A Lawyer Questions Jesus in the Temple Courtby CBPepper
10:28Luke 10:28
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Jesus met a lawyer who was testing Him about how to gain eternal life by affirming the lawyer's own summary of the law and telling him to put it into practice in order to live, and then He illustrated it with the parable of the Good Samaritan. The right answer sums up the whole law and the prophets as loving God with all the heart, soul, strength and mind and loving one's neighbor as oneself. To do means to obey in thought, word and deed rather than merely to know, profess, preach or agree that it is true. Neighbor means anyone in need of help and mercy without distinction of faith, race, class or condition, as the Samaritan showed by pitying, binding up, carrying, sheltering and paying for the wounded traveler whom priest and Levite passed by. The life promised is eternal life, measuring with the life of God with entrance into His kingdom and city, which no one can obtain in his own strength but only through the grace of Christ received by faith and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Setting and Question
The saying was given to a lawyer who asked what to do to inherit eternal life, after being asked what is written in the law and how he reads it. When he answered that the requirement is love to God with all heart and soul and strength and mind and love to neighbor as self, the answer was declared right, with the charge that doing that twofold love brings life. That exchange leads directly to his further question about who is neighbor and introduces the parable of the Good Samaritan as the explanation of what doing means.
The question was put as a test prompted by hostile religious leaders who hoped to trap and accuse before the people and the multitude. Priests, scribes and Pharisees, with disappointed and silenced Pharisees and Herodians and Sadducees, listened as spies for some word to misconstrue against the one whose work was to bring life and immortality to light, some following with murder in their hearts. The purpose was known, so the burden was placed on the lawyer to answer his own question from the law before the crowd, and by that answer the adversaries were met and defeated and disappointed in seeking cause for accusation.
The lawyer knew the right answer from Scripture yet had not kept the commandments, and the affirmation exposed the gap between his knowledge and practice and awakened and convicted his conscience. Instead of confessing sin and admitting failure, he sought to justify, vindicate and excuse himself. That attempt took the form of asking who counts as neighbor, which revealed that self-love ruled him and that the law condemned him.
The parable that follows explains the command by a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho who was stripped and robbed, wounded and left half dead and dying. A priest and a Levite saw him and passed by on the other side, while a Samaritan had compassion and pitied him, bound his wounds with oil and wine, set him on his own beast, carried him to an inn and shelter, cared for him, paid two pence and promised to repay more. Neighbor therefore means the one who shows mercy through practical help, and living is going and doing likewise.
The declaration repeats the same instruction given from Sinai and through Moses to Israel to walk in all commanded ways that they may live and it may be well with them, holding up a standard not lowered in the gospel but given by the same Saviour from the cloudy pillar. It lays down the same condition for entering life given to the young man who asked what good thing to do, that keeping the commandments recovers what Adam lost through disobedience. The rich ruler's choice between earthly wealth and heavenly treasure illustrates that the law allows no reservation but requires self-denial and use of talents for God's glory, in agreement with the Old Testament requirements to serve God wholeheartedly and to treat others justly by relieving the poor, protecting the vulnerable, and refusing to oppress or defraud.
Sense of Answer
Jesus pronounced the lawyer's summary correct, that wholehearted love for God with heart, soul, strength and mind together with love for neighbor as self is what the law demands for inheriting eternal life. That love engages every power and devotes the whole being to God's service, and the promise joined to it is positive that those who live by these commands will live. Outward religious observance without love in the heart does not fulfill it, for knowing the truth is not enough unless those who know it walk in its light. Loving one's neighbor in this sense also includes working earnestly to share the truth with him, and the parable that follows identifies whom such love must regard as neighbor.
The command to act means to practice and obey in life, not merely to know, believe, profess, preach, or agree that the evidence of truth is true. Keeping outward ceremonies, professing that God's law is binding, and correctness in form do not make a person a keeper of it, and saying without doing and evasion when truth touches conscience fail to meet it. Its principles must be carried out in daily life in every principle God requires, including showing mercy to people in need, for its claims bind all and failure to obey brings conviction. The lawyer understood the words of the law but failed to act on its command to show mercy, thereby standing as a lawbreaker in need of repentance and of walking in God's commandments. The verse therefore sweeps away the claim that a person has nothing to do but believe, since eternal life is given on condition of obedience to God's commandments.
The life promised is eternal life, not merely the continuance of present life, and it secures present and eternal welfare. It is life that measures with the life of God and runs parallel with His life, set forth as the terms for receiving life that lasts as long as God's life so that none need walk in crooked paths. Doing His commandments is the condition for having right to the tree of life and entrance through the gates into the city, into the kingdom, unto a crown and the joy of the Lord. That keeping of the law is merciful work like the Samaritan's binding up the wounded man, carrying him to shelter, paying for his care and promising more, in contrast to the priest and Levite who passed by. This doing is the work appointed to people and the solid foundation for eternal life, made possible by Christ giving His own life for the life of the world rather than by gaining higher education in sophistries and spiritualistic ideas, and it belongs to the sure Word of God in which obedience and disobedience have consequences and hope rests on the reward accompanying obedience.
The answer given to the lawyer settles for all time what to do to inherit eternal life, and its command with its promise applies just as much to church members and to those who are not church members now as to those who first heard and were self-convicted, indeed to everyone and not to the first hearer alone. It presents salvation as a clear practical truth rather than a complex intellectual problem, namely practically doing the truth by loving neighbor as self in mercy as the Samaritan did and not passing by on the other side, which is practical gospel ministry sowing the seeds of the gospel. The unchangeable, eternal gospel conditions comprehend the entire duty of one seeking eternal life, with supreme love to God answering the demands of the first four commandments and love to neighbor as self answering the demands of the last six, for the law of the Lord is perfect in converting the soul and its deep work in fallen humanity is genuine conversion. The lawyer understood the bearings of these conditions and could not evade them, for the Holy Spirit impressed conviction of neglect upon his heart, since he had not loved and served God supremely and had failed to love his neighbor as himself, and so he stood weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and found wanting, self-condemned. That same law of Jehovah, not human policy and human inventions, will decide the destiny of men and women, deciding the case of everyone standing before God in the last great day.
Love God and Neighbor
To live is to do what the lawyer rightly stated, to love the Lord God with all heart and soul and strength and mind and to love the neighbor as self. This doing takes in all there is of the human being, engaging every power of mind and body in God's service, including will power, speech, hearing, sight, physical strength, time, and influence. It means unreserved surrender and entire consecration, with no separation of the affections from God, but the whole wealth of affection, talents, possessions and all laid at His feet. The love required is whole, not one quarter or one half or two thirds given to God while the rest is given to self, and it calls for appreciating the atonement and turning away from the glitter of the world to the attractions of heaven. These words mean much, for service to God takes all there is of a person, calling for love to Jesus Christ, the One altogether lovely and chiefest among ten thousand, with undivided service, and for making God's will one's own will in the smallest as well as the largest matters.
God calls for wholehearted service, not a divided devotion shared with self, and this is a life-and-death matter requiring the whole person to be converted. The great test for every soul and every character points directly to the inner sanctuary of the soul's affections and claims for God the first place, the first thoughts, the first action, with the claims of God taking no second place. Any person or object that divides the affections, engages the mind, and is enthroned in the heart breaks that condition and takes the form of an idol, diverting from God the mind, strength, and affections that belong to His service, and no human love may be placed where God should be or divide the heart from Him. A heart absorbed in and controlled by earthly affections cannot be given up to God, and Jesus cannot accept a divided heart, so doing this means accepting the gospel message and abiding in Christ by forsaking all and following in His footsteps with an undivided heart. There is no adequate excuse for refusing to love God supremely and one's neighbor as oneself, and the command is violated by sharp business dealings and by harming others spiritually or financially, as well as by profession while indulging natural impulses.
Love to neighbor as self is supreme love for God joined to unselfish love for fellow men as self, to be lived out in practice as the fulfilling of the law. It means doing good to all, encouraging and strengthening others rather than discouraging or weakening them, and building up rather than tearing down. Such love is the foundation of true godliness and missionary work, whose worth calls for a deliberate choice to give up everything else to obtain eternal life.
These two loves are the two great principles of the law on which hang all the law and the prophets, summing up in few words the whole duty of man and the entire answer to how to obtain eternal life. The first four of the ten commandments are summed up in love to God with all the heart, and the last six are included in love to neighbor as self, expressing the whole duty taught by God's moral law. Failure to fulfill these principles violates God's word even when a person professes truth, preaches, or understands mysteries, and cherishing suspicion and imagining evil proves failure to carry out this law and brings upon the person the evils imagined, filling him with the fruit of his own doings and his own devices. Practiced through faith in and reception of Christ, they form characters fit for heaven, requiring not passing a needy brother by on the other side to favor others, but showing interest, speaking and acting kindly, encouraging, helping as the Lord's helping hand, binding up wounds and bearing inconvenience, care, anxiety, and cost.
Keeping the law is not possible in one's own strength, and the law's demand exposes the sinner's need, so the only hope for a transgressor is to believe in Christ as Redeemer. Belief in the propitiation for sin enables fallen people to love God wholly and their neighbors as themselves, and obedience is possible only by accepting the virtue and grace of Christ and through the merits of Jesus Christ. Through faith in Christ the excellency the standard requires can be reached, for God's law points to Christ, and Christ points back to the law, with the law as the moral standard that reveals sin while Christ's sacrifice and righteousness make its holiness and beauty clear. The law is plainly revealed and cannot be set aside or lowered to meet people in their fallen condition, but remains high and holy as the expression of God's will, and renewal by the Holy Spirit establishes the law instead of setting it aside.
Law Behind Words
The law in view is the Ten Commandments given at Sinai, whose first four precepts enjoin supreme love to God and whose last six enjoin love to fellow human beings. Loving God with all heart, soul, strength and mind and loving neighbor as self is therefore the right statement of what God requires, and doing those two great principles is the way to life with eternal life as its reward. That doing means keeping the commandments in practice, and obedience is the evidence of genuine saving knowledge of God, with supreme love for God shown by loving those for whom Christ died. Christ Himself gave that law at Sinai, and His affirmation of the lawyer's answer states what every soul must do for eternal life. Man's natural condition is sinfulness, but the great sacrifice offered in his behalf makes keeping them possible, and obedience to these commandments is required of all who would enter into life.
The law is a divine unity in which the same principle runs through all its precepts, so no one can keep one commandment while breaking another. Human destiny is determined by obedience to the whole law, and doing what the law requires in loving God and loving neighbor as self is stated as the condition of inheriting eternal life in the simplest manner. A life conformed to Christ cannot disobey God's commands, because sin cannot reign where God is loved supremely, love to God is fruit borne by obedience, and love to neighbor prevents working ill to him. Neglect of needy cases brought under notice breaks the second great commandment on which the last six depend, and since offending in one point is guilt of all, it also closes the heart to the claims of God in the first four, leaving idols to claim heart and affections so that God is not honored and does not reign supreme.
The original moral law engraved on tables of stone stands immutable after the typical sacrifices ceased at Christ's death, holding its claims upon man in all ages. In the Christian age duty is not limited but more especially defined and simply expressed, with no less obedience required than was required of Adam. Christ's sacrifice makes forgiveness possible without abolishing or disregarding the law, and true holiness is obedience to God, not transgression, cheerfully rendered by those who love Him. That unrepealed obligation includes the tithing system enjoined upon the Hebrews, which is not a burden to those who keep the plan but is to be more fully carried out and extended as salvation through Christ alone is more fully brought to light, with greater gifts required in proportion to greater light and blessings enjoyed. The requirement of love is thus expressed in practical duty, including generous support for the work of saving others. The law dates to the making of heaven and earth and requires perfect obedience.
The law lays its full obligation on people and exposes sin with its far-reaching claims, but it cannot save a transgressor. The only hope for the transgressor is to believe in Christ as Redeemer, receiving Christ the Lawgiver for pardon and salvation. The law points to Christ and Christ points back to the law, with the law as the moral standard revealing sin while Christ's sacrifice and righteousness make its holiness and beauty clear. Christ pays the sinner's debt and satisfies justice, so the sinner may receive Christ's righteousness by faith, and through faith in Jesus as substitute, surety and righteousness divine power enables believers to fulfill the law's righteousness. Grace does not excuse continued sin or diminish the law but establishes the law as unchanging, and keeping God's commandments is evidence of faith in Christ.
The doing commanded is perfect obedience to God's law in thought, word and deed, required of all who would love, honor and please God. The law as God's rule of government lays claim upon the whole man at all times, so complete obedience is the only condition that meets its requirement, unchanged under the new covenant. Spiritual life comes through obedience to God's Word and harmony with His laws, while twisting or misinterpreting Scripture brings sickness and death to the soul. Disobedience even in what people regard as small matters is still disobedience and brings the penalty of death unless the sinner repents and turns to God. God who cannot lie promises that those who do this law will be rewarded not only in the present life but in the life to come, while those who do not obey shall not see life but are pronounced guilty, cursed, under the wrath of God, and the soul that sins shall die.
Inheriting eternal life involves doing what God's law commands, not merely believing, for eternal life is given on condition of obedience to God's commandments. Christ did not teach believe only and be saved, but pointed to what is written in the law and approved loving the Lord God with all heart, soul, strength and mind and neighbor as self as obedience unto life. The false doctrine that man has nothing to do but believe is swept away by this word. The law's claims remain in force, with Christ's sacrifice providing forgiveness without abolishing or disregarding them.
Obedience and Life
Loving God with every power of heart, soul, strength and mind and loving neighbor as self is the stated condition and covenant term of eternal life and salvation, to be done in life in order to live. Rejecting the law is rejecting the conditions of salvation, and setting affection on the things of this life instead of loving God fully and neighbor as self leaves the conditions unfulfilled. The worth of eternal life calls for deliberate personal choice to give up everything else to obtain it, to know the requirement personally and keep it in conduct rather than hold it as a general idea. Any person or object that divides the affections, engages the mind, and is enthroned in the heart breaks that condition and becomes an idol, diverting mind, strength and affections that belong to His service.
Knowing, preaching, answering rightly, or keeping outward religious ceremony is not enough, for life is linked to practicing the principles of the law including showing mercy to people in need. Mere Christian profession, formal ceremonial obedience, costly sacrifices, offerings and displays of liberality do not save and without such love are abominable, while the life Christ alone can give is given only on condition of obedience. That obedience takes in the whole person in full and entire surrender of mind, heart, soul and strength, and doing what the law requires in supreme love to God and unselfish love to neighbor is true sanctification and the foundation of all true godliness. True godliness is measured by work done, while profession is nothing and position is nothing, and those who live it do not misrepresent Christ nor imperil others by wrong example but serve with humble contrite heart that has gladly received free salvation and freely imparts it in meeting human need. Doing means temperance instead of intemperance in drink, tobacco and perverted appetite, making Christ the strength and refuge and safety by faith against the enemy, seeing the soul in light of the cross, fleeing without wasting a moment and laying hold on eternal life while eternal destiny is now being decided.
Answering correctly is not enough because doing means loving God and neighbor from the heart, which is the very essence of religion though ceremonial correctness could claim blamelessness touching the law. True religion is a principle in the soul, not merely the performance of virtuous acts, although virtuous acts are its natural fruit, and God weighs the heart and the spirit and motive in which actions are done in estimating moral worth. Even giving goods to the poor, giving the body to be burned, or undergoing great sacrifice is failure without living love for God and people.
God sent His own Son to save to the uttermost because of great love for the human race, and in return demands obedience as the whole duty. Entering life requires keeping the commandments summed as loving God wholly and neighbor as self, and what was lost through Adam by disobedience must be brought back by obedience. This is the same condition given to the young man who asked what good thing to do.
Doing this is the stated condition for receiving life that measures with the life of God, and God's Word is sure with hope resting on its eternal truth and the reward accompanying obedience. A life conformed to Christ cannot disobey, because love to God borne by obedience leaves no room for sin to reign and love to neighbor prevents working ill to him, and the law as His rule of government lays claim upon the whole man at all times so that only complete obedience meets its requirement. God who cannot lie promises that those who do this law will be rewarded not only in the present life but in the life to come with constant blessing, while those who do not obey shall not see life but are pronounced guilty, cursed, under wrath, and the soul that sins shall die unless the sinner repents and turns to God. Disobedience even in what people regard as small matters is still disobedience bringing the penalty of death, and those who cherish sin eat the fruit of their own doings.
The standard of character thus held up keeps affections and thoughts given to the Creator instead of giving them to the creature in place of the Creator, and it is not lowered in the gospel but is the same requirement given by the same Saviour from the cloudy pillar on Mount Sinai. It remains high and holy for all as the expression of God's will, the same in Old Testament and New Testament, and cannot be changed or lowered to meet people in fallen condition. It reveals defects of character and the hopelessness of the condition without return to loyalty, enforces the law by presenting God's character in contrast with human character, and through faith in Christ the excellency it requires can be reached as obedience becomes the beauty of holiness.
No one in a state of failing this love can expect to be saved unless he repents and turns to God with all the soul, for breaking this love is sin as transgression of the law. The lawyer understood the words but failed to act on the command to show mercy, making him a lawbreaker and calling for repentance and conversion, learning a right attitude toward fellow men that leaves off indifference and hurting and destroying and tearing down and keeps the commandments in deed and in truth rather than becoming a law unto oneself. Conduct must match faith, so wrongdoing against another calls for confession and restitution and sin calls for an offering to God, connected with sins being blotted out and the name remaining in the book of life. It is not too late for wrongs to be righted, and when the best is done in faith Christ looks at the spirit and burden carried with faith and His perfect holiness atones for shortcomings and becomes righteousness, receiving as His representatives those who bow in humility and contrition and giving life to obedient love.
Neighbor in Parable
Neighbor is anyone in need of help, sympathy, grace and patience, including strangers and those of different faith, race, color, class or belief, without shutting oneself away from suffering, for every wounded person is a neighbor and belongs to God. Doing what is written means standing true to the relation designed between people, refusing to separate society into distinct classes of rich and poor, high and low, learned and unlearned, and using entrusted talents of means, ability and grace as stewards of mercy and love, by which a person is valued rather than by wealth, talent or education. Love to God joined with love to neighbor must be lived out in deeds rather than merely professed, believed or agreed to, with practical compassion and mercy toward temporal needs as far as possible, and true obedience springs from abiding love expressed in loving words and actions. A neighbor includes even one who is uncourteous or disagreeable and may not appreciate or repay kindness, and the call is to do good to everyone who needs sympathy and help, not only to fellow believers, with religion shown through merciful, unselfish service to others.
The lawyer's question about who counted as neighbor exposed failure to fulfill the requirements he had rightly stated, and the parable answers by showing that the neighbor is the person who shows mercy to someone in need. The Samaritan proved a doer of the law by compassion and practical care in binding wounds, carrying, sheltering, paying and promising more, in contrast to the priest and Levite who passed by on the other side. His mercy toward the wounded man explains what love of neighbor looks like in action, illustrating that doing what the law requires is the way to live.
The command to go and do likewise applies the call to love through compassionate action, and to live is to act in the same way. That obligation to show compassion and practical help to anyone suffering holds regardless of status or group, and it still sounds down to the present time. It calls for justice and mercy in word and deed rather than withdrawing from those unlike or opposed, with neighbor-love shown as mercy and practical care for a person in need.
Practical neighbor love requires not passing a needy brother by on the other side to favor others, but showing interest, speaking and acting kindly, encouraging, helping as a helping hand, binding up wounds and bearing inconvenience, care, anxiety and cost, which is Christlike love put into action, genuine medical missionary work and the law practiced. It includes providing money, provisions and substantial help to a brother or fellow believer in need, even when he cannot obtain them and lives on a remote island, and caring more actively for fellow believers' needs than for one's own while doing good to all. That doing extends to a neighborly, substantial, unselfish interest in institutions in distressing need and destitute of necessities, such as the Huntsville school, with those in the South faithfully acting their part in their own field and those in the stronger Northern conferences sustaining it by liberal gifts, for neglect of this duty is a matter taken in earnest, and redeeming the time now by such effort brings blessing.
The wounded and robbed man represents every needy and unfortunate case brought under notice as subjects for interest, sympathy and charity, no matter who they are and even when they are not kith or kin. Neglecting such cases and excusing neglect like the priest and Levite who passed by breaks the second great commandment on which the last six commandments depend, and, since offending in one point is guilt of all, it also closes the heart to the claims of God in the first four precepts, so that idols claim the heart and affections and God is not honored and does not reign supreme, leaving no assurance of eternal life. Knowing the requirement is not enough but must be put into practice, for eternal life depends on doing duty to one's neighbor by seeing and feeling woes with sympathy and tenderness, and neglect breaks the commandments and results in loss of eternal life. Showing the same tender regard to those in need that the Samaritan showed gives evidence of keeping the whole law, a requirement presented so directly and pointedly that it left no opportunity for criticism.
Doing in Practice
True religion is not idle contemplation or mere system, creed, and rite, but active goodness lived out in deeds that bring good to others, calling for the energetic use of mental and physical powers in faithful daily duties. To do in order to live is to practice wholehearted love for God and love for neighbor as self, not merely to profess, hold position, or agree that the evidence is true, for true godliness is measured by loving work and a Christlike character in practical service. The doer of the law acts from a kind and loving heart and walks as Christ walked.
Doing means enlisting the whole being in God's service in earnest work to share truth, seeking unbelievers rather than confining effort to believers, becoming acquainted with them, placing truth before those living up to all the light they have, and bringing them through the open door Christ has set into fellowship with the saints. It means regarding the neighbor as bought by Christ's sacrifice and taking responsibility for sharing the Word with those in darkness. It means following Christ's example of unselfish service, representing Him by words and actions as if He were present, cultivating love and tenderness and compassion for the suffering, meeting the needs of suffering humanity with kind deeds and painstaking, self-forgetful efforts, and never remaining careless and indifferent toward them, since rejecting this gospel of mercy is rejecting the Saviour.
Doing is genuine medical missionary work and the law practiced, shown by not passing a needy brother by on the other side but showing interest, speaking and acting kindly, encouraging, helping as the Lord's helping hand, binding up wounds and bearing inconvenience, care, anxiety, and cost. Neighbor means everyone in need of help that can be bestowed, and the command to do this still sounds down to the present time. Love for God and neighbor must be followed in conduct and not merely professed, expressed by relieving others' needs and temporal suffering as far as possible and using what is not truly necessary for oneself to help them, with the integrity and mercy one would want in like circumstances. Obedience through grace shapes character after God's likeness and rules out selfishness, oppression, unjust dealings, and failure to use abilities and opportunities to help others, which is a debt to God and a failure to do His will.
Doing governs business and possessions, requiring the whole person to be converted with no divided heart, and it is violated by sharp business dealings and by harming others spiritually or financially. It means fair, honest dealing rather than saying and not doing, with no misrepresentation or prevarication to gain favor. Love for neighbor is shown by relief of needs from what is not necessary for self and by refusal to oppress or defraud. When God is loved supremely, property becomes a loaned trust to be managed wisely with sound judgment for God's glory and eternal interests, not treated as a source of happiness or an object of worship, for wealth becomes a snare when it rules the heart, fosters pride or indulgence, comes between a person and obedience, or is made an idol of name, position, or wealth.
Doing brings peace, happiness, and joy to homes and churches when the two great principles encompassing all human duty are lived out. It is shown by honoring others and caring more actively for fellow believers' needs than for one's own, and by training and educating children in mercy according to who counts as neighbor. Those who preach to unbelievers must keep the law in treatment of brethren in ministry, showing love, sympathy, courtesy, confidence, and respect toward fellow laborers, since lack of love and courtesy, cherishing disrespect, and revealing it in conversation is forbidden and hinders blessing. Managers in God's institutions must awake to high principles, cultivate mercy, long-suffering, goodness, tender-heartedness, pity, courtesy, and Christlikeness, increasing piety in practical life, refusing to separate society into distinct classes of rich and poor or learned and unlearned, and serving with a humble, contrite heart that freely imparts received salvation rather than seeking to purchase favor with costly sacrifices, offerings, or displays of liberality.
Doing means answering right and also doing right, setting obedience against disobedience, with temperance instead of intemperance in drink and tobacco, turning from the corruption seen before the Flood, before the destruction of Sodom, and in Belshazzar's sacrilege. Perverted appetite enslaves, and its strength is unknown until one tries to break it, so doing requires making Christ the strength, refuge, and safety, seeing by faith that He alone protects from the enemy and that no one is compelled to sin without first consenting to the deceiver, while each one with a soul to save or lose is deciding eternal destiny now with no moment to waste. It means presenting the body as a living sacrifice, with no halfway work, with mind and body subordinated to God and natural habits and appetites made subservient to the higher wants of the soul, being temperate in all things and keeping the body under to avoid becoming a castaway while running for the incorruptible prize. This cannot be done by depending on self or following one's own guidance, but by welcoming the Holy Spirit as divine Teacher until holy thoughts, heavenly affections, and Christlike actions replace impure thoughts, perverse sentiments, and rebellious acts, for to profess to serve God while indulging natural impulses breaks the command and misleads other souls.
Doing forms characters fit for heaven when the two principles summing the law and the prophets are practiced through faith in and reception of Christ. Only doers of the Word build character upon solid rock, by taking the eyes from self to behold Jesus the perfect Pattern, striving for the perfection beheld in Him, looking steadfastly unto Him, practicing sincere self-examination, cutting away everything unlike Him, diligently studying the Word, and eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. A life transformed by receiving truth bears witness to the change, as the indwelling Saviour leads a person to do God's will rather than their own, with faith working through love and purifying the soul. Doing means keeping the commandments in deed and in truth, leaving off indifference and hurting, destroying, and tearing down, learning a right attitude toward fellow men, and, where there has been failure in love, bowing in humility and contrition in repentance and conversion unto life. It means bringing the mind into conformity to God's will in obedience to His commandments and taking up long-neglected duty and walking in the light, for the law is good and just and profitable to all who obey, obedience honors God, and God cares for the temporal interests of the obedient. Those who claimed the oracles of God while keeping neither great principle, though strict about the law, continually broke it and taught human maxims, traditions, and doctrines as commandments, misleading the people and revealing spiritual blindness.
Jesus met a lawyer who was testing Him about how to gain eternal life by affirming the lawyer's own summary of the law and telling him to put it into practice in order to live, and then He illustrated it with the parable of the Good Samaritan. The right answer sums up the whole law and the prophets as loving God with all the heart, soul, strength and mind and loving one's neighbor as oneself. To do means to obey in thought, word and deed rather than merely to know, profess, preach or agree that it is true. Neighbor means anyone in need of help and mercy without distinction of faith, race, class or condition, as the Samaritan showed by pitying, binding up, carrying, sheltering and paying for the wounded traveler whom priest and Levite passed by. The life promised is eternal life, measuring with the life of God with entrance into His kingdom and city, which no one can obtain in his own strength but only through the grace of Christ received by faith and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Setting and Question
The saying was given to a lawyer who asked what to do to inherit eternal life, after being asked what is written in the law and how he reads it. When he answered that the requirement is love to God with all heart and soul and strength and mind and love to neighbor as self, the answer was declared right, with the charge that doing that twofold love brings life. That exchange leads directly to his further question about who is neighbor and introduces the parable of the Good Samaritan as the explanation of what doing means.
The question was put as a test prompted by hostile religious leaders who hoped to trap and accuse before the people and the multitude. Priests, scribes and Pharisees, with disappointed and silenced Pharisees and Herodians and Sadducees, listened as spies for some word to misconstrue against the one whose work was to bring life and immortality to light, some following with murder in their hearts. The purpose was known, so the burden was placed on the lawyer to answer his own question from the law before the crowd, and by that answer the adversaries were met and defeated and disappointed in seeking cause for accusation.
The lawyer knew the right answer from Scripture yet had not kept the commandments, and the affirmation exposed the gap between his knowledge and practice and awakened and convicted his conscience. Instead of confessing sin and admitting failure, he sought to justify, vindicate and excuse himself. That attempt took the form of asking who counts as neighbor, which revealed that self-love ruled him and that the law condemned him.
The parable that follows explains the command by a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho who was stripped and robbed, wounded and left half dead and dying. A priest and a Levite saw him and passed by on the other side, while a Samaritan had compassion and pitied him, bound his wounds with oil and wine, set him on his own beast, carried him to an inn and shelter, cared for him, paid two pence and promised to repay more. Neighbor therefore means the one who shows mercy through practical help, and living is going and doing likewise.
The declaration repeats the same instruction given from Sinai and through Moses to Israel to walk in all commanded ways that they may live and it may be well with them, holding up a standard not lowered in the gospel but given by the same Saviour from the cloudy pillar. It lays down the same condition for entering life given to the young man who asked what good thing to do, that keeping the commandments recovers what Adam lost through disobedience. The rich ruler's choice between earthly wealth and heavenly treasure illustrates that the law allows no reservation but requires self-denial and use of talents for God's glory, in agreement with the Old Testament requirements to serve God wholeheartedly and to treat others justly by relieving the poor, protecting the vulnerable, and refusing to oppress or defraud.
Sense of Answer
Jesus pronounced the lawyer's summary correct, that wholehearted love for God with heart, soul, strength and mind together with love for neighbor as self is what the law demands for inheriting eternal life. That love engages every power and devotes the whole being to God's service, and the promise joined to it is positive that those who live by these commands will live. Outward religious observance without love in the heart does not fulfill it, for knowing the truth is not enough unless those who know it walk in its light. Loving one's neighbor in this sense also includes working earnestly to share the truth with him, and the parable that follows identifies whom such love must regard as neighbor.
The command to act means to practice and obey in life, not merely to know, believe, profess, preach, or agree that the evidence of truth is true. Keeping outward ceremonies, professing that God's law is binding, and correctness in form do not make a person a keeper of it, and saying without doing and evasion when truth touches conscience fail to meet it. Its principles must be carried out in daily life in every principle God requires, including showing mercy to people in need, for its claims bind all and failure to obey brings conviction. The lawyer understood the words of the law but failed to act on its command to show mercy, thereby standing as a lawbreaker in need of repentance and of walking in God's commandments. The verse therefore sweeps away the claim that a person has nothing to do but believe, since eternal life is given on condition of obedience to God's commandments.
The life promised is eternal life, not merely the continuance of present life, and it secures present and eternal welfare. It is life that measures with the life of God and runs parallel with His life, set forth as the terms for receiving life that lasts as long as God's life so that none need walk in crooked paths. Doing His commandments is the condition for having right to the tree of life and entrance through the gates into the city, into the kingdom, unto a crown and the joy of the Lord. That keeping of the law is merciful work like the Samaritan's binding up the wounded man, carrying him to shelter, paying for his care and promising more, in contrast to the priest and Levite who passed by. This doing is the work appointed to people and the solid foundation for eternal life, made possible by Christ giving His own life for the life of the world rather than by gaining higher education in sophistries and spiritualistic ideas, and it belongs to the sure Word of God in which obedience and disobedience have consequences and hope rests on the reward accompanying obedience.
The answer given to the lawyer settles for all time what to do to inherit eternal life, and its command with its promise applies just as much to church members and to those who are not church members now as to those who first heard and were self-convicted, indeed to everyone and not to the first hearer alone. It presents salvation as a clear practical truth rather than a complex intellectual problem, namely practically doing the truth by loving neighbor as self in mercy as the Samaritan did and not passing by on the other side, which is practical gospel ministry sowing the seeds of the gospel. The unchangeable, eternal gospel conditions comprehend the entire duty of one seeking eternal life, with supreme love to God answering the demands of the first four commandments and love to neighbor as self answering the demands of the last six, for the law of the Lord is perfect in converting the soul and its deep work in fallen humanity is genuine conversion. The lawyer understood the bearings of these conditions and could not evade them, for the Holy Spirit impressed conviction of neglect upon his heart, since he had not loved and served God supremely and had failed to love his neighbor as himself, and so he stood weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and found wanting, self-condemned. That same law of Jehovah, not human policy and human inventions, will decide the destiny of men and women, deciding the case of everyone standing before God in the last great day.
Love God and Neighbor
To live is to do what the lawyer rightly stated, to love the Lord God with all heart and soul and strength and mind and to love the neighbor as self. This doing takes in all there is of the human being, engaging every power of mind and body in God's service, including will power, speech, hearing, sight, physical strength, time, and influence. It means unreserved surrender and entire consecration, with no separation of the affections from God, but the whole wealth of affection, talents, possessions and all laid at His feet. The love required is whole, not one quarter or one half or two thirds given to God while the rest is given to self, and it calls for appreciating the atonement and turning away from the glitter of the world to the attractions of heaven. These words mean much, for service to God takes all there is of a person, calling for love to Jesus Christ, the One altogether lovely and chiefest among ten thousand, with undivided service, and for making God's will one's own will in the smallest as well as the largest matters.
God calls for wholehearted service, not a divided devotion shared with self, and this is a life-and-death matter requiring the whole person to be converted. The great test for every soul and every character points directly to the inner sanctuary of the soul's affections and claims for God the first place, the first thoughts, the first action, with the claims of God taking no second place. Any person or object that divides the affections, engages the mind, and is enthroned in the heart breaks that condition and takes the form of an idol, diverting from God the mind, strength, and affections that belong to His service, and no human love may be placed where God should be or divide the heart from Him. A heart absorbed in and controlled by earthly affections cannot be given up to God, and Jesus cannot accept a divided heart, so doing this means accepting the gospel message and abiding in Christ by forsaking all and following in His footsteps with an undivided heart. There is no adequate excuse for refusing to love God supremely and one's neighbor as oneself, and the command is violated by sharp business dealings and by harming others spiritually or financially, as well as by profession while indulging natural impulses.
Love to neighbor as self is supreme love for God joined to unselfish love for fellow men as self, to be lived out in practice as the fulfilling of the law. It means doing good to all, encouraging and strengthening others rather than discouraging or weakening them, and building up rather than tearing down. Such love is the foundation of true godliness and missionary work, whose worth calls for a deliberate choice to give up everything else to obtain eternal life.
These two loves are the two great principles of the law on which hang all the law and the prophets, summing up in few words the whole duty of man and the entire answer to how to obtain eternal life. The first four of the ten commandments are summed up in love to God with all the heart, and the last six are included in love to neighbor as self, expressing the whole duty taught by God's moral law. Failure to fulfill these principles violates God's word even when a person professes truth, preaches, or understands mysteries, and cherishing suspicion and imagining evil proves failure to carry out this law and brings upon the person the evils imagined, filling him with the fruit of his own doings and his own devices. Practiced through faith in and reception of Christ, they form characters fit for heaven, requiring not passing a needy brother by on the other side to favor others, but showing interest, speaking and acting kindly, encouraging, helping as the Lord's helping hand, binding up wounds and bearing inconvenience, care, anxiety, and cost.
Keeping the law is not possible in one's own strength, and the law's demand exposes the sinner's need, so the only hope for a transgressor is to believe in Christ as Redeemer. Belief in the propitiation for sin enables fallen people to love God wholly and their neighbors as themselves, and obedience is possible only by accepting the virtue and grace of Christ and through the merits of Jesus Christ. Through faith in Christ the excellency the standard requires can be reached, for God's law points to Christ, and Christ points back to the law, with the law as the moral standard that reveals sin while Christ's sacrifice and righteousness make its holiness and beauty clear. The law is plainly revealed and cannot be set aside or lowered to meet people in their fallen condition, but remains high and holy as the expression of God's will, and renewal by the Holy Spirit establishes the law instead of setting it aside.
Law Behind Words
The law in view is the Ten Commandments given at Sinai, whose first four precepts enjoin supreme love to God and whose last six enjoin love to fellow human beings. Loving God with all heart, soul, strength and mind and loving neighbor as self is therefore the right statement of what God requires, and doing those two great principles is the way to life with eternal life as its reward. That doing means keeping the commandments in practice, and obedience is the evidence of genuine saving knowledge of God, with supreme love for God shown by loving those for whom Christ died. Christ Himself gave that law at Sinai, and His affirmation of the lawyer's answer states what every soul must do for eternal life. Man's natural condition is sinfulness, but the great sacrifice offered in his behalf makes keeping them possible, and obedience to these commandments is required of all who would enter into life.
The law is a divine unity in which the same principle runs through all its precepts, so no one can keep one commandment while breaking another. Human destiny is determined by obedience to the whole law, and doing what the law requires in loving God and loving neighbor as self is stated as the condition of inheriting eternal life in the simplest manner. A life conformed to Christ cannot disobey God's commands, because sin cannot reign where God is loved supremely, love to God is fruit borne by obedience, and love to neighbor prevents working ill to him. Neglect of needy cases brought under notice breaks the second great commandment on which the last six depend, and since offending in one point is guilt of all, it also closes the heart to the claims of God in the first four, leaving idols to claim heart and affections so that God is not honored and does not reign supreme.
The original moral law engraved on tables of stone stands immutable after the typical sacrifices ceased at Christ's death, holding its claims upon man in all ages. In the Christian age duty is not limited but more especially defined and simply expressed, with no less obedience required than was required of Adam. Christ's sacrifice makes forgiveness possible without abolishing or disregarding the law, and true holiness is obedience to God, not transgression, cheerfully rendered by those who love Him. That unrepealed obligation includes the tithing system enjoined upon the Hebrews, which is not a burden to those who keep the plan but is to be more fully carried out and extended as salvation through Christ alone is more fully brought to light, with greater gifts required in proportion to greater light and blessings enjoyed. The requirement of love is thus expressed in practical duty, including generous support for the work of saving others. The law dates to the making of heaven and earth and requires perfect obedience.
The law lays its full obligation on people and exposes sin with its far-reaching claims, but it cannot save a transgressor. The only hope for the transgressor is to believe in Christ as Redeemer, receiving Christ the Lawgiver for pardon and salvation. The law points to Christ and Christ points back to the law, with the law as the moral standard revealing sin while Christ's sacrifice and righteousness make its holiness and beauty clear. Christ pays the sinner's debt and satisfies justice, so the sinner may receive Christ's righteousness by faith, and through faith in Jesus as substitute, surety and righteousness divine power enables believers to fulfill the law's righteousness. Grace does not excuse continued sin or diminish the law but establishes the law as unchanging, and keeping God's commandments is evidence of faith in Christ.
The doing commanded is perfect obedience to God's law in thought, word and deed, required of all who would love, honor and please God. The law as God's rule of government lays claim upon the whole man at all times, so complete obedience is the only condition that meets its requirement, unchanged under the new covenant. Spiritual life comes through obedience to God's Word and harmony with His laws, while twisting or misinterpreting Scripture brings sickness and death to the soul. Disobedience even in what people regard as small matters is still disobedience and brings the penalty of death unless the sinner repents and turns to God. God who cannot lie promises that those who do this law will be rewarded not only in the present life but in the life to come, while those who do not obey shall not see life but are pronounced guilty, cursed, under the wrath of God, and the soul that sins shall die.
Inheriting eternal life involves doing what God's law commands, not merely believing, for eternal life is given on condition of obedience to God's commandments. Christ did not teach believe only and be saved, but pointed to what is written in the law and approved loving the Lord God with all heart, soul, strength and mind and neighbor as self as obedience unto life. The false doctrine that man has nothing to do but believe is swept away by this word. The law's claims remain in force, with Christ's sacrifice providing forgiveness without abolishing or disregarding them.
Obedience and Life
Loving God with every power of heart, soul, strength and mind and loving neighbor as self is the stated condition and covenant term of eternal life and salvation, to be done in life in order to live. Rejecting the law is rejecting the conditions of salvation, and setting affection on the things of this life instead of loving God fully and neighbor as self leaves the conditions unfulfilled. The worth of eternal life calls for deliberate personal choice to give up everything else to obtain it, to know the requirement personally and keep it in conduct rather than hold it as a general idea. Any person or object that divides the affections, engages the mind, and is enthroned in the heart breaks that condition and becomes an idol, diverting mind, strength and affections that belong to His service.
Knowing, preaching, answering rightly, or keeping outward religious ceremony is not enough, for life is linked to practicing the principles of the law including showing mercy to people in need. Mere Christian profession, formal ceremonial obedience, costly sacrifices, offerings and displays of liberality do not save and without such love are abominable, while the life Christ alone can give is given only on condition of obedience. That obedience takes in the whole person in full and entire surrender of mind, heart, soul and strength, and doing what the law requires in supreme love to God and unselfish love to neighbor is true sanctification and the foundation of all true godliness. True godliness is measured by work done, while profession is nothing and position is nothing, and those who live it do not misrepresent Christ nor imperil others by wrong example but serve with humble contrite heart that has gladly received free salvation and freely imparts it in meeting human need. Doing means temperance instead of intemperance in drink, tobacco and perverted appetite, making Christ the strength and refuge and safety by faith against the enemy, seeing the soul in light of the cross, fleeing without wasting a moment and laying hold on eternal life while eternal destiny is now being decided.
Answering correctly is not enough because doing means loving God and neighbor from the heart, which is the very essence of religion though ceremonial correctness could claim blamelessness touching the law. True religion is a principle in the soul, not merely the performance of virtuous acts, although virtuous acts are its natural fruit, and God weighs the heart and the spirit and motive in which actions are done in estimating moral worth. Even giving goods to the poor, giving the body to be burned, or undergoing great sacrifice is failure without living love for God and people.
God sent His own Son to save to the uttermost because of great love for the human race, and in return demands obedience as the whole duty. Entering life requires keeping the commandments summed as loving God wholly and neighbor as self, and what was lost through Adam by disobedience must be brought back by obedience. This is the same condition given to the young man who asked what good thing to do.
Doing this is the stated condition for receiving life that measures with the life of God, and God's Word is sure with hope resting on its eternal truth and the reward accompanying obedience. A life conformed to Christ cannot disobey, because love to God borne by obedience leaves no room for sin to reign and love to neighbor prevents working ill to him, and the law as His rule of government lays claim upon the whole man at all times so that only complete obedience meets its requirement. God who cannot lie promises that those who do this law will be rewarded not only in the present life but in the life to come with constant blessing, while those who do not obey shall not see life but are pronounced guilty, cursed, under wrath, and the soul that sins shall die unless the sinner repents and turns to God. Disobedience even in what people regard as small matters is still disobedience bringing the penalty of death, and those who cherish sin eat the fruit of their own doings.
The standard of character thus held up keeps affections and thoughts given to the Creator instead of giving them to the creature in place of the Creator, and it is not lowered in the gospel but is the same requirement given by the same Saviour from the cloudy pillar on Mount Sinai. It remains high and holy for all as the expression of God's will, the same in Old Testament and New Testament, and cannot be changed or lowered to meet people in fallen condition. It reveals defects of character and the hopelessness of the condition without return to loyalty, enforces the law by presenting God's character in contrast with human character, and through faith in Christ the excellency it requires can be reached as obedience becomes the beauty of holiness.
No one in a state of failing this love can expect to be saved unless he repents and turns to God with all the soul, for breaking this love is sin as transgression of the law. The lawyer understood the words but failed to act on the command to show mercy, making him a lawbreaker and calling for repentance and conversion, learning a right attitude toward fellow men that leaves off indifference and hurting and destroying and tearing down and keeps the commandments in deed and in truth rather than becoming a law unto oneself. Conduct must match faith, so wrongdoing against another calls for confession and restitution and sin calls for an offering to God, connected with sins being blotted out and the name remaining in the book of life. It is not too late for wrongs to be righted, and when the best is done in faith Christ looks at the spirit and burden carried with faith and His perfect holiness atones for shortcomings and becomes righteousness, receiving as His representatives those who bow in humility and contrition and giving life to obedient love.
Neighbor in Parable
Neighbor is anyone in need of help, sympathy, grace and patience, including strangers and those of different faith, race, color, class or belief, without shutting oneself away from suffering, for every wounded person is a neighbor and belongs to God. Doing what is written means standing true to the relation designed between people, refusing to separate society into distinct classes of rich and poor, high and low, learned and unlearned, and using entrusted talents of means, ability and grace as stewards of mercy and love, by which a person is valued rather than by wealth, talent or education. Love to God joined with love to neighbor must be lived out in deeds rather than merely professed, believed or agreed to, with practical compassion and mercy toward temporal needs as far as possible, and true obedience springs from abiding love expressed in loving words and actions. A neighbor includes even one who is uncourteous or disagreeable and may not appreciate or repay kindness, and the call is to do good to everyone who needs sympathy and help, not only to fellow believers, with religion shown through merciful, unselfish service to others.
The lawyer's question about who counted as neighbor exposed failure to fulfill the requirements he had rightly stated, and the parable answers by showing that the neighbor is the person who shows mercy to someone in need. The Samaritan proved a doer of the law by compassion and practical care in binding wounds, carrying, sheltering, paying and promising more, in contrast to the priest and Levite who passed by on the other side. His mercy toward the wounded man explains what love of neighbor looks like in action, illustrating that doing what the law requires is the way to live.
The command to go and do likewise applies the call to love through compassionate action, and to live is to act in the same way. That obligation to show compassion and practical help to anyone suffering holds regardless of status or group, and it still sounds down to the present time. It calls for justice and mercy in word and deed rather than withdrawing from those unlike or opposed, with neighbor-love shown as mercy and practical care for a person in need.
Practical neighbor love requires not passing a needy brother by on the other side to favor others, but showing interest, speaking and acting kindly, encouraging, helping as a helping hand, binding up wounds and bearing inconvenience, care, anxiety and cost, which is Christlike love put into action, genuine medical missionary work and the law practiced. It includes providing money, provisions and substantial help to a brother or fellow believer in need, even when he cannot obtain them and lives on a remote island, and caring more actively for fellow believers' needs than for one's own while doing good to all. That doing extends to a neighborly, substantial, unselfish interest in institutions in distressing need and destitute of necessities, such as the Huntsville school, with those in the South faithfully acting their part in their own field and those in the stronger Northern conferences sustaining it by liberal gifts, for neglect of this duty is a matter taken in earnest, and redeeming the time now by such effort brings blessing.
The wounded and robbed man represents every needy and unfortunate case brought under notice as subjects for interest, sympathy and charity, no matter who they are and even when they are not kith or kin. Neglecting such cases and excusing neglect like the priest and Levite who passed by breaks the second great commandment on which the last six commandments depend, and, since offending in one point is guilt of all, it also closes the heart to the claims of God in the first four precepts, so that idols claim the heart and affections and God is not honored and does not reign supreme, leaving no assurance of eternal life. Knowing the requirement is not enough but must be put into practice, for eternal life depends on doing duty to one's neighbor by seeing and feeling woes with sympathy and tenderness, and neglect breaks the commandments and results in loss of eternal life. Showing the same tender regard to those in need that the Samaritan showed gives evidence of keeping the whole law, a requirement presented so directly and pointedly that it left no opportunity for criticism.
Doing in Practice
True religion is not idle contemplation or mere system, creed, and rite, but active goodness lived out in deeds that bring good to others, calling for the energetic use of mental and physical powers in faithful daily duties. To do in order to live is to practice wholehearted love for God and love for neighbor as self, not merely to profess, hold position, or agree that the evidence is true, for true godliness is measured by loving work and a Christlike character in practical service. The doer of the law acts from a kind and loving heart and walks as Christ walked.
Doing means enlisting the whole being in God's service in earnest work to share truth, seeking unbelievers rather than confining effort to believers, becoming acquainted with them, placing truth before those living up to all the light they have, and bringing them through the open door Christ has set into fellowship with the saints. It means regarding the neighbor as bought by Christ's sacrifice and taking responsibility for sharing the Word with those in darkness. It means following Christ's example of unselfish service, representing Him by words and actions as if He were present, cultivating love and tenderness and compassion for the suffering, meeting the needs of suffering humanity with kind deeds and painstaking, self-forgetful efforts, and never remaining careless and indifferent toward them, since rejecting this gospel of mercy is rejecting the Saviour.
Doing is genuine medical missionary work and the law practiced, shown by not passing a needy brother by on the other side but showing interest, speaking and acting kindly, encouraging, helping as the Lord's helping hand, binding up wounds and bearing inconvenience, care, anxiety, and cost. Neighbor means everyone in need of help that can be bestowed, and the command to do this still sounds down to the present time. Love for God and neighbor must be followed in conduct and not merely professed, expressed by relieving others' needs and temporal suffering as far as possible and using what is not truly necessary for oneself to help them, with the integrity and mercy one would want in like circumstances. Obedience through grace shapes character after God's likeness and rules out selfishness, oppression, unjust dealings, and failure to use abilities and opportunities to help others, which is a debt to God and a failure to do His will.
Doing governs business and possessions, requiring the whole person to be converted with no divided heart, and it is violated by sharp business dealings and by harming others spiritually or financially. It means fair, honest dealing rather than saying and not doing, with no misrepresentation or prevarication to gain favor. Love for neighbor is shown by relief of needs from what is not necessary for self and by refusal to oppress or defraud. When God is loved supremely, property becomes a loaned trust to be managed wisely with sound judgment for God's glory and eternal interests, not treated as a source of happiness or an object of worship, for wealth becomes a snare when it rules the heart, fosters pride or indulgence, comes between a person and obedience, or is made an idol of name, position, or wealth.
Doing brings peace, happiness, and joy to homes and churches when the two great principles encompassing all human duty are lived out. It is shown by honoring others and caring more actively for fellow believers' needs than for one's own, and by training and educating children in mercy according to who counts as neighbor. Those who preach to unbelievers must keep the law in treatment of brethren in ministry, showing love, sympathy, courtesy, confidence, and respect toward fellow laborers, since lack of love and courtesy, cherishing disrespect, and revealing it in conversation is forbidden and hinders blessing. Managers in God's institutions must awake to high principles, cultivate mercy, long-suffering, goodness, tender-heartedness, pity, courtesy, and Christlikeness, increasing piety in practical life, refusing to separate society into distinct classes of rich and poor or learned and unlearned, and serving with a humble, contrite heart that freely imparts received salvation rather than seeking to purchase favor with costly sacrifices, offerings, or displays of liberality.
Doing means answering right and also doing right, setting obedience against disobedience, with temperance instead of intemperance in drink and tobacco, turning from the corruption seen before the Flood, before the destruction of Sodom, and in Belshazzar's sacrilege. Perverted appetite enslaves, and its strength is unknown until one tries to break it, so doing requires making Christ the strength, refuge, and safety, seeing by faith that He alone protects from the enemy and that no one is compelled to sin without first consenting to the deceiver, while each one with a soul to save or lose is deciding eternal destiny now with no moment to waste. It means presenting the body as a living sacrifice, with no halfway work, with mind and body subordinated to God and natural habits and appetites made subservient to the higher wants of the soul, being temperate in all things and keeping the body under to avoid becoming a castaway while running for the incorruptible prize. This cannot be done by depending on self or following one's own guidance, but by welcoming the Holy Spirit as divine Teacher until holy thoughts, heavenly affections, and Christlike actions replace impure thoughts, perverse sentiments, and rebellious acts, for to profess to serve God while indulging natural impulses breaks the command and misleads other souls.
Doing forms characters fit for heaven when the two principles summing the law and the prophets are practiced through faith in and reception of Christ. Only doers of the Word build character upon solid rock, by taking the eyes from self to behold Jesus the perfect Pattern, striving for the perfection beheld in Him, looking steadfastly unto Him, practicing sincere self-examination, cutting away everything unlike Him, diligently studying the Word, and eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. A life transformed by receiving truth bears witness to the change, as the indwelling Saviour leads a person to do God's will rather than their own, with faith working through love and purifying the soul. Doing means keeping the commandments in deed and in truth, leaving off indifference and hurting, destroying, and tearing down, learning a right attitude toward fellow men, and, where there has been failure in love, bowing in humility and contrition in repentance and conversion unto life. It means bringing the mind into conformity to God's will in obedience to His commandments and taking up long-neglected duty and walking in the light, for the law is good and just and profitable to all who obey, obedience honors God, and God cares for the temporal interests of the obedient. Those who claimed the oracles of God while keeping neither great principle, though strict about the law, continually broke it and taught human maxims, traditions, and doctrines as commandments, misleading the people and revealing spiritual blindness.