Jesus immediately unfolds what He meant when He stated our righteousness must go deeper than the meticulous rule-abiding Pharisees.

True righteousness begins within. Likewise, unrighteousness begins within us. So Jesus made the astonishing statement that God counts hatred as murder.

Pastor Chuck Swindoll traces Jesus’ argument in Matthew 5:21–26 to help us see how kingdom-living begins in the heart, how anger has far reaching consequences, and how the radical spiritual power of reconciliation is stronger than revenge.