Great in the Kingdom

Great in the Kingdom:

Living Under the Law of Christ

Today, we are talking all about how to be great in the Kingdom.

Recently, we spent time looking back at the Old Testament and forward to how Jesus completely fulfills it. But in seminary, after years of intense study and schooling, probably the single most important lesson I learned can be boiled down to two simple questions: "So what?" and "Then what?"

So what if Jesus died for our sins? I accept Him, and then what? I just go to heaven? What about right now? Do I just sit around and wait until I die? What does God actually expect me to do with my life today?

Jesus doesn't leave us guessing. He not only shows us what to do, but He lays out exactly how we can be great in the Kingdom of Heaven. He gives us the exact blueprint for how we ought to live right now.

Before we can truly understand what Jesus means by "greatness," we have to answer a few foundational questions: What commands is He talking about? If He is referring to the Old Testament Law, why aren't Christians keeping all of those ancient rules today? And if we aren't under the Old Law, what does Jesus expect us to obey?

What Commands Is Jesus Talking About?

In Matthew 5, Jesus speaks directly about "these commands." He makes a massive deal out of them, stating that how you handle them determines whether you are called the least or great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

He is talking about the Old Testament commands. Jesus had just been discussing the Law and the Prophets, which was the standard Jewish phrase for the entire Old Testament. Jesus insists that He did not come to abolish the Old Testament. When He says, "until heaven and earth pass away," He is showing that God's Word is not a temporary draft that eventually gets thrown out. God's Word has a clear purpose yesterday, today, and forever.

Jesus holds the Scriptures to the highest possible standard. In essence, He tells the crowds, "You think I'm setting the Old Testament aside? I hold it higher than any of you have ever imagined."

Where society lowers the standard to make obedience comfortable, Jesus upholds it.

Where people look for legalistic loopholes, Jesus closes them.

Where folks ignore the "smaller" commandments, Jesus honors them all.

"For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished." — Matthew 5:18

We love to look at the Pharisees and judge them, but we play the exact same games. We champion the "big" commands that make us look holy on the outside—we don't commit murder, we don't commit adultery, and we pay our tithes. But we quietly excuse the "least" commands—we hold on to bitterness, tell little white lies, hold grudges, and walk around feeling entitled rather than grateful.

We play lawyer with God's Word. We ask, "How close can I get to the line without technically sinning?" instead of asking, "How can I completely honor God with my life?" We measure our holiness against the culture instead of against Jesus, sitting back and thinking, "Well, at least I'm not as bad as them."

Jesus calls out this self-righteousness. He says that if you treat even the smallest command as negotiable, you have missed the entire point of the Kingdom. Why? Because He is driving the crowd to realize that they need a righteousness far greater than anything they can manufacture on their own. They need Jesus.

You Need Jesus (Because Human Goodness Isn't Enough)

To understand Jesus' point, we have to clear up a common misconception about the Pharisees. We often flatten them into mustache-twirling hypocrites, but in Jewish society, they were the most respected, dedicated religious law-keepers around. Their devotion earned them real authority. Everything about their lives was built around doing things the "right way." Yet Jesus drops a bombshell on His listeners: the Pharisees are not righteous enough.

This would have been absolute shocking to the crowd. Jesus wasn't telling people to work a little harder; He was telling them that their entire approach to righteousness didn't work. Why weren't the Pharisees good enough? They didn't have a lack of obedience; they had the wrong kind of righteousness. Their righteousness was all about self-elevation and external performance.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity." — Matthew 23:27

The Pharisees weren't total fakes—they were deeply passionate. Paul, a former Pharisee, described his pre-conversion life under the Law as "blameless" (Philippians 3:4–6) and noted how zealous he was for the traditions of his fathers (Galatians 1:14). By any human metric, these were the guys you would want as your Sunday School teacher, deacon, or pastor.

Yet Jesus says they couldn't be further from the Kingdom of God. "For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." — Matthew 5:20

Jesus isn't saying, "Just be a decent person," or "Just look like a Christian in front of others." He is saying that unless your righteousness surpasses the guys who dedicate every waking second to rule-keeping, you have no shot on your own.

That is why we need Jesus. He didn't just demand a higher righteousness—He lived it for us, and He gives it to us.

How Do These Commandments Relate to Us Today?

If Jesus fulfills the Law for us, does that mean the Old Testament commands don't matter anymore? Are we required to keep the dietary laws, offer animal sacrifices, and observe every ceremonial command? No.

Notice the two crucial "until" statements in Matthew 5:18:

"Until heaven and earth pass away" — God's Word is eternal and will never fail (Matthew 24:35).

"Until all is accomplished" — God's Word reaches its intended goal and fulfillment.

Jesus isn't saying every single Old Covenant ritual must be practiced until the end of human history. He is saying that every part of God's Word reaches its complete purpose in Him:

The sacrificial lamb hasn't been thrown away—it was fulfilled by Jesus on the cross.

The Levitical priesthood didn't fail—it was fulfilled by Jesus as our High Priest.

The purity laws haven't gone away—they were fulfilled by Jesus, who cleanses us from the inside out.

"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." — Romans 10:4

We are no longer under the Old Covenant Law as a system for righteousness because Jesus fulfilled it on our behalf.\

The Law of Christ

What remains for the believer today? The Law of Christ.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:21 that though he is free from the Old Covenant civil and ceremonial system, he is "under the law of Christ." As theologian Douglas Moo explains, the Law of Christ is "the authoritative teaching of Jesus, interpreted and applied by His apostles, for those living under the New Covenant."

Instead of focusing on external ceremonial rituals, Christ's teachings target the inner motivations of the heart. Released from the burden of trying to earn salvation through rule-keeping, we are freed to fulfill the core of God's heart:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind... Love your neighbor as yourself." — Matthew 22:37, 39

When Jesus says "these commandments," He refers to the scriptures that point to Him. Christians don't offer animal sacrifices or abstain from pork, but we pursue the true holiness, love, truthfulness, and righteousness those laws always pointed toward.

What Makes Someone Great in the Kingdom?

So, what does it mean to take God's Word seriously under the New Covenant? Jesus makes it crystal clear that the difference between the "least" and the "great" in the Kingdom comes down to two things:

What you DO.

What you TEACH.

"Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." — Matthew 5:19

Kingdom greatness isn't about how much Bible trivia you know, how loud you agree with a sermon, or how impressive you look to others. It is about whether you do what God says and teach others to do the same without making excuses or cutting corners.

What You Do

We can easily fool people on the outside, but we know our true motives. We know what we are like when no one is watching, and we know the legalistic loopholes we try to jump through.

We often tell ourselves that small compromises don't matter, but scripture shows that small disobedience carries massive consequences:

Lot's wife looked back in lingering desire when fleeing Sodom and was turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).

David took a prideful census, resulting in severe judgment across Israel (2 Samuel 24).

Moses struck the rock in anger instead of speaking to it, costing him entry into the Promised Land (Numbers 20:7–12).

On the flip side, God celebrates obedience in the seemingly minor things:

The poor widow who gave two small copper coins was praised by Jesus for giving more than all the wealthy donors (Mark 12:41–44).

Dorcas, who quietly served poor widows by making clothes, was raised from the dead by Peter, leading many to trust in the Lord (Acts 9:36–39).

What You Teach

Why do we try to loosen God's commands? Because they are hard!

Forgive people who deeply hurt you.

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Tell the absolute truth even when it costs you financially or socially.

Put others before yourself consistently.

Instead of obeying, we offer convenient cultural excuses: "God knows my heart," "That's just how I am," "I'm not hurting anyone," or "Nobody's perfect." We use these phrases to dodge what we know we ought to do.

In today's church culture, people rarely want to be told to change. They want a spiritual pat on the back telling them they are doing great despite difficult circumstances. But the Word of God doesn't cater to our comfort—it pierces through like a double-edged sword to expose our true motives (Hebrews 4:12).

When Jesus speaks on money, divorce, taking up our cross, or sharing the gospel with people who disagree with us, we cannot look for loopholes or quietly drop the topic. Bending the Bible to fit modern culture—or assuming God didn't really mean what He said for us today—is a dangerous path. How we live and what we teach others carries eternal weight.

"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea." — Matthew 18:6

Main Application: Greatness Is Measured by Faithfulness

We don't get to cherry-pick which commands of Jesus are worth obeying. We don't get to minimize the difficult ones, excuse the uncomfortable ones, or remain silent on the unpopular ones. If Jesus is our King, we trust Him enough to obey what He says—and we love others enough to teach them to do the same.

Kingdom greatness isn't about being impressive; it's about being faithful.

Challenge

Identify one "small" area in your life that you have been minimizing, excusing, avoiding, or ignoring—and align it with Christ today.

We all have that one habit, that one relationship, or that one area of compromise we make excuses for. Stop filling up your schedule to avoid it, stop rationalizing it, and surrender it to Jesus.