It is possible to live a religious life that has little to do with the Kingdom. That kind of life is all pomp and circumstance but no substance; confession but no obedience. The prophet Isaiah addressed this kind of religiosity:
And so the Lord says,
“These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.” Isaiah 29:13
As Jesus concludes his sermon, that is precisely the kind of religious life he implores his listeners to avoid. Keep seeking, keep asking,…keep obeying.
