What Shall I Do to Inherit Eternal Life?

 

The “lawyer” at that time was one of the Pharisees and was also called a “scribe.” Therefore, in Matthew it is recorded, “the Pharisees... were gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer,” while in Mark it is recorded, “one of the scribes.” Also, in the passage above, it is written that a certain lawyer asked Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” But in Matthew and Mark, it is recorded that he asked, “Which is the great commandment in the law?” and “What commandment is the first of all?” At first glance, these may seem to be different questions. In truth, however, keeping the greatest and first commandment is the way to inherit eternal life (James 1:12), and therefore they can be understood as pointing to the same matter.

 

Matthew 22:34-40 “34But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, gathered themselves together. 35And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, trying him: 36Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? 37And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets.”

[¹The main principle: the great central line or foundation of a matter.]

 

Mark 12:28-34 “28And one of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together, and knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, What commandment is the first of all? 29Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: 30and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. 31The second is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

 

In this conversation between Jesus and the lawyer, that is, the scribe, the “great and first commandment” is recorded in Matthew and Mark as Jesus’ answer to the lawyer, and in Luke as the lawyer’s answer to Jesus. What matters, however, is that the great and first commandment acknowledged by both Jesus and the lawyer is the word written in Deuteronomy 6:4-5. This word, called the “Shema” in Hebrew, meaning “Hear, O Israel,” is as follows:

 

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “4Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah: 5and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

 

And what Jesus spoke of as the second commandment is the following word written in Leviticus:

 

Leviticus 19:18 “Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am Jehovah.”

 

These words are the greatest and first commandment and the second commandment by which a person may inherit eternal life, as mentioned by Jesus and the lawyer. But the problem is that the Jews, who knew these words better than anyone else, did not love Jesus and did not love the Samaritans, that is, the Gentiles.

 

Therefore, Jesus said to the Jews that because they were unwilling to come to Him, they did not have the love of God in themselves.

 

John 5:39-42 “39Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me; 40and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life. 41I receive not glory from men. 42But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in yourselves.”

 

In other words, in order to obtain eternal life, the Jews should have loved Jesus with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might, just as they loved Jehovah their God, because the Scriptures bear witness of Jesus. Nevertheless, their failure to do so proved that the love of God was not in them, and therefore Jesus spoke to them in that way.

 

Therefore, just as Jesus said to the lawyer, “Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live,” loving God must not be something we merely speak with our lips; it must become the keeping of His commandments.

 

1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”

 

That is why Nehemiah and Daniel also prayed as follows:

 

Nehemiah 1:5 “And said, I beseech thee, O Jehovah, the God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments.”

 

Daniel 9:4 “And I prayed unto Jehovah my God, and made confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments.”

 

This is what God said when He gave Moses the Ten Commandments.

 

Exodus 20:6 “And showing lovingkindness unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.”

 

At the Last Supper, Jesus spoke as follows to His eleven disciples:

 

John 14:21-24 “21He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him. 22Judas (not Iscariot) saith unto him, Lord, what is come to pass that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24He that loveth me not keepeth not my words: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me.”

 

Thus, Jesus said that the one who loves Him is the one who keeps His commandments, and that the Father also will love that person. Conversely, through this word we can know that the one who does not keep the commandments of Jesus, that is, the one who does not love Jesus, will not be loved by the Father.

 

Then what is the commandment of Jesus that those who love Him must keep?

 

John 14:13-15 “13And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If ye shall ask anything in my name, that will I do. 15If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments.”

 

Amen. This is precisely the commandment of Jesus. Therefore, now the Jews must not ask Jehovah in the name of Jehovah; rather, they must ask Jesus in the name of Jesus. Gentiles likewise must keep the commandment of Jesus by asking Jesus in the name of Jesus. Then they can receive what they ask, and they can also be loved by the Father. The reason all of us must keep this commandment of Jesus is as follows:

 

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

 

Acts 4:11-12 “11He is the stone which was set at nought of you the builders, which was made the head of the corner. 12And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved.”

 

Therefore, the apostle John also defined the commandment of God as believing in the name of Jesus Christ.

 

1 John 3:22-24 “22and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. 23And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he gave us commandment. 24And he that keepeth his commandments abideth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.”

 

Therefore, whether Jew or Greek, that is, Gentile, all can be saved when they call upon the name of Jesus, who is Lord of all.

 

Romans 10:11-13 “11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame. 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord is Lord of all, and is rich unto all that call upon him: 13for, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

 

Amen. This is the first commandment of God that we must surely keep in order to inherit eternal life. When we keep this commandment with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might, only then do we come to love God, and the love of God comes to be with us.

 

Also, the reason we must keep the second commandment is likewise that this is what it means for us to love God.

 

1 John 4:20-21 “20If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen. 21And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.”

 

1 John 5:1-2 “1Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God: and whosoever loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2Hereby we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do his commandments.”

 

The Jews at that time had no dealings with Gentiles at all (John 4:9, Acts 10:28). But according to this word, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is one who has been born of God, that is, a child of God. Therefore, no one who says he loves God should hate his brother. Peter also went to the household of Cornelius, a Gentile, and proclaimed the following:

 

Acts 10:34-35 “34And Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him.”

 

Therefore, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ—that is, whoever is born of God, belongs to God, and knows God—ought to love one another. As mentioned above, such a person is one who loves God and abides in the love of God.

 

1 John 4:7-11 “7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. 8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9Herein was the love of God manifested in us, that God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

 

1 John 4:15-16 “15Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God. 16And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him.”

 

Amen.