Mark 12. 28-44
28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And 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: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
35 And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David?
36 For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
37 David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.
38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,
39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
40 Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
The main lesson
Basically you never will be able to do enough to qualify for heaven. Here are some reasons:
1. Religion does not make the grade.
2. Good living doesn't improve your prospects.
3. Doing your best isn't good enough.
This isn't because God is difficult and awkward like an old teacher, boss or parent. There are some people who you will never please no matter how hard you try but God's not like that!
The truth of the matter is that we as flawed humans we are not capable of living like God or in a way that pleases Him. He is perfect and has no capacity to sin: we are sinful and struggle to live life well.
So what!
Do we have a problem without a solution!
No quite. That's why the Father (God) sent the Son (Jesus) to be the Saviour of the world.
God is holy but not hateful.
He cannot live with us as sinners but he has provided forgiveness and salvation through the death of his Son.
All that is required is the following:
1. Our confession and admission that God is correct. The purpose of this confession is to be bring us to the reality of our true condition before God.
2. Our repentance towards God. This is a change of mind where we see God for who he is and ourselves for who we are. It is more than regret. It is the correct reaction of turning and placing God in control, dethroning ourselves and confessing Jesus Christ as Lord.
3. Resting on Jesus Christ for salvation. This is called faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. It comes as a result of admitting our failure to change or save ourselves and our recognition and reliance on Jesus Christ to save us.
A simple bible statement to summarise all of these stages would be 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved,' Acts 16:31.
To get to this stage we must understand that Jesus died, was buried and rose from the dead three days later.
May God bless you though His word and His Son.
Stephen
For more information and further explanations of the message of the bible via videos, blogs and podcasts please visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk
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