The Most Abused & Misused Verses in The Bible (Pt. 1)

Introduction to Truology and the Call to Study Scripture

Welcome to Truology, where we study Christian theology, philosophy, and apologetics. We do critiques on scholars, politics. We look into events in both classical and modern-day issues. We do interviews, debates, and much more.

Our goal is providing a Christian resource to edify the saints and to engage the community. But most of all, we want to glorify the Lord through our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. So, stay with us as we open up the Word of God and look into everything pertaining to life and godliness.

My name is Belushi Prevalon, coming to you from the Boston area. And right now, you are listening to Truology, the study of the truth, as it is in Jesus. Welcome to Truology. My name is Belushi Prevalon.

I am your host. You can find me on YouTube at DrBlueTheTruologist. On Instagram, I'm available at StudyOfTheTruth. On Spotify, where you can vote for the next episode, you'll find us at Truology. And, of course, on X at BePrevalon.

Hermeneutics, Exegesis, and the Need to Read in Context

Now, before we launch into today's episode, I would like to quote N .T. Wright. N .T. Wright is a theologian, and I do not fully endorse everything he says. But in this quote, it seems that he expresses specifically what we are going to be addressing on today's episode.

Quote,.

End quote. This is N .T. Wright expressing his admiration for Doug Moo and his faithfulness to what the Bible says. And though he says himself that he doesn't agree with Doug Moo, he admires the fact that Doug Moo, instead of allowing his tradition to formulate his theological conclusions, he lets the text guide them.

And that's exactly what we're going to be dealing with today on Truology. My title for this episode is, See, we all have traditions, and not all traditions are bad. But there are some traditions that seem to cloud the meaning of what the Scriptures say.

And traditions should not guide Bible meaning. We must be faithful to the text, just as N .T. Wright admires Doug Moo's exegesis and the way he allows himself to commit to what the Scripture is revealing.

So must we be faithful to the text. We must seek to know what the Bible actually does say. And from what it says, we must seek to know what it means. And from what it means, commit ourselves to obey and act upon it.

We will do this through what is called hermeneutics and exegesis, which leads us to our theological conclusions. Now, if you don't know what hermeneutics and exegesis is, we will certainly define those very soon as we go on.

But for now, I want you to understand that this is for everyone. This is not just for pastors. I truly believe everyone from the middle schooler, the high schooler, to the college student, to the soccer mom, and even the PhDs among us are able to do this.

Hermeneutics and exegesis is just studying the Bible. You know, being diligent enough to be a student of Scripture, a true disciple of what the Word of God is milking to us. So this is for everyone, not just for trained ministers or seminarians or people who go to Bible college.

Now, of course, ministers ought to feed the flock of God, and they're endowed and blessed of God in a gifted church to be able to expound Scripture. But, you know, it doesn't end on Sunday morning with the sermon.

Traditions lead to a dullness of understanding of the Scriptures. You know, every church has its specific culture and atmosphere, and, of course, that economy affects what we believe about certain things.

And, you know, you might hear something said in church, and it kind of becomes commonplace, and it becomes, you know, just the natural assumption that our church says we believe this, and, you know, you don't really seem to investigate it yourself.

You kind of just take it for granted. And over time, it becomes tradition, and we kind of just hold to it by default. And because of that, there's really no incentive to really try to derive the real meaning from it.

I want to challenge you and help you to understand the duty to study, to show ourselves approved unto God, because this is going to be an important facet of our lives forever, so long as we are living upon earth, before we are consummated with Christ in heaven, of course.

We are called to know what God has revealed in His Word, and to act upon it, and to diligently communicate it, not just to one another, but to the world. In today's episode, I'm actually going to plan to go a little long, maybe about almost an hour here.

Maybe I'll probably break this episode up into several parts. Maybe this will be part one, and then maybe another episode will do part two. But right now, I want to go over Colossians 2, Matthew 7, 13, and Matthew 24, 34.

You see, my motto is, whatever you believe, defend it. And when it is brought under scrutiny, defend it in light of scrutiny. And if it stands in scrutiny, then hold to it. But if it falls, let it fall, and continue to study.

You see, the most abused and misused verses in the Bible tend to be the verses that we swear by, the ones that we feel like we know like the back of our hands. But in actuality, when we quote them, when we use them in a practical manner, they're very shallow, and they don't have much effect upon our lives, because the traditions have, you know, in a deleterious form, has grown over it, and has really hidden the true meaning of what the Bible has said.

So I hope in this episode, you'll learn something, and you'll track with me here, and grapple the main idea that is being brought forth from the text that we will be addressing. Now, I'd like to clarify what I'm not saying versus what I am saying.

First of all, what I'm not saying is that a verse can't have multiple applications. Obviously, a verse can have multiple applications, but the application must relate to the original interpretation. Why?

Because every verse in the Bible has a fundamental meaning, and if we are going to apply it to ourselves, it must not hang loosely by itself, but rather derive from the original meaning of what the author intended.

Now, in a church sermon context, in a Sunday morning atmosphere, you know, a pastor might think that, you know, it'll take too long to catch everyone up to speed on what is going on in the context, but I would like to say, what does the Bible actually say?

What principles are laid out before us when we're addressing the Word of God before other believers? In Acts 6 -4, we are told that the apostles delegated responsibility to deacons so that they could focus on praying and to the ministry of the Word.

They felt that it was important that they had a concentrated time set apart seeking God and what His Word says so that they could bring it forth to all those that were getting saved around Jerusalem. I'm not saying that, you know, we can't personalize Scripture.

What I'm saying, essentially, is that whatever Scripture seems to be saying, it needs to guide how we personalize it and apply it to our situation in our lives. A common mistake is to read a piece of Scripture and jump straight to the application or ask an applicational, you know, question that, you know, we seek to have believers think about as we, you know, bring forth the main idea or the message.

But honestly, I think that's a wrong approach because we should first call the congregation to look at the text, bring out what is being said in the text, and then from all that is laid out before us and what God has revealed, seek to make application and allow the Holy Spirit of God to essentially accomplish what His Word has declared.

You see, I'm not saying here that, you know, everyone is absolutely wrong and I am right. Of course, I would be very arrogant. You know, my honest intent here is to be, as someone who loves the Word of God and believes that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable, I've been moved to start this podcast because I believe in the truth and I want to communicate the truth in love and with grace and with patience to anyone that would take the time to listen to this so that they can learn and hopefully better from it for the Lord Jesus' sake.

So, what I'm not saying is I have it right and everyone has it wrong, but rather I'm willing to be corrected and I'm open to it. So, I would greatly appreciate a feedback, but essentially, you know, I'm going to interpret Scripture in light of Scripture to be able to lay down a case for what I believe are the most misused and abused verses in the Bible.

Exegesis Before Interpretation and the Science of Bible Interpretation

Now, let me further clarify now what I am saying in greater detail. First of all, I'm saying that exegesis precedes interpretation and application, right? Exegesis means a critical explanation or analysis of the text.

It's exposition. As a matter of fact, the word exegesis is actually in the Bible. You probably didn't notice it because it's in the Greek. In John 1 -18, we are told that Jesus is the only one who is in the bosom of the Father and he hath declared him.

You know, that phrase, he hath declared him, is what it means to exegete. Jesus is the one that has made the Father known. He has brought forth who the Father is. And when we read Scripture, we are to lead out of the text.

We are to show what the text really means, right? And isn't that what the Lord Jesus did throughout his ministry? He declared who the Father was and he revealed the Father, and those who saw him would see the Father.

So exegesis must precede interpretation and application. We can't just skip the order there or else we can, you know, unintentionally bring some abuses and misuses of familiar texts. Secondly, what I am saying is that there is a science to Bible interpretation.

Yes, there is a science to Bible interpretation, right? We must begin with our observations. This is when we scan the Bible. This is when we take notes and we gather information. We're tracing and tracking the thought, which leads to our interpretation, where we explain our observations and we make our summaries and we make our statements, which then connects straight to our correlation.

This is where we strengthen what the Bible is saying with other passages of the Bible, or we ask ourselves, where have I seen that before? And we go back and we relate them to one another based on the themes that are being tracked there.

This is how we witness Scripture with Scripture, so that our conclusions become strong. And when our conclusions are strong, we then have a responsibility to apply the text from its own persuasion. This is where Scripture becomes relative to us, right?

Of course, Scripture is objective in its revelation, but when the meaning is found and God reveals it to our minds, there is a necessity for response. This is where the application comes from. There is a blessing in the Bible that says that the Word of God, it converts the soul.

It refreshes us. And the great blessing of studying God's law is that it enlightens our eyes and it rejoices our hearts. So if we allow the science of Bible interpretation to have its proper orders, we should begin with observation, which leads to interpretation, which finds its way into correlation, and then finally application, and ultimately transformation and sanctification.

And one day, glorification, which is the greatest of all blessings. I want to encourage you that all that I just said really is not just for trained people that go to Bible college or seminaries. It's not just for the guy that stands behind the pulpit on Sunday morning.

It is for everyone. The only difference is a difference of degrees. You might not have the same sources or the same resources or the same tools, or the same experience, but everyone is able to do this.

We live in a great part of history where we all are able to have a full Bible. As a matter of fact, most of us have the Bible on our phones. We can always be studying and reading Scripture, meditating therein so that we can grow.

We should always desire to get all that we need from it and not be satisfied with just simply glazing over the common passages that are relative to us. Thirdly, our desire should be to understand the author's intent.

Why? Because holy men of God were moved by the Holy Ghost in a specific time and place and for a specific reason to write what they wrote. Therefore, we should conform our beliefs to the Scriptures. We should examine our traditions, just like N .T. Wright admired Doug Mu, Doug Mu's commitment for not allowing his tradition to cloud over what the Bible was actually saying.

So must we seek to get into the mind of the authors who were moved of God to inscriptuate for us, providentially preserved today, what God wants us to know. So now this brings us to our topic for today, which is the most abused and misused verses in the Bible.

How are we going to address these things? Well, I want to address these things based on their specific abuse or misuse. So that means that each verse is going to kind of be addressed differently. Maybe some verses will take a little more time than others.

Some will be a little more quick and because, you know, different verses are applied different ways or they're abused in different manners. So I'm going to just directly address the problems that have been brought forth by certain traditions or bad exegesis.

If you disagree with me, consider whether the reason why you really disagree is because you've never actually really thought these things through. You know, we tend to have an automatic response when we hear something that is contrary to something that our pastor said or something that we have by default just, you know, taken for granted.

So if you disagree, I would like to encourage you first to think about these things. Go back and look through the verse and maybe study it out on your own in the context or address some of my own explanations and contact me.

Comment or, you know, all my social media links are provided. So I am purely open to discussion and willing to be corrected. So long as it can be defended and when scrutiny is brought against it, in light of scrutiny, it can be addressed.

Colossians 2:8 and the Problem of Anti-Intellectualism

So with that being said, let's take a look at our first verse, which is Colossians 2 .8. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to quote the verse and then I'm going to go straight into the common meaning, say a few things about that, and directly contrast it to the biblical meaning and what I believe is the proper application and meaning of the verse rather than the common abuse and misuse.

So let's get into it. Colossians 2 .8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. The common meaning typically is stay away from philosophy.

It's secular and pagan and dangerous for Christians to do it. Don't bother. All you need is the Bible, not philosophy. This common understanding really grew out of an anti-intellectualism that originated in the 1900s during the modernist controversy of the church.

And if you don't know what that is, the fundamentalist modernist controversy was a major schism that originated in the 1920s and 30s within the PCUSA, which is a formal Christian denomination. At issue were foundational disputes about the role of Christianity, the authority of the Bible, and the death, resurrection, and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Two broad factions within Protestantism emerged during this time, the fundamentalists who insisted upon the timeless validity of each doctrine of Christian orthodoxy and the modernists who advocated for a conscious adaptation of the Christian faith in response to the new scientific discoveries and moral pressures of the age.

Now, you know, during the late 1800s, Charles Darwin propagated the theory of evolution, and this led to the anti-intellectualism that was dealt with in the modernist controversy, which led to a scholarly skepticism.

During this time, if you were a Christian and you were a scholar in the realm of academia, you were seen as someone who was potentially a threat to the Christian church, and eventually this really outputted into a separatist kind of ideal of the Christian church where the Christian church more or less really separated itself from secular endeavors and really focused on things like evangelism and Christian theology within the walls of the Christian church.

These separatist ideals really continued to increase this pessimistic biblical outlook or eschatology within the church, which ultimately led to what we're dealing with today, Christians really against the idea of doing philosophy because they ultimately think it's pagan and it leads people into impracticality and away from Christian truths because knowledge puffs you up.

You know, someone who is a Christian needs to rely less on being too formally and densely rational and thinking about, you know, philosophical questions and surmising about what is the really real and rather focusing more on having faith in a personal devotion.

The biblical meaning, in contrast to this, you know, stay away from philosophy attitude, I believe the verse is teaching that Christians are to beware of a certain kind of philosophy, one that is not grounded in Jesus Christ, but born through men and their traditions.

In other words, a tradition that is rooted in worldly understanding and not after Christ. And, you know, it's appropriate for why this is the biblical meaning because the backdrop of all of this, the Colossian epistle, is Gnosticism and the Judaizers, right?

Who believed in these secret knowledges and higher, you know, esoteric means of attaining, you know, a personal intellectual salvation, right? There was an infiltration of false teachers in the church.

So it's appropriate for the Apostle Paul to exhort the Colossian church to beware of a certain kind of philosophy that is grounded in this worldly tradition of men and not after Christ. By confession, it is admitted that, you know, we agree that we should do philosophy, but functionally, we don't actually acknowledge the discipline of philosophy as something that needs our immediate attention.

We haven't realized the context in which we live yet. We are not aware of all these sorts of antagonistic viewpoints, like secularism, that permeate our society today. And it is foolish for us to say, we're not going to do philosophy.

In other words, we are not going to engage in properly developing and articulating a Christian viewpoint or worldview against that which already is permeated our communities, i .e. secularism, which really is riding off the tail end of, you know, scientism and those late 18th century articulations of evolution from Darwin.

We are still feeling the ramifications of the Christian church retreating rather than advancing and conquering this modern day nonsense. C .S. Lewis said, good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.

And we cannot have a proper answer for bad philosophy if we never actually standardize our own philosophy or actually derive it from our internal beliefs, which come from the Bible. A quick exegesis of this passage in Colossians 2 .8, I believe, correctly refutes this do not do philosophy attitude.

Let's look at it. Beginning with our opening exhortation here, Paul says, beware, right? When he says beware, what he is saying is he is calling us to be cautious. This word beware literally means to look at, or in other words, pay attention to.

And it makes sense because, you know, the sister epistle to the book of Colossians is the book of Ephesians. In Ephesians 5, we find Paul saying, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

See then that ye walk circumspectly. He is calling Christians to beware and be cautious of immorality and things that are, you know, grounded in the immoral and rebellious prideful nature of man, but rather to walk circumspectly, being wise and knowing what the will of the Lord is, right?

So it makes sense that in this sister epistle in Colossians that Paul is dealing not only with the Gnostic background of false teachers, but he's also calling believers to basically just pay attention and be aware, you know, keep your ear open.

If you hear anyone teaching contrary to anything that is really rooted in Christ, a proper outlook that is foundational and built upon him. So what are we supposed to be aware of according to this verse?

Lest any man's spoil you, right? This word spoil literally means to rob or to lead away as booty. So Paul does not want us to be unaware or caught off guard by what? Through philosophy. He doesn't want us to be caught off guard, stolen away from Jesus Christ through the medium of philosophy.

Philosophy is typically the discipline that is used to, you know, convince and persuade people one particular way or another. The kind of morale that is behind the medium of philosophy that is being used to carry Christians away is with evil ends, right?

He says through philosophy and vain deceit. This is how they're using their philosophy, deceitfully or with trickery or with, you know, as the Gnostics are very esoterically, you know, very hidden in higher knowledges that only a certain few can actually grasp at this time.

Right. So Paul tells us that we need to be stay away from this kind of philosophy, which is used deceitfully after the tradition of men. In other words, this is the kind of philosophy that is, you know, not grounded after Christ, but it is in its foundational aspects built upon the fallen nature of man, false religion, humanism, pride and rebellion.

And that's the only thing that's the only place it could take you in that actual direction. Not one that is humble and submissive to the lordship of Jesus Christ, but one that is created by man and ultimately is reflective of all the attributes of fallen man.

So our philosophy should be rooted in Christ. And it makes sense that Paul would say beware of a certain kind of philosophy here, because Paul himself isn't necessarily opposed to having a proper philosophy himself.

During Acts 17, when he stood at the Areopagus and spoke and made his case at Mars Hill towards the secular philosophers, he answered many philosophical questions that they themselves were dealing with at this time.

What were those answers? Well, he answered the one in the many dilemma. What is the really real? In other words, the metaphysical question. He answered what the purpose of life and ethics and the direction of history was during that time.

He said God that made the world and all things therein. Paul used God as the foundation for his outlook on life. And through it, he proclaimed the gospel. And that's what we should do. We should get into academia and harness the discipline of philosophy with a commitment to Christ.

So that way, our viewpoint can be consistent with what we internally believe. And as we express and articulate it, just like all Christians have for generations upon generations up until the late 20th century, it's clearly obvious that we cannot escape to do philosophy.

You either do it really well or you do it badly. Where is your philosophy going to be grounded? Is it going to be grounded in the revelation of God, or is it going to come out of the rudiments of the world?

Norman Geisler, in regards to philosophy, said this, The Christian depends on philosophy to render the credible intelligible. Let me read that again. The Christian depends on philosophy to render the credible intelligible.

In other words, understandable or meaningful. So we must understand our task in philosophy, which is actually twofold. The first task of the Christian philosopher is to find reliable presuppositions. In other words, reliable beliefs.

Listen, if you have proper theology, the first task of a philosopher, it should already be taken care of for you. Because the first task of a philosopher is to find reliable presuppositions or beliefs, ultimate truths.

Our theology establishes those foundations already. We believe in the uniformity of nature. We believe in the laws of logic. We know what the purpose of life is through God's revelation. We know what the nature and character of man is and what his ends are.

We have reliable presuppositions as we look at the world and those around us. That's the first job of the philosopher. So through Christian theology, we have our first task taken care of. What is the second task of the philosopher?

The second task of the philosopher is to build a coherent outlook. In other words, put together a worldview. So we need first to find reliable presuppositions, and then we are to put those reliable presuppositions in a coherent worldview.

That's what philosophers debate and talk about. They are asking questions upon questions so they can find presuppositions that are reliable. And they're trying to take all the reliable ones they can find and build up a structure or worldview, a proper outlook that is coherent and consistent.

The Christian is not excused from this. So to use this verse as a way of saying that Christians should not do philosophy is necessarily telling Christians that they should not have a worldview or ever develop one.

And that cannot possibly be the meaning because we see an example of Paul in Acts 17 doing exactly just that. Showing us what a proper Christian outlook really looks like. One that is grounded in Christ Jesus and is able to confront and answer all the questions that were commonly being debated about in Paul's time.

So we need to have a proper worldview. A worldview defined according to Greg Bonson is this. A worldview is a network of presuppositions that is not tested by natural science in terms of which all experience is related and interpreted.

In other words, worldviews are package deals. If you are an empiricist who believes that truth can only be known through sensory experience, you cannot be someone that believes in immaterial things that you cannot directly contact like laws of logic.

If you have an empirical outlook, that package comes with certain elements. In order to be consistent in an empirical outlook of truth and reality, you must use what's in your box, so to say. If you are a Hindu and you believe that all is one, there is no distinctions in life.

The difference between buying a dozen eggs or two dozen eggs at the grocery store really means that you are neglecting to realize that there are no actual distinctions in your actual viewpoint. That's just a basic example, but it's just to further illustrate that our worldview allows us to interpret all things.

In order for us to properly interact with things that are not just physical and immaterial, we need to have a worldview that makes sense out of all of those things. In conclusion, this verse is exhorting us to view Christ as the one through whom wisdom is deposited.

We are complete in Him and need no other means of acquiring knowledge. We are to be cautious of proponents advocating for a means of attaining knowledge and wisdom apart from Jesus Christ. Norman Geisler also said,.

Since all truth is God's truth, and since philosophy is a quest for truth, then philosophy will contribute to our understanding of God and His world. And I would say amen to that. Absolutely correct. Philosophy is a love of wisdom and truth, and therefore no other kind of person than the Christian should be more excited to seek and develop a proper understanding of life and clear thinking than the Christian.

Matthew 7:13-14 and the Narrow Way in the Sermon on the Mount

Our next verse is going to be Matthew 7, verse 13 through 14, which reads, Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.

Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. The common meaning is usually, most people are going to hell, but only a very small amount are actually going to make it to heaven.

And reasons are given for this, that Jesus is teaching that the way to heaven really is narrow. To find true religion is very hard. Jesus is the only way, and out of so many, out of a plethora of ways being presented to people these days, Jesus is teaching that because He is the only way, He is going to be hard to find in the midst of such falsehood.

The amount of true believers, then, is believed to be demonstrably slim, because in a context in which we live, there's many megachurches and liberal evangelicalism, and where people are compromising for easy doctrine in place of hard-to-deal-with doctrines, like doctrines of Christ being the only way, doctrines of His imputation of righteousness, and that you cannot do it on your own, and many people, because they are idolatrous inherently, cannot take that hard doctrine to throw it all to Christ.

So, commonly cited here, most people are going to hell, but only a very small amount are actually going to make it to heaven. Contrary to this is the biblical view, which I believe is the true and more precise view, which is, if you follow the unrighteous teachings of the Pharisees, you will live contrary to God's purposes and precepts in the law, which will ultimately lead to a surprise at the judgment, where you would have thought that you were living for Christ the entire time, but He will turn to you and say, I never knew you.

And the reason for this is because, remember, this is part of an entire sermon, and that might be surprising to hear, but what kind of conclusions would you make if you walked into the last 15 minutes of a movie you've never seen before, and you started to make conclusions?

How precise would you be? Well, not very precise at all. Neither should we make dogmatic conclusions through a verse like this, unless we understand that it is actually part of an entire sermon. The subject of the sermon is true righteousness, contrasted with the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

We are at this point near the conclusion of the sermon, where Jesus is basically wrapping what He is saying up in this statement. Obey Jesus' teachings and avoid error. Build your life on what He has taught, and you'll be considered a wise man, but if you don't, you'll be considered a foolish man, who when the storms beat against it, great will be your fault, right?

And the reason why Jesus has said, many there be which go in there at, is not necessarily pointing to the fact that most people in all of human history are going to end up in hell, but rather because many people at this time, at this time when He is preaching, were already following the Pharisaical teachings.

And this is echoed later on with people like Paul, who have said things like, you know, in the last days perilous time shall come, where it'll be made manifest that men are living, you know, pridefully and wickedly and immorally, because of what they've been taught and what they're teaching themselves, and those who are clearly against the people of God are being made manifest.

So, the biblical meaning is, if you follow the unrighteous teachings of the Pharisees, you will live contrary to God's purposes and precepts in the law, which will ultimately lead to a surprise at the judgment.

Obviously, I am not against the teaching or application that this has on our eternal destiny. It's right there. But what I want to know is what Jesus was actually really saying when He preached this. And to support that, I want to give a case through the contextual proof that leads up to this interpretation.

Let's consider first the fact that Jesus began to preach after 400 plus years of prophetic silence. You know, between Malachi and Matthew is what is known as the intertestamental period, which leads up to John the Baptist, who was the forerunner of Christ.

And when Christ came after John the Baptist into the regions, it says that Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So, first, let's consider that Jesus began to preach after 400 something years of prophetic silence.

And His message was to calling people to repentance and calling them to acknowledge that the kingdom of God was in arm's reach. Secondly, let's consider that Jesus taught and reformed hope in people. And in the book of Matthew, following Jesus' trail of preaching there, it says that He went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

So, Jesus brought great light, which was contrary to the burdensome teachings of the day brought about by the Pharisees, and who is preaching the gospel of the kingdom, the good news of the kingdom, which is kind of a lost proclamation in our modern context, because the good news of the kingdom is the good news of God's rule in and through His people, the restoration of true righteousness and justice being established, messianic blessing to the people of God.

Right now, people are sitting in the shadows, and here is Jesus bringing about this great message of salvation and a life that proceeds out of it, true righteousness. Third, let's consider the fact that this sermon, the sermon opening sets the stage for Pharisaical corruption.

Jesus says in His opening of the sermon, Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.

So, we see here that, you know, in His opening that Jesus already sets the stage for what He is going to be talking about, and which leads me to this. Jesus openly addressed the problem. In Matthew 5 .20, Jesus says, For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

You know, later on in the Gospels, we see Jesus kind of echoing the same theme here, where He warns the disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees, right? So, Jesus here is already addressing the problem, saying that except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

Which means that, you know, He's getting ready here to teach them about the true morality, not the fake morale of the age from the leaders. Jesus then contrasts old teachings with His own. He says, Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery.

But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. So, remember, 400 years of Pharisaical development had taken place at this time.

So when Jesus says that you have heard it said of old time, He is not talking or referring to Moses. And the reason why that's a fact is because in verse 17, from where we are right here in verse 27 and 28, Jesus had already said, Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets.