In examining the introduction to The Sermon on the Mount, we can say without question that Jesus preached this message primarily to Jewish believers who had already accepted Him as their Messiah. Consequently, Jesus is not dealing here with the subject of how one is saved, but rather how a believer in HIm, who already stands justified to life, must live. Throughout this sermon, Jesus contrasts Christian behavior with how the Jews were raised with the legalistic teachings of the scribes and Pharisees. The Christians’s righteousness, Jesus says, must be different from theirs.