Matthew 5:17-20

“[T]here was a deep, black, wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin.”—Flannery O’Connor, Wise Blood 

“Nevertheless, I insist that if the Sermon on the Mount be construed merely as legal requirement to kingdom entrance, no one shall ever enter: can anyone meditate long on Matthew 5-7 and remain unashamed? The Sermon on the Mount provides us with a crushing blow to self-righteousness and follows it up with an invitation to petition God for favor (7:7-11), without which there can be no admittance to the kingdom. At the same time it sketches in the quality of life of those who do enter, those who petition God, ask for forgiveness, and who by God’s grace discover not only forgiveness but a growing personal conformity to kingdom norms. It is not long before their own lives begin to sum up the law and the prophets”—D.A. Carson