It is impossible to be righteous before God with an unrighteous mindset toward God’s Word.
Jesus declares this truth when He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 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 5:17-20).
In yesterday’s blog, we noted Jesus’ righteous mindset toward the Scriptures accurately recognized their content. A second essential characteristic is: He reverently respected their authority.
Jesus’ attitude toward the Scriptures was one of submissive reverence. He was not a rebel—seeking to abolish, overthrow, or demolish God’s authoritative will. He was going to replace the Old Testament with His New Testament by living in absolute harmony with the Law and Prophets’ smallest letter (i.e. yod or “jot”) and tiniest pen stroke (i.e. a “tittle”).
Jesus obeyed every letter of every word of every sentence of every book.
Even when the prospect of obedience caused Him such distress that His sweat was as drops of blood.
Even when obedience necessitated a savage, cruel, brutal, humiliating, public execution.
“Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day” (Luke 24:46).
A Christian is to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5). To be righteous like Jesus you must have an attitude of submissive reverence for all of God’s will, not just the parts you prefer.
Good part 2 on how we are to have a proper mindset toward scripture.