If Part 1 showed us how Jesus took the Law and revealed its impossible standard, then Part 2 zeroes in on the heart of His most famous teaching—the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7). And let me just say this upfront:

The Sermon on the Mount was never meant to be a new checklist of moral rules.

See yourself through it but not in it

It was a divine mirror held up to humanity, showing just how far we’ve fallen and how deeply we need grace.

But here’s the issue I keep seeing over and over again: Pastors and teachers take the Beatitudes and the rest of the sermon and preach it like it’s the new Christian “to-do list.” They’ll say things like, “We need to be poor in spirit. We need to be peacemakers. We need to go the second mile. We need to love our enemies and never lust and never get angry…” and on and on.

Don’t get me wrong—those things are beautiful. But if you approach them as rules to be followed, rather than spiritual truths to be fulfilled by Christ in us, you’re setting yourself (and your congregation) up for either deception or despair.

Let’s be real: when you water it down—when you take these incredibly radical teachings and say, “Oh, Jesus just means you should try your best,”—you miss the entire point. You’re deceiving yourself into thinking you’re “doing okay.” And when that happens, you don’t come to the realization that you can’t keep the Law, which means you miss the very purpose of it.

Paul nails this in Romans 3:20:

“Through the law comes knowledge of sin.”

The Law—including the “higher standard” Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount—was given to show us our need. Not as a self-help guide.

Jesus was in the Old Covenant

Remember this: Jesus was still under the Old Covenant when He preached the Sermon on the Mount (Galatians 4:4). The New Covenant hadn’t started yet—He hadn’t died and risen. So He was speaking to a people still under the Law. And instead of giving them a new, gentler version, He turned the heat way up. Why?

Because He wanted to expose the heart.
He wasn’t saying, “Here’s a new way to perform better.”
He was saying, “Here’s how holy God really is—and how far off you are. Now come to Me.”

Not to live

The problem is when people take the Beatitudes and the rest of the sermon and try to live it out. We’re not called to live the Sermon on the Mount. It was meant to show that it is hard to keep. I know this will ruffle a few feathers but for those who disagree, now that you are a believer, can you keep the law? Are you open to gouging your eyes? It was a tutor till Christ came and it showed us the real way to live- We’re called to live by the Spirit, and let Christ’s life in us produce these things naturally as fruit.

Galatians 5:16 gives us the answer:

“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

Because otherwise, what you’re left with is what Paul calls “religious flesh”—that ugly combo of legalism and self-effort, where you’re trying to produce righteousness without depending on God.

That’s what the Pharisees were doing. That’s why Jesus was so hard on them. And that’s why He said that our righteousness must exceed theirs (Matthew 5:20)—not because we need to work harder, but because we need a different kind of righteousness. One that only comes by grace.

So if you’re reading the Sermon on the Mount and feeling overwhelmed—good. That’s where it’s supposed to take you. Not to a “try harder” mentality, but to the cross.

The Gospel is not do better.
The Gospel is you can’t—but Jesus did.

In the next blog, we will discuss how we have watered down the Law for our comfort!