Bible Text: Luke 10:25-37 | Preacher: Pastor Steve | Series: Abiding in the Lord
Luke10:21 I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.
Luke 10:25-26 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. Teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, what is written in the law? What is your reading of it?
Jesus answers the question with a question
What is written in the law?
The Torah
There are 8 distinct categories of civil law in the Old Testament:
laws regulating leaders
laws regulating the military
laws for criminal behavior
laws dealing with crimes against property
laws relating to humane treatment
laws about personal and family rights
laws about property rights
laws regulating other social behavior
THE GREAT DEBATE IS ON
Luke 10:26-28 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
Love – Agape
Unselfish love, other focused love; agape is love that exists because of the Holy Spirit
The Lord wants US TO ABIDE IN HIM with our:
Heart (kardia): our emotions, desires, and passions
Soul (psuche): our “being” and uniqueness; personality
Strength (ischus): our drive or will; commitment
Mind (dianoia): our intellect and knowledge
Agape is love that is:
Unconditional: It is not contingent on the other person’s performance or desirability.
Willful: It is not a matter of feeling or inclination, but rather a decision to act in another person’s interest
Sacrificial: It costs you something to love in this way
Agape love is acting in the interest of others, no matter who they are, how we feel, or what it costs.
The Heart of Humankind
Jeremiah 17:9-10 The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives.
Matthew 15:19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.
New Heart
The only way we can love God and love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves, and ABIDE IN JESUS is to get a NEW HEART and receive the HOLY SPIRIT in our lives
Ezekiel 36:26-27 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
Galatians 2:16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.
Luke 10:29-30 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor? Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
Luke 10:31-32 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
Luke 10:33-34 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him
Luke 10:35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two pieces of silver and told him to take care of the man. If his bill runs higher than that, he said, I’ll pay the difference the next time I am here
Luke 10:36-37 Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits? Jesus asked. The man replied, the one who showed him mercy. Then Jesus said, yes, now go and do the same.
Our neighbor is anyone whose need you see and whose need you’re in a position to meet
The Principle of Life
What I am determines what I see
Our perspective and attitude in life depends upon what life we have in us!
Salvation is through Jesus
Jesus is teaching that we will not LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR if our hearts are NOT RIGHT with the Lord and the only way to have the gift of eternal life is through JESUS. The law cannot save you, our good deeds cannot save us, our good intentions will not save us, helping our neighbor will not save us, ONLY JESUS!
Christian love is not objective. Christian love is subjective.
Christian love does not reside in the person being loved
It resides in the person DOING the loving