May 1, 2000

GREAT QUESTIONS OF THE BIBLE:
"What must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Luke 10:25
___By Joseph C. Parker Jr.,
___Pastor, David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Austin
___"When I look at my daughters, I am reminded life is full of inheritances. I look into their eyes, watch their mannerisms, experience their personalities, and see the

JOSEPH PARKER Pastor, David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Austin

characteristics they have inherited from my wife and me.
___ As I get older, I also recognize what I have inherited from my godly parents. Not only have I received physical characteristics from them, but they also have passed down to me a spiritual heritage. But some inheritances are not passed on through family relations; some must meet certain conditions.
___ One day, a lawyer learned this lesson when he attempted to test Jesus by cross-examining him about inheriting eternal life. He asked the great witness a question, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25).
___ Rather than answer the lawyer's question, Jesus responded with a question, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?"
___ How frustrated this lawyer must have been! In my previous experience as a trial attorney, I remember how much angst I felt when a witness was unresponsive. In that setting, you could object. But here with Jesus, the lawyer had no one to whom he could present his objection; and Jesus had taken control of the questioning.
___ So, the lawyer responded and said, "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 love your neighbor as yourself" (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18). Jesus said, "You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live."
___ The lawyer learned he could not receive eternal life through his parents, position or profession; nor could he pass it on to his descendants. Indeed, eternal life is a gift from God, lived out through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and others.
___ In order to receive eternal life, we must love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, which means devoting every area of our lives to him. We must also be a neighbor who loves others as we would love ourselves. It is a matter of showing mercy to those whom we encounter on the side of the road.
___ We must love our neighbor, those who are near and those who disagree with us on certain issues, even if they are on the other side of the road in life and not the same race, social class, economic status, educational background, political persuasion, theological orientation or denominational affiliation. The inheritance of eternal life requires us to have our vertical relationship right with God and our horizontal relationship right with people who are near to us. Eternal life does not turn on how people relate to us, but how we relate to them and God.
___ If Jesus placed you on the witness stand today and asked you if you had done what was necessary to inherit eternal life, what would be your answer?



Previous Columns: 7/14, 7/21, 7/28, 8/4, 8/11, 8/18, 8/25, 9/1, 9/8, 9/15, 9/22, 9/29, 10/6, 10/13, 10/20 10/27, 11/17, 11/24, 12/1,12/15, 12/1,1/5, 1/12. 1/19, 1/26, 2/2, 2/9, 2/16, 2/23, 3/1, 3/8, 3/15, 3/27, 4/3, 4/10, 4/17, 4/24

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