Matthew 5 to 7 contains the Sermon on the Mount which is a collection of Jesus' teachings to his disciples. Initially come the famous beatitudes: "The poor in spirit inherit the kingdom of heaven... those who mourn will be comforted... the meek will inherit the earth... those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled... the merciful will be shown mercy... the pure in heart will see God... the peacemakers will be called sons of God... those persecuted because of righteousness will inherit the kingdom of heaven". Jesus then goes on to say that Christian disciples are the salt of the earth influencing society for good... and they are the light of the world shining for God through what they do. Then Jesus says that he has not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it and stresses that true righteousness must exceed superficial external obedience as practiced by the Pharisees.
Jesus then goes on to specific topics of Christian ethics starting with murder which he of course condemns, but not just physically but he condemns the anger and hatred in the heart which is its root cause. So too Jesus condemns adultery which stems from lust in the heart. Jesus next values marriage but admits divorce in the case of "marital unfaithfulness". Jesus then clearly teaches that Christians should always be truthful and "let your yes be yes, and your no be no", without needing to swear by oaths. Jesus replaces "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" with "if someone strikes you on the right cheek, give him the other one also". Jesus also teaches "love your enemies and pray for persecutors... be perfect, as your Father is perfect".
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