| Geneva Study Bible For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. People's New Testament 5:20 Your righteousness shall exceed. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees has just been referred to. See Mt 3:7. They claimed to be the teachers and examples of righteousness, but they lacked the humble spirit of true obedience. Wesley's Notes 5:20 The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees - Described in the sequel of this discourse. Scofield Reference Notes Margin righteousness Mt 5:6,10,20 See Scofield Note: "Rom 10:10" Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 20. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees-The superiority to the Pharisaic righteousness here required is plainly in kind, not degree; for all Scripture teaches that entrance into God's kingdom, whether in its present or future stage, depends, not on the degree of our excellence in anything, but solely on our having the character itself which God demands. Our righteousness, then-if it is to contrast with the outward and formal righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees-must be inward, vital, spiritual. Some, indeed, of the scribes and Pharisees themselves might have the very righteousness here demanded; but our Lord is speaking, not of persons, but of the system they represented and taught. ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven-If this refer, as in Mt 5:19, rather to the earthly stage of this kingdom, the meaning is that without a righteousness exceeding that of the Pharisees, we cannot be members of it at all, save in name. This was no new doctrine (Ro 2:28, 29; 9:6; Php 3:3). But our Lord's teaching here stretches beyond the present scene, to that everlasting stage of the kingdom, where without "purity of heart" none "shall see God." The Spirituality of the True Righteousness in Contrast with That of the Scribes and Pharisees, Illustrated from the Sixth Commandment. (Mt 5:21-26). Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 5:17-20 Let none suppose that Christ allows his people to trifle with any commands of God's holy law. No sinner partakes of Christ's justifying righteousness, till he repents of his evil deeds. The mercy revealed in the gospel leads the believer to still deeper self-abhorrence. The law is the Christian's rule of duty, and he delights therein. If a man, pretending to be Christ's disciple, encourages himself in any allowed disobedience to the holy law of God, or teaches others to do the same, whatever his station or reputation among men may be, he can be no true disciple. Christ's righteousness, imputed to us by faith alone, is needed by every one that enters the kingdom of grace or of glory; but the new creation of the heart to holiness, produces a thorough change in a man's temper and conduct. | 
