If comments I overhear are any indication, many have a wrong understanding of the meaning of "the letter of the law" as opposed to "the spirit of the law." It is usually used in the sense that the "letter of the law" is more restrictive (and therefore "unloving"), while the "spirit of the law" is more relaxed, more lenient, less demanding on one's life (and therefore more "loving"). That's not what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. In fact, He taught the exact opposite!
In Mt.5:20, Jesus prefaces everything He is about to say from here to the end of His discourse by stating, "For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." He then proceeds to give several examples, using the formula, "You have heard ... But I say to you ..." In each example He contrasts the false doctrine of the scribes & Pharisees with the correct interpretation of the law. His greater authority burns through His words. A prophet always prefaced his words with phrases such as, "Thus says the LORD ..." or "The word of the LORD that came to (prophet's name) ..." The scribes and Pharisees quoted renowned rabbinical scholars when they taught, "According to Hillel ..." or "According to Shammai..." Yet Jesus boldly states, "But I say to you ..." He speaks directly as God! It is His law, and He knows its true meaning. It must have knocked their socks off! No wonder the Jewish crowds hung on His every word and the religious leaders hated Him! At the end of this discourse, Matthew writes, "When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;" (Mt.7:28) and then gives us the reason why they were so amazed, "for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes." (Mt.7:29) [The Greek word translated "amazed" is a compound word (which intensifies meaning) defined as "to strike out, force out by a blow, in the sense of knocking one out of his senses or self-possession, to strike with astonishment, terror, admiration"]
In each example Jesus gives, He demonstrates how the scribes & Pharisees had reduced God's commandments to mere outward actions, the "letter of the law." In contrast, He then teaches that the law goes much, much deeper ... all the way to the heart/mind attitude. The "spirit of the law" is not content with outer action alone, but reaches all the way to the root of one's thinking. The scribes and Pharisees believed themselves righteous because they had not committed an act of adultery, an act of murder. They believed that gave them righteous standing before God. You will remember how the Pharisee prayed in the Temple, "God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get." (Lk.18:9-14)
Jesus attacks their false doctrine and aims right at their unrighteous hearts. God requires a righteousness that goes that deep! Coveting is as reprehensible under the law as doing of the deed itself. Hatred is as unrighteous as murder. Lusting after a woman leaves one as culpable before God as physical adultery. That is the "spirit of the law". Its requirements are so much greater than the mere "letter of the law". One might be able to keep the "letter of the law," but no man can keep the "spirit of the law" before a perfectly holy God. (Rom.3:10-12) Only God the Son, who willingly left the glories of heaven to take the form of a bond-servant, and be made in the likeness of men could "fulfill" the law by living in perfect obedience to every "jot and tittle" of it. (Mt.5:17-19) The second Adam succeeded where the first Adam could not. And it's only through the imputation of Christ's righteousness that God the Father can be approached. (Jn.14:6) Don't ever think that "the spirit of the law" requires less righteousness! At the end of his examples, Jesus gives the resulting conclusion to everything He had just taught, "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mt.5:48)
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