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After taking a few weeks break, we are continuing our study of Luke chapter 10 and in particular, we’re looking at verses 25-37. This is commonly referred to as the story of ‘The Good Samaritan’. I’m sure you’re more than familiar with this passage, but please read these verses every day this week and, if possible use a different translation each day, asking God to open your eyes to fresh revelation from His Word.
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Luke 10:27
‘He answered: “‘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, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”’
“I’ll never go to church – they’re all full of hypocrites.”
I’m sure, like me, you’ve heard this phrase a few times over the years. I have met so many people who have issues with Christians who profess to ‘be something’ and yet their actions are far from the standard they say they are keeping. On occasion, it’s not actually the Christian who claims to be anything. Sometimes, the ‘standard’ is being set by the person who isn’t a Christian. The difficulty with standards is that they are so difficult to keep.
As we looked at yesterday, the standard for righteousness is perfection in keeping the law. If I claimed to be the perfect husband, then I’m sure my wife would soon call me a hypocrite. Being a good husband and a perfect one are two very different things. Claiming to be something is where the hypocrisy begins.
Unfortunately, it seems from our verses today, that the expert in the law was making a claim that he was indeed keeping the law and therefore was expecting to obtain eternal life. Also, note that he didn’t answer ‘Keep the 10 commandments’. Very often, ‘The Law’ is thought to be the laws laid out in the 10 commandments. It’s clear from these verses in Luke, that the experts in the law and Jesus Himself had a different perception of the requirements of the law.
Jesus said that the law is summed up in these 2 commandments: 1, Love God with all you are and with all you have and 2, Love your neighbour as yourself.
Jesus also went on to say that if we keep doing these two commandments then we will indeed have eternal life. The principle isn’t wrong – the issue is in our obedience or our ability to keep them!
Everything starts with our relationship with God. If we say that we love God with everything we have, then the natural outworking of that love is a reciprocating love to those around us. I know many people whose love for God consumes them. It seems that every waking moment is lived for God and their lives are constantly being poured out into the lives of other people. Even those wonderful people have moments where their natural desires come to the fore and perhaps even for a split second, they fall short of the standard required by a Holy God. It is because even the best of humanity falls short, that Jesus had to come to Earth. He had to die a horrible death on the cross and take upon Himself the sins of the world.
May we never claim to be anything other than people who are continually relying upon the grace of God for our salvation. Let us run from hypocrisy and all the hurt that is caused by false claims of goodness. I pray that people will see Christ and Him only.
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