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THE GOOD SAMARITAN – SEEKING SALVATION?
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27
Luke 10:25-37

Memory verse: Luke 10:25

 

“…What is written in the law?

how readest thou?”

 

THE GOOD SAMARITAN – SEEKING SALVATION?
 
Doing good works as a means of entering heaven has been taught and believed for centuries. Good works can be categorised into two types. Good works, as determined by man, are good works done according to what is good in man’s eyes. Man defines what he understands to be good, he does them, and it is good enough for him; it must also be good enough for God, so he thinks and reasons. Man believes that if he does these good works sincerely and to the best of his ability, God is pleased and will let him enter heaven. He follows in the footsteps of Cain. Both he and his good work were both rejected by God. The second type of good works is that which is revealed by God to man. They are all found in the Bible. They are called Christian good works (both in the Old and New Testament Scriptures, for argument’s sake). In Christ’s time, no man was better than the Pharisees, scribes, or lawyers. They were the students, teachers and protectors of the written Word of God. The scribes or lawyers knew the Bible as they religiously and diligently copied it. None of the men who thought they could enter heaven by doing good Christian works were better than the scribes and Pharisees. That was what Christ meant when He said that unless man’s righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven (cf. Matt 5:20).
 
Such a scribe stood up and tempted Jesus in Luke 10:25. He asked Jesus, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Perhaps the trap for Jesus was whether Jesus would say anything that might contradict the Law of Moses since he probably thought of himself as more knowledgeable than Christ. It could also be to trap Jesus by bringing Him over to his side if Jesus were to conclude at the end of the conversation that the scribe was already on his way to the kingdom of heaven through his good Christian works. He called Jesus “master” instead of “rabbi” which was what Nicodemus called Jesus. “Rabbi” is more respectful whereas “master” (i.e. “teacher”) means that Jesus Christ was no better than an ordinary teacher. A rabbi is a respected teacher of God’s Word. Sadly, this scribe pretended to seek salvation in order to tempt Jesus.
 
THOUGHT: Did you indeed seek to be saved by Christ?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help my unbelief as I now seek to make sure of my salvation in Christ, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

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