The believers who live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens practice the higher law of the kingdom of the heavens and have the surpassing righteousness. In 5:17-48 the Lord Jesus decreed the law of the kingdom people. As the children of our Father, we must now fulfill this new law, the higher law, through the resurrection life, the eternal life of the Father.
In verse 20 the Lord said, “I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens.” Righteousness does not refer only to objective righteousness, which is the Christ whom we receive when we believe in Him and thus are justified before God (1 Cor. 1:30, Rom. 3:26); it refers even more to subjective righteousness, which is the indwelling Christ lived out of us as our righteousness that we may live in the reality of the kingdom today and enter into its manifestation in the future. This subjective righteousness, which is according to the new law of the kingdom, surpasses the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. It is impossible for our natural life to gain this surpassing righteousness; it can be produced only by a higher life, the resurrection life of Christ.
In Matthew 5:48 the Lord said, “You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” For us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect means that we are perfect in His love. We are the Father’s children, having the Father’s divine life and divine nature. Hence, we can be perfect as our Father is perfect. The demand of the new law of the kingdom can be met only by the Father’s divine life, not by the natural life. The kingdom of the heavens is the highest demand, and the divine life of the Father is the highest supply to meet that demand.
Matthew 6:1-18 speaks concerning the righteous deeds of the kingdom people. The Lord said, “Take care not to do your righteousness before men in order to be gazed at by them; otherwise, you have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens” (v. 1). Righteousness here denotes righteous deeds. Man’s flesh, seeking to glorify itself, always wants to do good deeds before men in order to gain men’s praise. However, the kingdom people, who live in an emptied and humbled spirit and walk in a pure and single heart under the heavenly ruling of the kingdom, are not allowed to do anything in the flesh to gain the praise of men but must do all things in the spirit in order to please their heavenly Father. Their doing righteous deeds is not to gain man’s glory but to receive the Father’s reward.
The believers should live by the Father’s divine life and walk according to their spirit. Hence, they are required to do good things in secret, not in public (vv. 3-4). Public exhibition does not correspond with the mysterious, hidden nature of the divine life.
In all His illustrations, regarding giving alms, praying, and fasting, the Lord Jesus used the word secret (vv. 4, 6, 18). We must do our righteous deeds in secret, for our Father is in secret. As children of the heavenly Father, we must live in the presence of the Father and care for the Father’s presence. The Father sees in secret whatever we do in secret for the Father’s kingdom. The Father’s seeing in secret is an incentive for doing our righteous deeds in secret. Eventually, the Father will repay us. This may take place in this age (2 Cor. 9:10-11) or in the coming age as a reward (Luke 14:14).