All of the aspects of the reality of the kingdom mentioned in Matthew 5 are related to life. Our natural life simply cannot produce the six items of the inward condition and the three items of the outward state. By our natural birth we are dust, not salt. We become salt only by regeneration. Once our nature is changed, our character is also changed. We become salt instead of dust because we have a new life. We have a new nature, a new element, and a new character by which we are the salt of the earth.
In addition, by the new life we are also the light of the world. John 1:4 says, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." We are the light because we have the life. If we did not have the divine life, we could never be the light. We are the light of the world because we have received the divine life. The life is the light. To say that we are the light of the world means that we have the divine life.
When we read that the kingdom of the heavens requires surpassing righteousness, perhaps our thought is, "Who can do this?" However, at the end of chapter five we are told that we are the sons of our Father. This means we have the Father's life and nature. We are not adopted sons; we are sons born of the Father. Therefore, we have His life and nature (2 Pet. 1:4). There is perfection in His life, and we have His life. Our primary responsibility is to give the Father's life every opportunity to develop within us. The developing will be the perfecting. If we allow the life within to be developed, eventually the development of this life will be our perfection. It is not a matter of our doing.
When I was in Christianity as a youth, I heard many sermons which quoted verses from Matthew 5. In every case they applied this chapter to the improvement of human behavior. But the requirements of the kingdom cannot be met by improved behavior. No matter how much we improve ourselves, we are still dust and not salt. We can be salt only by receiving the life, nature, essence, and substance of God. When God's divine life comes into us at the time of regeneration, we are transformed from dust into salt. Also, when we receive God's life, we become the light of the world.
In Matthew 5:20 the Lord Jesus mentioned the surpassing righteousness as a requirement for entering into the kingdom of the heavens. "Unless your righteousness surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens." This qualification of excelling righteousness is also the marriage garment mentioned in 22:11-14 and Revelation 19:8. According to Revelation 19, the Bride will be clothed in fine linen, which is the righteousnesses of the saints. Three portions of the Word—Matthew 5:20, 22:11-12, and Revelation 19:8 all indicate one thing: in order for us to enter into the marriage feast during the millennial kingdom, we need the surpassing righteousness. As we have already seen, this righteousness comes out of our enjoyment of Christ. When we received the Lord Jesus, He came into us and became our enjoyment. As we eat Him and enjoy Him day by day, He will have the opportunity to spread into our being and transform us. By this, Christ will be matured within us. This spreading and maturing of Christ within us will become the surpassing righteousness, the marriage garment, required for attending the marriage feast. To receive Christ into us qualifies us for salvation; to have Christ matured within us qualifies us for the marriage feast.
This corresponds to the concept of the kingdom that we have been emphasizing throughout this book. What is the kingdom? It is simply the Lord Jesus coming into us and being matured in us until the kingdom comes in full. If we would not allow Him to mature within us, how can we be in the full coming of the kingdom? Christ is the seed of the kingdom. Although He has entered into us as the seed, He needs to grow in us and mature in us. If we give Him the opportunity to mature within us, we will certainly participate in the harvest, the full coming of the kingdom. The maturity of Christ within us is the surpassing righteousness and will also be the marriage garment qualifying us to attend the marriage feast. Receiving Christ into us qualifies us for salvation; allowing Christ to mature in us qualifies us for the marriage feast.