Do you study to show yourself approved? Do you study the Bible in the same way you study other books, or the subjects you were taught in school? Can you acquire insights from the Bible the same way you do in class? This is possible, but you get uninspired results, and you can tell the difference between messages based on academic inquiry and messages from God. The prophets of old said that the word of the Lord came to them. Has this ever happened to you? Does this seem like a passive rather than active means of inquiry?

Do you believe in redemption? Do you practice it? Do you think it was an event that I did once and for all on the cross? There is a sense in which that is true, but in another sense you can take part in it. Do you want to? Consider John the Baptist who proclaimed prepare ye the way of the Lord. Consider those who do and teach my commandments. Consider those who are kind to the least of these, and give a drink of cold water as a disciple. Consider those who lay down their lives for their friends. Anything you do to proclaim or demonstrate the Kingdom of God is a redemptive act.

I said that except your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees you would not enter the Kingdom of God. Do you know enough about the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees to know how shocking this statement was? By their own standards they excelled and they applied spiritual principles to every aspect of life as an expression of total commitment. Many of their practices have direct equivalents among Christians today. So it was a strong statement for me to say that you had to do better than that. Does this imply a different standard for righteousness?

Do you think of honor and humility as opposites? You look at those who grasp for honor for themselves and see no humility in them. Yet what about those who are honored even though they did not pursue it? Do they seem humbled to be recognized? Has this ever happened to you? I spoke of those who gave alms and did other good deeds before men to be seen of them, and said that they already had their reward. But I told my followers to do their good deeds in a way that would not draw attention to them, and that their Father in heaven would take notice and reward them openly.