Is there a connection between holiness and heaven? We are currently looking at a passage found in Matthew 5, the introductory part to Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount, and we’re looking at a very pivotal, pivotal section in Matthew 5:17-20.

Jesus is talking about the fact that He hasn’t come to abolish the law and the prophets, but rather, He’s come to fulfill them, and the law and the prophets will not pass away until heaven and earth pass away, and therefore, whoever annuls any of the commandments found in the law and the prophets, they’ll have a lesser status in heaven. Remember we read that on our previous Little Lesson.

If there’s a New Covenant and an Old Covenant that has passed away, why do Christian Bibles contain the Old Testament?

We’ve been working our way through Matthew 5, the first part of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. We have looked at a very pivotal verse, I believe: Matthew 5:17, where Jesus told those who had gathered that day to hear Him, “Don’t think I came to abolish the law and the prophets. I didn’t come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Then He says in the very next verse, “Truly I say to you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished.”

Is the Old Testament relevant to New Testament Christians? We’ve been enjoying looking verse-by-verse at Matthew chapter 5, which is the first of three chapters which incorporate Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. A sermon spoken to his disciples who gathered to listen to Him one day on a hilltop in Galilee.

We just finished the section on the previous Little Lesson about Jesus’ words of us being the light of the world, and not hindering that light from shining, and so forth.

What is the secret to getting your light to shine? We’ve been working our way through Matthew, chapter 5, the first part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. We looked at the Beatitudes, all the characteristics of those people who are blessed by God.

They’re blessed because He’s done something in them that has transformed and changed them, that makes them like the people that Jesus described in the Beatitudes. We can tell if we’re blessed or not blessed by looking at our lives, looking for the work that God has done in us.

How can salt become unsalty? That’s something I’ve been wondering a long time.

We’ve been working our way through the beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount, and looking at all the characteristics of the people who were blessed, that is the people who are on the road to eternal life, and asking ourselves the question, Am I among the blessed? Which is another way of saying am I amongst the saved? Am I amongst those who have been touched by the Holy Spirit and then transformed.

Is everybody saying nice things about you? Well, if so, I feel so sorry for you! We’re working our way through what are referred to as the beatitudes. At the beginning of the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus tells us who are the blessed people. And there’s only one kind of blessed person, the person who’s on the road to eternal life.

Are you a peace maker? Welcome to today’s little lesson, as we continue working our way through the Beatitudes. These are the characteristics of the blessed, and all the blessed people share to a greater or lesser degree in all of these characteristics.

If we have them, we know we’re blessed. If we’re lacking them, we’re not among the blessed. And so, this is a way to gauge whether your salvation is authentic or not. Are you really born again? Have you really believed in Jesus? Well, just read the Beatitudes and see if you can identify with them.

There is outward holiness and there is inward holiness, and you’ve got to have inward holiness if you’re going to go to Heaven. Stay with me.

Welcome to today’s Little Lesson as we continue working our way through the beatitudes. Another way of titling these beatitudes would be the characteristics of the blessed, or another way of titling them would be the marks of those who are going to Heaven or the characteristics of those who are saved, because all of these beatitudes are reflections of the transformation that occurs in the lives of those who truly believe in Jesus and believe the gospel. We’ve seen that over and over again through the first beatitudes.