'We must get into action and obey'

Chapter 2 - The Call to Discipleship  (continued)

The following encounter between Jesus and the lawyer is another example of someone trying to tempt Jesus into a religious debate, rather than someone seeking honest truth in order to obey.  In this example it says outright that the lawyer was tempting Jesus- his intentions obviously not good ones.

Luk 10:25  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

Luk 10:26  He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?

Luk 10:27  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

Luk 10:28  And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.

Luk 10:29  But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?

Bonhoeffer has this to say about those who live to dispute, debate, and generally do all they can to question the truth rather than obey it.

Bonhoeffer- ' The first round is already lost, so the lawyer must try again. Like the rich young man, he tries to escape by raising his moral difficulties. "And who is my neighbor?" How often has this question been asked since, in good faith and genuine ignorance! It is plausible enough and any earnest seeker of truth could reasonably ask it. But this is not the way the lawyer meant it. Jesus parries the question as a temptation of the devil, and that in fact is the whole point of the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is the sort of question you can keep on asking without ever getting an answer. Its source lies in the "wrangling of men, corrupted in mind and bereft of truth"; of men "doting about questionings and disputes of words." From it "cometh envy, strife, railings, even surmising's" (I Tim. 6:4). It is the question of men who are puffed up, men who are "ever learning, and never able to come to knowledge of the truth." Of men "holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof" (II Tim. 3:5). They cannot believe, and they keep on asking this same question because they are "branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron" (I Tim. 4:2), because they refuse to obey the Word of God, Who is my neighbor? Does this question admit of any answer? Is it my kinsman, my compatriot, my brother Christian, or my enemy? There is an element of truth and falsehood in each of these answers. The whole question lands us into doubt and disobedience, and it is a veritable act of rebellion against the commandment of God. Of course, I say, I want to do his will, but he does not tell me how to se about it. The commandment does not give me any clear directions, and does nothing to solve my problems. The question "What shall I do?" was the lawyers first attempt to throw dust in his own eyes. The answer was: "You know the commandments, do you not? Well then, put them into practice. You must not ask questions-- get on with the job!"  And the final question "Who is my neighbor?" is the parting shot of despair (or else of self-confidence); the lawyer is trying to justify his disobedience. The answer is: "You are the neighbor. Go along and try to be obedient by loving others." Neighborliness is not a quality in other people, it is simply their claim on ourselves. Every moment and every situation challenges us to action and to obedience. We have literally no time to sit down and ask ourselves whether so-and-so is our neighbor or not. We must get into action and obey--we must behave like a neighbor to him. But perhaps this shocks you. Perhaps you still think you ought to think out beforehand and know what you ought to do. To that there is only one answer. You can only know and think about it by actually doing it. You can only learn what obedience is by actually doing it.  You can only learn what obedience is by obeying. It is no use asking questions; for it is only through obedience that you come to learn the truth.

With our consciences distracted by sin, we are confronted by the call of Jesus to spontaneous obedience. But whereas the rich young man was called to the grace of discipleship, the lawyer, who sought to tempt him, was only sent back to the commandment.'

MY THOUGHTS-

People love the idea of loving a God they can control, a God they dictate terms to, a God who they decide is only truly concerned with their 'TRYING' to lead a 'GOOD' life and nothing more.  They love having a God in their back pockets, someone to pray to whenever the mood strikes and is expected to listen at all times. The love the God who placates them. That old fire and brimstone God preached from the pulpits is outdated and transformed and has been for a long, long time. Extremism in any form makes for a God of their choosing.  And more often than not, the God we say we believe in, ends up being far from real. People love to call God a fable, and it's no wonder so many do when people have spent many, many years, even a couple millenniums offering up their versions of God rather than the TRUTH of God.

This is when people JUMP into the conversation and begin to ask questions like- 'Who can know what's truth?', 'Isn't it all just a matter of private interpretation?', 'What does it matter as long as you believe?'  And on and on. They want to trip you up, they want to bring their evil surmising's and such into play all because the very bottom line is- THEY DO NOT WANT TO OBEY.  Make up your own God and forget about having to OBEY.  It's NO wonder at all whatsoever that Jesus is going to say to many people in the day of His return that He never knew them. He couldn't possibly know them because they've NEVER truly been His at all in any way, shape, or form. They've allowed themselves to be deluded, deceived, damned by the devil himself, all because the idea of TRULY OBEYING goes against the kind of God they want to believe in.

I'm not telling you to make God your old fashioned, fire and brimstone preacher- because like I mentioned earlier, extremism is wrong in both directions- cream puff, marsh mellowy and malleable as well as rigid rock, fire, and damnation without any compassion at all. 

God is what He says He is… love.

Love is God.

And our God says these words-

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Keep them.

Not- just learn them.

Not-just recite them.

Not- just keep one or two.

Not- make up your own versions and keep them.

Not-just think about them.

Not-abandon them.

KEEP THEM.

And that is an action- the keeping.

These aren't piece of stone we shove under our beds and keep hidden, these are living, breathing commandments of living! These are commandments meant to be lived by.  These commandments are to be a PART of us, a part of our daily lives as surely as our breathing is. These commandments are supposed to be kept with every beat of our heart.

Why did the rich young ruler and the certain lawyer ever question what they are to do to inherit eternal life? They did it because God's love wasn't fully realized in them in His commandments. They didn't take the commandments to heart or else the rich ruler would have already been using his wealth to LOVE His neighbors so much so his wealth wouldn't have been a barrier to the realized love of the SAVIOR. The lawyer would know that his neighbor included all his fellowman and not those of his own choosing, if he were obeying, if he were keeping the moral law of God in his heart of hearts. Way too many people carrying on believing as their parents believed, never making their belief a real, personal thing at all. Generations of people continue on performing rituals- physical, spiritual, and mental rituals that hold not a single shred of LOVE, of GOD.  They live God-less lives because the God they claim to be worshipping is a false god, nothing like God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit- three who fully agree as ONE.

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Obeying.

'We must get into action and obey'

By the GRACE of GOD!