Better Than A Pharisee

Pharisees were considered the most righteous people of their time. So when Jesus declares that "unless your righteousness surpasses the Pharisees", his audience must have been in shock. How could this be? The key is that the righteousness of a Pharisee is external and based on their own efforts. Jesus is calling a new kind of righteous people - who, empowered by the Spirit, have a new life from the inside out.