9. How did Jesus show that our obedience to God’s law is demonstrated in more than our actions and words? Matthew 5:20-21, 27-28, 43-45.
NOTE: ‘Many who had regarded the commandments as prohibiting actual crime but reaching no farther, now perceive that the law of God should be obeyed in spirit as well as in letter. In this manner Jesus takes up the commandments separately and explains the depth and breadth of their requirements, exposing the fatal mistake of the Jews in their merely outward obedience.’ Spirit of Prophecy, volume 2, page 222.
10. How had God in fact revealed this fact already when He gave the Ten Commandments? Exodus 20:17.
NOTE: ‘Coveting is not stealing, it is not committing adultery, it is not killing, but it is wanting to do these things. It is a state of mind, rather than an act. This was the revelation that came to Paul as he meditated on the commandment, “Thou shalt not covet.” He had been so occupied with outward works that it had not occurred to him that the law deals not merely with acts, but with thoughts, intentions and motives. This put an entirely new light on the law. He now knew that the law is spiritual, but with this knowledge came also the conviction to him, “I am carnal, sold under sin.” [Romans 7:14.] His outward conduct had been in conformity with the law, but his inward thoughts, his mind, had been corrupt. In anguish he cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” [Romans 7:24.] He now saw himself as a sinner needing help, and not as a righteous Pharisee who did all that was written in the law.’ M. L. Andreasen: What Can A Man Believe? page 103.