Why did Jesus Preach the Sermon on the Mount?

That is the question asked by John MacArthur at the end of the Daily Reading for today, January 5th, in the MacArthur Daily Bible from Grace to You Ministries (www.gty.org).

MacArthur comments:

The Sermon on the Mount is a masterful exposition of the law and a potent assault on Pharisaic legalism, closing with a call to true faith and salvation (Matthew 7:13-29). Matthew is keen to show the arror of the Pharisees for the benefit of his Jewish audience - not for personal or self-aggrandaizing reasons."

One of the things that strikes me about scripture overall, and The Sermon on the Mount specifically, is that if you really consider the tone, focus and context ... MAN could not and would not have written it. This is just not the way humans think or talk. (Read The Sermon on the Mount sometime through that "lens tint" and see for yourself.)

MacArthur continues his comments with that very thought and intent:

Christ expounded the full meaning of the law, showing that is demands were humanly impossible (Matthew 5:48). this is the proper use of the law with respcet to salvation: it closes off every possible avenue of human merit and leaves siners dependent on nothing but divine grace for salvation (c.f., Romans 3:19-20; Galatians 3:23-24). Chrst plumbed the depth of the law, showing that its true demands went far beyond the surface meaning fo the words (Matthew 5:28, 39, 44) and set a standard that is higher than the most diligent students of the law had heretofore realized."

Where then DOES that leave the "religions" of today that stress or emphasize ANY personal merit to achieve heaven, salvation, or forgiveness?? It leaves them woefully short ... and leaves man "dead in his trespasses and sins".

Let The Sermon on the Mount be BOTH edification for the believer, and an unmistakable witness to the unbeliever that there is NOTHING that he/she can do to earn salvation.

NOTHING ...