The "Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) has received diverse interpretations.
Some people have viewed the teachings of Jesus Christ as the proper moral guide for living.
Others have claimed that the Sermon on the Mount proves that Jesus came as a great teacher, one who provided the perfect basis for life, demonstrating that the Christian life is very hard.
Other pastors have shared that the first part — the Beatitudes — outlines what the believer will become when they receive Christ Jesus into their lives.
Point of fact, the Christian life is impossible to live in our strength.
For that reason, Paul wrote:
"I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me, and gave himself for me.
"I do not frustrate
the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is
dead in vain." (Galatians 2: 20-21)
and also
"But by the
grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was
not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the
grace of God which was with me." (1 Corinthians 15: 10)
Yet the grace of God is never mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount.
In fact, the Sermon on the Mount focuses on what we must do.
Yet the Gospel is all about God's grace:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God:" (Ephesians 2: 8)
and
"10But by the
grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was
not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the
grace of God which was with me. 11Therefore
whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. " (1 Corinthians 15: 10-11)
So, what's going on?