn to Acts 2 and find a great presentation of the invitation to become a Christian. (and then do it)
So, what's His point in all this? Jesus expects us to learn His commandments and teach them in their entirety and He expects us to live them out. Doing so will open the doors to the kingdom of heaven, both to each of us and to those we teach. Doing less than that makes us like the scribes and Pharisees; and we know how He felt about them... "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are." (Matthew 23:15) Teach truth!! Live it out!! Enter the kingdom!!
Wise or Foolish?
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