Restoring Apostolic Faith

Matthew 6:1–18 — Faithfulness Seen by the Father

If Matthew 5 relocates the Law to the heart,

Matthew 6 relocates righteousness out of public performance.

Jesus does not introduce new commands here.

He exposes a deeper problem: who righteousness is being performed for.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them…” (Matt 6:1)

The issue is not obedience.

It is audience.

A righteousness that seeks recognition has already received its reward.

Giving, Prayer, and Fasting — Same Warning, Three Expressions

Jesus now cycles through three core expressions of Jewish piety:

• almsgiving

• prayer

• fasting

These were not fringe practices. They were central to faithful Jewish life. Jesus does not criticize them. He assumes them.

What He challenges is where righteousness is aimed.

Each section follows the same pattern:

1. a public performance

2. public recognition

3. a completed reward

And then the counter-vision:

“Your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”

This is not withdrawal from community.

It is liberation from approval.

Giving Without Display (6:2–4)

Generosity becomes distorted when it becomes visible currency.

Jesus’ language is intentionally sharp: trumpets, announcements, visibility. These are not literal practices so much as exposed motivations.

Giving that requires notice is no longer gift—it is exchange.

The Father’s economy works differently.

What is unseen is not lost.

It is secured.

Righteousness is not diminished by secrecy.

It is protected by it.

Prayer Reoriented — Communion, Not Performance (6:5–8)

Jesus’ critique of public prayer is not about posture or place. It is about purpose.

Prayer that seeks human admiration has already traded intimacy for attention.

Likewise, He rejects prayer that treats God as a mechanism—repetition without relationship, words without trust.

The line that reshapes everything:

“Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”

Prayer does not inform God.

It aligns the disciple.

The Prayer That Forms Allegiance (6:9–13)

The so-called “Lord’s Prayer” is not a mantra.

It is a formation prayer—reordering priorities.

Its movement is deliberate:

• God’s name before our needs

• God’s Kingdom before our daily bread

• forgiveness received before forgiveness given

This is not abstraction.

It is allegiance trained into language.

Notably, the prayer assumes dependence. Daily bread. Daily mercy. Daily deliverance.

This is righteousness lived one day at a time—not stored, performed, or displayed.

Forgiveness as Covenant Indicator (6:14–15)

Jesus’ immediate return to forgiveness is jarring unless read covenantally.

Unforgiveness does not cancel grace; it exposes misalignment with it.

Those who have truly received mercy will reflect it. Not perfectly—but recognizably.

Forgiveness here is not sentiment.

It is allegiance behavior.

Fasting Without Visibility (6:16–18)

Fasting exposes motives like few other practices.

It touches hunger, discipline, dependence, and self-control. That is why it tempts display.

Jesus again redirects:

do not make devotion visible to gain credit—let it be visible only to God.

Hidden obedience is not inferior obedience.

It is mature obedience.

What Matthew 6 Reveals About Righteousness

By the end of 6:18, the pattern is clear.

Righteousness that:

• seeks recognition

• depends on visibility

• feeds on approval

is already compromised.

The righteousness Jesus calls for:

• is real even when unseen

• is faithful without witnesses

• trusts the Father’s sight more than human validation

This is not private faith.

It is undivided allegiance.

Where This Is Headed Next

Matthew 6 is not finished speaking about divided hearts.

Jesus will next turn to:

• treasure and loyalty

• worry and trust

• masters and allegiance

Because the same question keeps pressing:

Who are you living for—and who do you trust to see you?

That question will close the chapter.