THE BIG QUESTION: WHAT SHALL I DO
TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?
08-25-19
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LOVE
(Luke
10:25-29)
And, behold, a certain lawyer [Gk: an expert in the Mosaic law] stood up, and tempted [Gk: to test thoroughly] [critically, and
somewhat maliciously] him
[Jesus],
saying, Master [Gk:
instructor: teacher], what
shall
I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What
is written in the
law? how readest thou [i.e.,
how do you understand it, what do you understand it to mean]? And he [the
lawyer] answering said,
Thou shalt love
[Gk: agapao;
to love (in a social or moral sense)] [i.e., sacrificially placing
another
person’s wants and needs first, above your own] the Lord thy God with all
thy heart [Gk: the
thoughts or feelings (mind)], and
with all thy soul
[Gk: breath, (the animal sentient principle
only)], and with all thy
strength [Gk:
forcefulness: might, power]
[paralleling footnote #1], and with all
thy mind [Gk: deep
thought, by
implication its exercise: understanding];
and [love] thy neighbour as thyself [2].
And he [Jesus] said unto him, Thou hast answered right:
this do, and thou shalt live [eternally in Heaven].
But
he [the lawyer], willing to justify himself [wanting to declare (judge) himself as being
innocent and righteous, and thus deserving of eternal life while excusing his
unrighteous thoughts
and behavior toward others], said
unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour [suggesting that some people are his neighbor and
some are not, and
therefore he is not called to love them all]?
[3]
1.
(Deut
6:5) And thou shalt love the
LORD thy God with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all
thy might.
2.
Commentary: Deuteronomy 6:5
is a verse from the Old Testament
(when the Holy Spirit was, almost without exception, outside us), a
verse that
is still recited twice a day by observant Jews. Two New
Testament (when the Holy Spirit is inside us) refinements
in the form of
additions to that Old Testament verse are “all
thy mind” which seems an imperative summation of the
preceding three
principles, and love “thy neighbour as
thyself” which requires forgiveness
rather than “eye for eye” (Lev 24:20).
a.
Commentary: However, in
order to activate love
(which
is inclusive of forgiveness) toward one’s neighbor, you must first
forgive your
own inner self, because God has forgiven
you, and by denying your God-given forgiveness, you are placing
yourself above God (idolatry) and judging
Him to be a liar. By accepting God’s forgiveness,
then (and only then)
you will be enabled to forgive (love) your neighbor.
3.
(James
1:22-25) But
be
ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own
selves. For if any be a
hearer of the word [the
lawyer,
his work was transcribing the written word],
and not a doer
he [the same lawyer, who tried to wiggle his way out
of being obedient to
the law of God] is like unto a man
beholding
his natural face in a glass
[Gk: a mirror]:
For he
beholdeth himself [his natural self
just as he always was,
with no change
generated by
his work in the word of God],
and goeth his way [rather
than God’s way],
and straightway forgetteth what manner
of man he was [i.e., unsaved]. But
whoso looketh into
[investigates] the
perfect law of liberty [the
Bible], and
continueth therein [in
both looking and doing],
he being not a forgetful
hearer [forgetting what you just
heard or read], but a doer
of the work [of learning to love
God and our fellow man], this man
shall be blessed in his deed
[Gk: action, performance (of the law)]
[i.e. blessed in his work].
[The Bible is God’s message of love toward
us]
AN ILLUSTRATED EXAMPLE
(PARABLE) OF LOVE
(Luke
10:30-32) And Jesus answering [the not understanding unsaved lawyer] said, A certain man
[representing all unsaved men] went down from Jerusalem [going from a symbol of holiness and safety
downward about 18 miles east] to
Jericho [1], and fell among thieves [unrepentant fallen angels, representatives
of Lucifer/Satan], which stripped
him of his raiment [all
his
worldly coverings], and wounded
him
[in body and mind],
and departed [left
him to die alone], leaving
him half dead
[sorely afflicted with his life-blood seeping out of him]. And by chance there came down a
certain priest that way [representing
church officials]: and when he
saw him, he passed by on the
other side [2].
And likewise a Levite
[representing members of the believing congregation], when he was at the place, came and looked
on him, and
passed by on the other side. [3]
1.
Commentary: The “certain
man” is a symbol of all
unsaved men traveling unknowingly
down the uncertain and dangerous life-time
path that leads to ultimate destruction. The actual road
(path) declining
from Jerusalem was a fairly steep descent from
2.
Commentary: “on
the other side” = The priest and the
Levite, both highly respectable symbols of professing “Men
of God,” ignored and intentionally walked around the
seriously
wounded injured “needy”
man
(a symbol of all unsaved men) “on the
other side” of the road to avoid even the slightest
possibility of any
personal contact. They looked the other way. They also “departed”
from him, like
the thieves.
3.
The Full Life Study Bible:
Those who are professed Christians,
yet whose hearts are insensitive
to the sufferings and needs of others,
give sure evidence that they do not
have eternal life
abiding in them.
THIS IS REAL LOVE, GOD’S
LOVE USWARD
(Luke
10:33-35)
But a certain Samaritan [1],
as he journeyed, came where he [the
injured needy man] was: and
when
he saw him, he had compassion
[2] on him, And went to him,
and bound up
[Gk: bandaged] his wounds,
pouring in [profusely, generously] oil [Gk:
olive oil] [3] and
wine [Gk: intoxication]
[4], and set him on his
own beast [5],
and brought him to an inn [a
church,
a temporary harbor of safety], and
took care of [ministered
to] him. And on
the morrow when he
departed [Acts 1:9], he took out two pence [6],
and gave them to the host,
and
said unto him, Take care of [ministered
to] him [the injured needy];
and whatsoever thou spendest more [ministering to them],
when
I come again [Gk: return]
[i.e., a
prophecy of the Second Coming of the Lord],
I will repay thee [reward
thee wonderfully].
1.
Commentary: “Samaritan”
= a believer in the same
God, but with different, sometimes opposing doctrines called denominations, e.g.,
Baptists,
Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc. At that time in history, the
Samaritans,
although a mixture of Jewish and
other nationalities, were thoroughly despised
by fully pure Jewish people and the Samaritans were
ostracized from any form of interaction with the Jews, i.e., the Jews had no love for the Samaritans.
2.
compassion = Gk: to have the bowels yearn,
feel sympathy, to pity: have (be moved with)
compassion.
3.
Commentary = “oil”:
is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Saved persons are symbolized as olives
in the Bible. Olive oil is the collective fruit
(prayers if
you will) of saved people which was obtained by “pressing”
(which is also the Greek meaning of “tribulation”)
or crushing the ripened olives in a wooden oil
press (a symbol of men who are fashioned for that task), or
physically “stamping”
the oil
out of the rind-husk body by the feet of many natural men and women,
all of
which herein symbolizes the Holy
Spirit’s healing of the injured
needy
man’s body. God uses both the good and bad (evil)
for His purpose.
4.
wine
= Gk: to effervesce; by implication intoxication.
a.
effervesce = Dict: 1. to
give off gas bubbles, as carbonated beverages; bubble, foam. 2. to rise
and
come out in bubbles, as gas in a liquid. 3. to
be lively and high-spirited.
b.
Commentary: In a very good
sense wine is revelations
as
in the narrative of the water (logos) of the Word being transformed
into the
wine (rhema) of the Word (John 2:1-11). Herein,
the wine symbolizes the Holy Spirit’s healing of the
injured needy man’s mind, further exemplified by
the
wild man of the Gadarenes “sitting
at the
feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind:” (Luke 8:35), and the fallen angel
feeding
swine who “came to himself” (Luke 15:17).
5.
Commentary: “his
own beast” = perhaps is
the “scarlet
coloured beast” (Rev 17:3) symbolizing this
present world system that is like a
wildly bucking horse that
we who
are saved are now
riding (and clinging
onto for dear life). This is the same wild bucking horse (world system)
that
Jesus rode while He was here “and set
him [the injured needy us]
on his own beast” and “departed.”
Now, we are riding and continuing
in the attempt to break
(tame) that same wild bucking horse (world system) because Jesus Christ
lives in us [Rom 8:18; 2 Thes 1:7,10,12].
6.
Dake’s Annotated Reference
Bible: “two pence” = This was equal
to two days wages
for a
common labourer. [a wonderful prophecy
reference to Hos 6:1-3; 2 Pet 3:8]
(Luke
10:36,37)
Which now of these three [priest,
Levite, Samaritan], thinkest thou,
was neighbour [i.e., loving] unto him that fell among the thieves? And he [the now understanding
lawyer] said, He that
shewed
mercy on him [1]. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do
thou likewise [i.e., you
are a
hearer, now go be a loving doer, a doer of love].
1.
mercy = Gk: compassion:
(+tender) mercy.
Amen