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Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”
This is a summative statement of Jesus, introducing the subject of righteous action through the context of what kingdom living looks like: The citizen of the kingdom of heaven is not ostentatious. Herein Jesus contrasts true against false righteousness. The entire teaching of this text is built on the principle of the 1st commandment, giving God first place in every respect.
The standard for all righteousness is God Himself, who sees what is done both in public and in secret, and is the rewarder of both right and hypocritical action (6:6). The difference is that (as C.S. Lewis pointed out) we are too easily satisfied—we want an advance on rewards.
“Beware” (prosexete): be in a state of constant alert, play close attention to, be concerned. Of all commands of scripture, this is one of few that comes equipped with a warning bell. Red Alert!
The command is specific to “you all”: manufacture righteous acts in the sight of men and receive no wage (no recompense or reward) from the Father of “you all” in the heavens.
Together with this warning is an attitude of striving—one must make certain the goal toward which he or she works is not man-centered. Show all concern to be genuine before the Father, that He may act in accord with His own display of glory.
“Here Christ expands the thought of 5:20, showing how the Pharisees’ righteousness was deficient by exposing their hypocrisy in the matters of “charitable deeds” (vv. 1–4); “prayer” (vv. 5–15); and “fasting” (vv. 16–18). All of these acts are supposed to be worship rendered to God, never displays of self-righteousness to gain the admiration of others.”
[1]Get this in your mind: you are not the object of worship, so don’t “do” righteousnesses for the purpose of gaining attention.
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[1]MacArthur, John Jr. The MacArthur Study Bible. electronic ed., Mt 6:1. Nashville: Word Pub., 1997, c1997.
