So many of us [Christians] are subscribers to the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees without even knowing it. We hear that phrase, "Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees," and we imagine the bottom-line being hypocrisy. But at this time, Jesus wasn't too big on the hypocrisy: that didn't come until later. And can we really believe that all Pharisees and scribes were corrupt and hypocritical? No, of course not! That's like assuming that all priests are child-molesters just because a tiny few are (and a sad thing, too). So what is the righteousness of the scribe and Pharisee, if it isn't hypocrisy?

The scribes and Pharisees, even the most devout and holy, made following God all about keeping the law, not about becoming the kind of person whose deeds naturally conform to the law. A lot of times, in our Christian circles and in our churches, at our prayer meetings and our small groups, we surf the wave that says, "Keep the law and you are righteous." No, no, no! The law won't make us righteous! Instead we need to be saying, "Become the kind of people God wants - to be like Christ, to be new creations (this is what matters) - and then following the Law will come naturally."

If we get away from the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees, and really understand- and pursue - this new reality of not so much 'doing stuff for God,' but 'being someone for God,' is it unreasonable to assume that our lives on a whole will be changed? Is it unreasonable to assume that keeping the law will become second-nature to us? Is it unreasonable that, in pursuing and attaining this righteousness of Christ, we will find that we are obeying the Law without too much effort? Is it unreasonable to believe that we will become the kind of people the Bible talks about when describing the children of God? Is it unreasonable that we will become the kind of person who is patient, kind, free of jealousy, and so on if we pursue conforming to Christ instead of just keeping the Law to the letter?