Sermon on the Mount: Law and Grace
A Philip Yancey Chapter Summary
The Sermon on the Mount asks us to be perfect because our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). This requires giving away all of our wealth (Matthew 19:16-30); not using the word “fool” (Matthew 5:22); inviting a bully to bully us again (Matthew 5:39); loving God with all our hearts (Matthew 22:37); and loving others, including our enemies, as ourselves (Matthew 5:44, 7:12).
Did Jesus expect us to give to every panhandler crossing our path, abandon all consumer rights, and cancel our insurance policies? Let’s learn from Russian novelists Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.
Tolstoy deeply respected God’s standards and earnestly tried to live up to them. For example, he freed his serfs, gave away his copyrights, and disposed of his estate. Yet he saw himself inadequate and was deeply unhappy. He died like a vagrant in a rural railroad station.
Dostoevsky’s novels communicate grace and forgiveness. He accepted he was ultimately unable to follow God’s standards. His solution was love. To him, we could love only if we are loved, and we love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19).
Examples of God’s forgiveness and love include Christ forgiving an adulteress, a criminal on the cross, and those who nailed Him (Luke 23:34); selecting Peter (who had denied ever knowing Him) to found His church; recruiting Paul (a murderer of Christians) to be His chief gentile evangelist; and blessing the poor in spirit, the mourners, and the meek.
Tolstoy looked at the kingdom of God within him and saw his failure. He taught us to never feel comfortable in view of God’s standards. Dostoevsky looked at Christ within him and saw grace. He taught us to always be comforted by God’s forgiving love (Romans 8:1).
The Sermon on the Mount tells us what God is like: perfect (so should we strive to be); compassionate even to those against Him (so love our enemies); and generously loving (so trust Him and don’t live in anxiety; even earthly fathers take care of their children).
The Sermon on the Mount also tells us that the Pharisees’ legalism isn’t good enough (Matthew 5:20).
Though we can never reach God’s standards, we keep striving towards them, while always relying on God’s grace through Christ.
Summary of Chap 7 “Message: A Sermon of Offense” in “The Jesus I Never Knew” by Philip Yancey
Did Jesus expect us to give to every panhandler crossing our path, abandon all consumer rights, and cancel our insurance policies? Let’s learn from Russian novelists Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.
Tolstoy deeply respected God’s standards and earnestly tried to live up to them. For example, he freed his serfs, gave away his copyrights, and disposed of his estate. Yet he saw himself inadequate and was deeply unhappy. He died like a vagrant in a rural railroad station.
Dostoevsky’s novels communicate grace and forgiveness. He accepted he was ultimately unable to follow God’s standards. His solution was love. To him, we could love only if we are loved, and we love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19).
Examples of God’s forgiveness and love include Christ forgiving an adulteress, a criminal on the cross, and those who nailed Him (Luke 23:34); selecting Peter (who had denied ever knowing Him) to found His church; recruiting Paul (a murderer of Christians) to be His chief gentile evangelist; and blessing the poor in spirit, the mourners, and the meek.
Tolstoy looked at the kingdom of God within him and saw his failure. He taught us to never feel comfortable in view of God’s standards. Dostoevsky looked at Christ within him and saw grace. He taught us to always be comforted by God’s forgiving love (Romans 8:1).
The Sermon on the Mount tells us what God is like: perfect (so should we strive to be); compassionate even to those against Him (so love our enemies); and generously loving (so trust Him and don’t live in anxiety; even earthly fathers take care of their children).
The Sermon on the Mount also tells us that the Pharisees’ legalism isn’t good enough (Matthew 5:20).
Though we can never reach God’s standards, we keep striving towards them, while always relying on God’s grace through Christ.
Summary of Chap 7 “Message: A Sermon of Offense” in “The Jesus I Never Knew” by Philip Yancey