01 The Path to Eternal Life - Go and Do This

Good evening. Excited to be teaching again tonight. Wasn't quite done with the Part 2 from Psalm 119 verses 9 through 16. Almost there, but not 100% complete. So slightly shifting gears tonight, we'll be looking at the way to eternal life. The way to eternal life. If you have a copy of God's Word, please open that to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. And we'll be looking at verses 25 through 37. Verses 25 through 37. So this is the parable of the Good Samaritan. And if you're there, I'm going to go ahead and start reading God's Word starting in Luke chapter 10 verse 25. And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, him being Jesus.

Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, what is written in the law? How do you read it? And he answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, you have answered correctly. Do this and you will live. But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Jesus replied, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance, a priest was going down that road.

And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day, he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, take care of him and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back. Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?

He said, the one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him, you go and do likewise. So I'm sure as we flip to this passage and as I began to read through this text, for most of you, this is very familiar. If you have been around church for some time, I am sure this parable is something that you have heard probably taught on many times. Additionally, Pastor Chris went through the parables not too long ago. So the intent here and the prayer is that this evening that we are reminded and refreshed.

I pray that we do not miss the power in this teaching this evening and maybe the angle that we will take through this text may look a little different than what you are used to. So let's begin to unpack the text. So starting in Luke chapter 10 verses 25 and 26, I will read those again. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him saying, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Verse 26, he said to him, what is written in the law? What is your reading of it? So verses 25 and 26 sort of set the stage for us as we begin to dive into this parable. The text here reads, a certain lawyer.

In other words, this individual was probably well skilled in the laws of Moses. It was likely his business to explain the laws. We see that he stood up and tested him, him being Jesus. This lawyer came forward to address Jesus in an attempt to make Jesus contradict the law. The lawyer sets the stage for us with one very profound question. What shall I do to inherit eternal life? What shall I do to inherit eternal life? I would assume back then, just as today, people have various beliefs around how to inherit eternal life, likely influenced by religious or spiritual backgrounds, some common perspectives. I'll run through these quickly.

Some common perspectives around inheriting eternal life. Let's start with faith in Jesus Christ. Many Christians believe that eternal life is granted through faith in Jesus Christ. This involves accepting him as Lord and Savior, repenting of sins, and following his teachings, or maybe grace and mercy, right? In combination, many Christians also believe that eternal life is a gift of God's grace and mercy, not something that can be earned by human effort alone. But what about going outside of Christianity? How about spiritual enlightenment?

In some Eastern religions, eternal life or liberation is achieved through spiritual enlightenment, meditation, and living a life of virtue and wisdom. Then there's reincarnation and karma. Beliefs in reincarnation and karma suggest that eternal life is a cycle of rebirths, where one's actions in each life determine their future existence. The ultimate goal is to break free from that cycle and achieve eternal peace. Perhaps following religious law will lead to eternal life. In Judaism, following the Torah and living a life in accordance with God's laws is seen as a path to eternal life.

These are just a few examples, and beliefs can vary widely, even within some of the same religious tradition. But this question, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" This is certainly a question that is considered regularly. I'm sure it's pondered upon quite often. Regarding this question, John McArthur explains it this way, "Of all the questions that could be asked, none is more important than the one in this passage. What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" That question's significance is rooted in the reality that every human soul is immortal.

Remember this question as we work through the text, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" This is the question being posed by the lawyer. And what's interesting is that he was not really interested in Jesus's response. It was a trap. Unfortunately, for the lawyer, he failed to realize who he was interrogating, who he was attempting to trap. Quoting Warren Wiersby, "It was a good question asked with a bad motive, because the lawyer hoped to trap our Lord." However, Jesus trapped the lawyer. And I think this will become clear as we work through the text.

Jesus answers the lawyer's question with his own question, which he commonly did, as we see in verse 26. And catch this by taking him to scripture. Probably a lesson for us to learn or be reminded of here. Jesus took him to the scripture for the answer. So look at verse 26 again. "He said to him, 'What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?'" So here is where this discourse, the discourse between the lawyer and Jesus really begins here following verse 26. So look at verses 27 and 28.

Verse 27, "So he answered and said," this is the lawyer answering Jesus, "So he answered and said, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.'" Verse 28, "And he said to him," Jesus now responding back to the lawyer, "And he said to him, 'You have answered rightly. Do this and you will live.'" We see the lawyer answers the question by referencing the great commandment, the great commandment, which is found in Deuteronomy chapter 6, Matthew chapter 22.

Looking at the text, the great commandment from Matthew 22 starting in verse 36, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." On these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets, Matthew chapter 22 verses 36 through 40. As Christians, I believe we all share in the same two primary callings on our lives.

I kind of touched on this in a message a while back out of Acts chapter 16, the great commandment and the great commission. I believe we all share in these two general callings. These two callings are closely connected. They play off of each other, if you will. This is where it all starts for us as Christians. It all starts with love. Jesus says in John chapter 14 verse 15, "If you love me, you will keep my commands." If you love me, you will keep my commands. See the emphasis in this verse in John chapter 14 verse 15 is on loving him. The emphasis is on loving him, not on keeping his commands.

Keeping his commands would be the outcome or the result of truly loving him, the evidence of our love for our Father, if you will. This is what should fuel us. This is what should stir our hearts to be obedient, to love our neighbors, and to go and make disciples. In the context of this passage, love translates to or is defined as the Greek word agape. Agape love is defined as the active love of God for his Son and his people. And the active love his people are to have for God and each other, here's the caveat, even enemies. Even enemies. Agape love is an active love. This is the highest form of love.

It is an unconditional love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstances. It is not based on value or merit. It is based on the character and nature of the one... sorry about that. It is based on the character and the nature of the one who is loving. Agape love. This is who God is and this is truly love. God in his word proclaims love. If you look at Romans chapter 5 verse 8, and before you panic I'm not about to take you down the Romans road, I'm just making some scripture references here, Romans 5, 8 says that God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3 16, very familiar verses here church. John 3 16 says for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Look at what Jesus says in John chapter 15 verse 12. This is my command, love one another as I have loved you. This is my command, love one another as I have loved you. Agape love is what he expects his church to have for each other and even our enemies. One of the toughest things about love is being loving to others.

Maybe everyone else in the room this evening is holier than me or has it all figured out but in my opinion one of the toughest things about love is being loving to others. Some people are easy to love, right? Some people are easy to love but what about those unlovely people? Those enemies. Romans 5 10 says for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son much more having been reconciled we shall be saved by his life. See even when we were enemies of God he made a way for us to be reconciled to him through Christ for his glory. Don't miss that.

It's all for his glory and he did this through action showing his love by giving his very best his one and only begotten Son. So church is it possible to love like God loves if Jesus tells us to do so in John chapter 15 verse 12? Is this possible? And I would say that it is impossible for us normal human beings. It can't be done in our power. However it can be done by the power of the Holy Spirit which transforms us. Agape love changes the character of the people who love. You simply cannot express this kind of love without being changed yourself.

That is the power of this supreme fruit of the Spirit referring to Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 through 25. This passage this text begins by saying but the fruit of the Spirit is love. It goes on to list eight more fruits of the Spirit but love is mentioned first. You know I think back to my life before Christ and Sarah can attest to this. I was just I came to a place where I was just miserable. I was miserable. Like I just really didn't want to be bothered. Everything in life bothered me. Friends were trying to reach out to me, contact me, calling me and I would just ignore like I just didn't want to have anything to do with people.

But on March 12, 2013 when when when Christ captured my heart there was a change and it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with him. I went from being a miserable human being who did not want my phone to ring or if it rang would reject the call to being a person who was lit on fire for the glory of God and wanted to shout from the mountaintops to anyone who was willing to listen how God had captured my heart. It was only him and I believe this wholeheartedly that God desires for us when he captures our heart, when he redeems his people, when he rescues his bride.

I believe that God desires for us as Christians to fulfill the great commandment and the great commission. There is no plan B for God. We must love the Lord our God with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our strength, and with all our minds. As a young Christian, the one thing that I didn't understand a lot of things. I wasn't raised in the church and a lot of terms would be used around me and they were like churchy terms. I didn't understand them, but the one thing I knew was that God changed my heart. He had placed inside of me a love for people and just this burning to go and tell people what had happened.

So through a dear friend of mine, Chet Bajnarum, I think I've shared some of this before, we started just going out downtown Houma, Louisiana to a place called the Sugar Bowl Motel and it was not a pleasant place at all. It's probably everything you imagine it would be and all we did was just love on people. We weren't evangelists or we weren't Bible scholars or we didn't have the Romans road or all these different methods memorized and understood as to how to share the gospel. We just went out and like loved on people, passed out food and whoever would have a conversation with them, we would just tell them what God had done in our life.

And many times when we did that, if I'm being honest, it seemed like a waste of time. It seemed like a waste of time because most of the time people wouldn't want to listen and those who would listen, you could tell that there was obstacles there, right? And many times we left the Sugar Bowl Motel wondering why are we doing what we're doing? But we knew God had opened the door for us and we knew we wanted to tell people about Christ and how he changed our life. See, our entire being must be consumed by God and that should happen to us when God captures our heart.

See, when you look at this, the lawyer, he closes his answer by stating that we are to love your neighbor as yourself. And in verse 28, Jesus acknowledges that the lawyer has answered correctly. He has answered correctly. Look at verse 28 again. And he said to him, you have answered rightly, do this and you will live. Jesus acknowledges his knowledge, right? You have answered rightly. But he used one very powerful word in verse 28 as he responded to the lawyer. And that word is do, do, do this. Jesus makes it clear it is not enough to know, instead one must do. Jesus makes it clear that knowledge of what we are to do is insufficient.

The word do in this context is in the present imperative. In other words, this is a command, a command to continually practice sacrificial, unconditional love, agape love. Remember, agape love is an act of love. It requires action and it involves continually practicing active and continual sacrificial, unconditional love. Remember, the lawyer asked, what shall I do? In response, Jesus, I love this, Jesus tossed the do back to him. What shall I do? Here is what you need to do. Real quick, it is important not to misinterpret this. Jesus isn't advocating for a works-based path to eternal life. That is not what he is advocating for.

Instead, he is essentially saying that if you could do this perfectly without committing a single sin, you would achieve eternal life. But what Jesus was asking of the lawyer was impossible. It was impossible. And it should have led him to fall to his knees and plead for mercy. Jesus is about to show the lawyer that he falls far short of following these commands. Look at verse 29. But he wanting the lawyer, but he wanting to justify himself said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Again, the appropriate humble reaction to the law that Jesus laid out, it's impossible. It's an impossible demand.

The appropriate humble reaction would have been for the lawyer to say, I cannot do this. I cannot do this. Lord, how can I possibly achieve this? But wanting to justify himself, I don't know about you, but that resonates with me. How many times we find ourselves wanting to justify ourself. But wanting to justify himself, he asked an improper question. See, the lawyer is trying to vindicate himself or show that he has kept the law. But his question tells us everything we need to know. He did not follow this command. He could not follow this command.

And based on his question, we see that he was trying to exclude responsibility for others by making some people non neighbors. That's what he's trying to accomplish here. He's trying to exclude responsibility for his actions by making some people. I'm not sure if this is proper English, non neighbors. That's what he was trying to do in this line of questioning. What I mean is this, the lawyer's question should not have been who is my neighbor. The lawyer's question should have been how can I be a loving neighbor? It's a big difference. It's a big difference. It should never be about who. It should always be about how.

It should never be about who. It should always be about how. If we are continually seeking how to love others, the who never has an opportunity to become a question. If we are actively seeking how to love others, we will always be ready and willing to love whoever. Now we finally get to the parable. And I'm gonna for the sake of time, we're going to run through this pretty quickly. So follow me here. Then Jesus answered and said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance, a certain priest came down that road.

And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise, a Levite when he arrived at the place came and looked and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds pouring on oil and wine. And he set him on his own animal, brought him to an end and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two Daenerys, gave them to the innkeeper and said to him, take care of him and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.

In verse 30, Jesus sets up this parable by stating that a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Verse 30, then Jesus answered and said, a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. See what Jesus always does in his parables, he connects to his audience, right? So we see that this was a very common route and a route that was known for this type of trouble referenced by Jesus in this parable. In other words, the lawyer and the audience would have connected.

They would have, the picture would have been clear with this situation, right? Look at verse 31, now by chance, a certain priest came down that road and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In verse 31, Jesus explains that by chance, a priest came down the road. By chance, could be translated as accidentally or as it happened. So picture this, a priest, a descendant of Aaron, someone who had responsibilities in the temple, someone who knew the law and would have been expected to help happen, just so happen to come down the road and see this man beaten and robbed, laying there half dead. So did he decide to help? No.

Actually, he decided to act like he didn't see him and pass by on the other side of the road. He completely disregarded the man and went on about his way. Verse 32, likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked and passed by on the other side. In verse 32, Jesus tells us that a Levite basically took the same approach as the priest, maybe even a little worse. The big difference between these two encounters is that it would appear as though the Levite would have taken time to walk over and attentively look upon the man before deciding to do nothing and pass by on the other side.

It's important to note that the phrase "passed by on the other side," which is the stated action of both the priest and the Levite, speaks to their unwillingness to love their neighbor. Even though they would have known that they should show mercy and love their neighbor, that brings us to verses 33 through 35. In verse 33, we see a Samaritan enter the parable. Understand this, Jews and Samaritans did not associate with each other. They did not get along at all. Culturally, it would have been unthinkable for a Samaritan to help a Jew or a Jew to help a Samaritan. Jesus says that the Samaritan had compassion toward the man in verse 33.

See, what I love about that, compassion requires action. You know, how many of you are sitting there and you're watching TV and then this commercial comes on and it's like these animals, maybe these dogs that are neglected, maybe beaten and you know, they're looking for a home, looking for someone to adopt them. Maybe you feel, or maybe I'm speaking just for me, maybe in that moment you feel sorry for those animals, you feel bad for those animals. The difference between feeling bad and compassion is compassion requires action. If you go out and adopt one of those dogs, then it becomes compassion. If not, it's just you feel bad. You feel bad.

This is the perfect example of not just loving your neighbor, but even more so loving your enemies. In verses 34 and 35, we see the Samaritan ministers to the injured suffering victim. He cared for him, giving selflessly and sacrificially, not expecting anything in return. That brings us to verses 36 and 37. So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves? Verse 37, "And he said, 'He who showed mercy on him.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Go and do likewise.'" I love this. You see in verse 36, Jesus corrects the lawyer's question. He corrects the lawyer's question.

Jesus brings it full circle, if you will, and now the lawyer sees that it is not who is my neighbor, but how can I be a neighbor? How can I be a loving neighbor? Verse 37, "And he said, 'He who showed mercy on him.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Go and do likewise.'" Jesus sums up the teaching of this parable in verse 37. He instructs the lawyer to go and do likewise. Go and do like the Samaritan. Love, have compassion, show mercy to your neighbors. But listen to this from John MacArthur. I think this is very important to touch on and grasp and understand.

John MacArthur comments, and I quote, "This dramatic tale is widely used to teach the importance of helping those in need. In fact, the term good Samaritan has become an idiom for those who demonstrate unusual sacrificial kindness toward others. But while it is important to help the needy, that is not the point of the story. It is in reality a story about how one inherits eternal life, because that is the question that initiated the conversation to which this story is the conclusion.

The Lord offered this story in answer to the scribe's question with its somewhat cynical implication that he did love all those whom he considered to be his neighbors. Jesus graciously gave him one more unforgettable, inescapably clear insight into his wretchedness, one more opportunity to acknowledge his sinfulness and cry for mercy. See, Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." Go and do likewise. It's crucial not to miss the main point of this parable. Jesus was addressing the question of how to obtain eternal life, and this was actually Jesus' second response. He had already instructed the lawyer to do in Luke 10.28. Do this.

Remember, we talked about that. Now, the Lord said, "Go and do the same," or do likewise, implying that if you could do this perfectly, you would inherit eternal life. But there's one glaring problem, right? We are not able to do this perfectly in our own power. The lawyer realizing he can never truly go and do likewise was now backed into a corner. At this moment, he should have cried out for Jesus' help. The passage concludes without revealing whether the lawyer ever humbled himself, repented of his sin, and confessed Jesus as his Savior. See, in closing, we also share in this.

We share in this the call to go and do as we see from Jesus in verse 37, "Go and do likewise." But we are incapable of doing this on our own, just like the lawyer. We can never fulfill this law, this command perfectly. We can only do this if God has captured our hearts. We need his grace. We need his mercy. We can only inherit eternal life by surrendering, by humbling, by repenting, and by depending on Christ. And as I mentioned earlier in John 1415, Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my command." See, we must allow him to be Lord of our lives. And we can only do this if we completely love him.

So if you are here this evening, maybe ask yourself this question. Do you need to cry out for mercy? Do you need repentance? Don't be stubborn like the lawyer. Be humble. Cry out for mercy. Repent and come to Christ so he can replace your pride, replace your stubbornness, replace your selfishness with the fruit of his spirit. Do you want to inherit eternal life? Repent of your sins and begin to love God completely. Let him capture your heart and then live for him and his glory. Now, maybe here's a challenge for the church.

If you are a believer, let me challenge you to reflect on how you are doing with the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Remember, we are told to go and do likewise continually as we go. See, just like the lawyer, we know these things. We know these things. However, if we are not applying them, if we are not going and doing, we are no different than the lawyer. We are no different. The assurance of our faith, the evidence of the promise of eternal life, this side of heaven, is seen and proven by how we love our Father and obey his commandments.

Remember John 14, 15, "Love him, obey him, live a good Samaritan life so that the love of Christ and the glory of our Father may be seen in each one of us." This will lead to a lost world, hopefully, prayerfully, coming to repentance and longing for salvation and the promise of eternal life with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. See, for us as believers, no one should have doubt. No one should have questions about eternal life. God has revealed the truth to us through his Word. Now, let me just mention this quickly as we close. I believe in God's absolute sovereignty.

I am an absolutist when it comes to the sovereignty of God, but I also believe that man has responsibility. John MacArthur does a great job of explaining this. He explains it this way. He refers to it as the twin truths of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. MacArthur explains it this way. God's sovereignty should inform our worship, and man's responsibility should motivate or fuel our evangelism. I love that. I love that. See, as a church, as believers, we should go live in a way that reflects the love of our Father. We should go live in a way that honors his name.

We should go and live in such a way that the obedience in our life, our desire to see the great commandment and the great commission fulfilled casts no doubt about the completeness of your love for Christ. See, there was many days, as I mentioned, at the Sugar Bowl Motel where it seemed like it was very pointless, as I mentioned earlier. I'll never forget, probably in 2019, this is four or five years after we had been going to the Sugar Bowl Motel, I remember I was leaving my office and I called Sarah to see if she had prepared dinner. She had not prepared dinner. It was kind of crazy at the house. I offered to get steaks.

I left the office and I always went to this one supermarket for our steaks. I remember going, and this may have been 2020 because it was during the pandemic. I go in and walk back to the butcher area and this guy walks over. Before he even asked what I need or whatever, he goes, and he's wearing a mask, he goes, "Do you remember me?" And so immediately he's got my attention. I said, "No, I'm sorry I don't." And he had a name tag on her and said, "Robert." And everything inside of me wanted to go, "I'm trying to get home to my wife. I know she's waiting on me." Everything inside of me wanted to go, "Oh, hey Robert, yeah, I remember you man.

Let me get four filet mignon." But I didn't. I said, "No, I sure don't." And he goes, and he took down his mask and he's looking at me. He goes, "Now do you remember me?" And I felt terrible because I had no clue who this guy was. I said, "No, obviously I should know who you are, but I apologize. I don't remember you." And he goes, "You know, that's okay because the impact that you guys had on our life as a family when you were coming out to the Sugar Bowl leaves me in a position where I'll never forget who you are." That was a guy we met years ago at the Sugar Bowl Motel when we didn't know how to share the gospel, all these proper techniques.

We were just going out and living life with Christ, sharing what he had done in our life and how he changed our hearts. Talking to people about this very question, "Do you know where you are going if you die, when you die? Are you sure of eternal life with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior?" And I say all that to say it was nothing that we did. It was everything he did to open those doors and connect us to those people. But as a church, it's easy to look out and see a lost world and remain in our holy huddles and talk about and be critical of a lost world.

I think there comes a time where we have to break the huddle, to use a football analogy, and go out and run the play and execute on it. We have the playbook. We have the playbook. It's up to us to go out and fulfill it, to execute it. So this evening, a slightly different twist potentially on the parable of the Good Samaritan with an emphasis on the answer to that question. "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" There's a lot of people out there that want to know the answer to that question, and we have the truth.