(25) And it shall be our righteousness.--In one Targum, "It shall be merit to us," or more fully, in the other, "It shall be merit laid up for us against the world to come." In the LXX., "It shall be alms to us." This conjunction of ideas will help to explain why in Matthew 6:1 "alms" and "righteousness" occur as alternative readings. We have "alms" in the Authorised Version, "righteousness" in the Revised Version. To this day the Jews call alms ts'dakah, "righteousness." Verse 25. - And it shall be our righteousness; literally, And righteousness shall be to us, i.e. we shall be held righteous by God if we observe to do all that he has enjoined (comp. Romans 10:5; Romans 6:16; Philippians 3:6). Before the Lord, i.e. not only in his sight, but according to his judgment, so as to be approved of him (cf. Psalm 56:13; Psalm 116:9). if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us; in order to have such a justifying righteousness, a man must keep all the commandments of God, not one excepted; and that perfectly, without the least breach of them in thought, word, or deed; and that before the Lord, in his sight, not as it may appear to a man himself, or to others, but as it appears to God, who sees the heart, and weighs all actions; and a man must keep them in the manner the Lord has commanded, even with all his heart, soul, and strength, as in Deuteronomy 6:5 and this is not possible for a sinful man to do; and therefore righteousness cannot be by the law. Only Christ could thus keep all the commandments of God, and his obedience is our righteousness; and he only is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes, and to him we must seek for it. |