“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, ‘Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said unto him, ‘What is written in the law? How readest thou?’ 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.’ And He said unto him, ‘Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.’ But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’”      

Luke 10: 25 - 29

Do you understand what is happening here? The unwilling heart is at work! I don’t know who this certain lawyer was, but I know his devious intentions. He asked Jesus the $64000 question: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” This is a question I believe billions are asking, but the simple answer a majority of that figure is not willing to accept. To a straightforward answer, Jesus, like He always does when others try to push His back against the wall, responds with a straightforward question!

Do you hear them talking? Do you hear what they are saying? Haven’t you heard about the Da Vinci Code? Did you know that they have recently found the bones of our Lord Jesus Christ? What? Rock stars are more popular than Jesus? Oh, man, the things being taught today by those who are ‘wise’. They provide their complex evidences, and elaborate at length about their empirical data, and they go on and on and on. When will it all end? Like you I hear them talking!

“For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’” [I Corinthians 1: 19]. Wisdom of the wise, what do you think that is? My best guess is any position which tries to take the place of God’s Truth. One such example is...

My thesis is that in the Scripture when God "blesses" men they are thereby helped and strengthened and made better off than they were before, but when men "bless" God he is not helped or strengthened or made better off. Rather (with C.A. Keller in THAT, I, 361) man's blessing God is an "expression of praising Thankfulness" (ein lobendes Danksagen), when the OT speaks of blessing God it does not "designate a pro­cess that aims at the increase of God's strength" (THAT, I, 361). It is an "exclamation of gratitude and admiration" (THAT, I, 357).

Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."

Are you like this rich young man? Do you desire to be saved from your sins and be reunited with the Father? What are you willing to lose in order to gain eternal life? If you want salvation you cannot only come with your desire, you also have to be willing to make a commitment. Desire is a great deception if the heart is not willing to be obedient to the commands of Jesus Christ! Just as how faith without works is dead, so is desire without devotion.