Man can DO nothing to get into the kingdom of God.
Man is dead only the work of GOD can bring man to life. To have any glory upon the flesh is the lie from the garden.
Regarding Luke 10:25 look why that was said and who said that… A lawyer that wanted to JUSTIFY HIMSELF WITHOUT CHRIST to see what his inheritance would be.
Luke 10:25 “25 And lo, a certain lawyer stood up, trying him, and saying, ‘Teacher, what having done, life age-during shall I inherit?’”
Verse 26 Jesus asked the lawyer’s interpretation of the law. Not what the law is but “how dost thou read?” is making a big focus on the lawyer’s perspective or understanding which in this context does not mean the lawyer is in righteousness.
Luke 10:26 “26 And he said unto him, ‘In the law what hath been written? how dost thou read?’”
Verse 27 the lawyer said the law.
Luke 10:27 “27 And he answering said, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God out of all thy heart, and out of all thy soul, and out of all thy strength, and out of all thy understanding, and thy neighbour as thyself.’”
Verse 28 Jesus said RIGHTLY you did answer. This lawyer had the knowledge of the law. Jesus also said if you DO thou shalt live. NO MAN IS ABLE TO KEEP THAT LAW THAT THE LAWYER STATED IN VERSE 27 by himself. We know this lawyer wanted to do this law by his own might by himself because of verse 29 which is very ominous.
Luke 10:28 “28 And he said to him, ‘Rightly thou didst answer; this do, and thou shalt live.’”
Luke 10:29 “29 And he, willing to declare himself righteous, said unto Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’”
Luke 10:30-37 Jesus speaks of the good samaritan. Note this lawyer wanted to DECLARE HIMSELF RIGHTEOUS. He didn’t want Christ but rather justify himself. Actually Jesus is the neighbor and the lawyer didn’t understand.
Verse 37 Jesus knew the lawyer thinks he is the “I AM” so Jesus said DO:
Luke 10:37 “37 and he said, ‘He who did the kindness with him,’ then Jesus said to him, ‘Be going on, and thou be doing in like manner.’”
The matter of fact is that the lawyer walked away because he thought he could DO the works of the LAW. This is what most people think they are doing when they say they know Jesus.
Regarding believing that is the command however man can’t do that:
John 6:28, 29 “28 They said therefore unto him, ‘What may we do that we may work the works of God?’ 29 Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that ye may believe in him whom He did send.’”
Regarding the Grace:
Romans 11:5-8 “5 So then also in the present time a remnant according to the choice of grace there hath been; 6 and if by grace, no more of works, otherwise the grace becometh no more grace; and if of works, it is no more grace, otherwise the work is no more work. 7 What then? What Israel doth seek after, this it did not obtain, and the chosen did obtain, and the rest were hardened, 8 according as it hath been written, ‘God gave to them a spirit of deep sleep, eyes not to see, and ears not to hear,’ –unto this very day,”
Who does the work?
Hebrews 10:5-10 “5 Wherefore, coming into the world, he saith, ‘Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not will, and a body Thou didst prepare for me, 6 in burnt-offerings, and concerning sin-offerings, Thou didst not delight, 7 then I said, Lo, I come, (in a volume of the book it hath been written concerning me,) to do, O God, Thy will;’ 8 saying above–‘Sacrifice, and offering, and burnt-offerings, and concerning sin-offering Thou didst not will, nor delight in,’ –which according to the law are offered– 9 then he said, ‘Lo, I come to do, O God, Thy will;’ he doth take away the first that the second he may establish; 10 in the which will we are having been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once,”
Finally what did the scripture profit the man from Luke 10:25? This entire passage is about the REST in Christ from our works of the law. Note verse 2 about the good news not profiting them. That lawyer was not profited by the good news. He wanted to justify himself. The grace is that the works were completed in Christ and not by our will. Note the 3rd to the 6th place in the bible where you read the word “I”. Man thinks he can do the works of God. That is what happened to the May 21, 2011 people they thought they can do the works of God and look what happened to them.
Hebrews 4:1-16 “1 We may fear, then, lest a promise being left of entering into His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short, 2 for we also are having good news proclaimed, even as they, but the word heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard, 3 for we do enter into the rest–we who did believe, as He said, ‘So I sware in My anger, If they shall enter into My rest–;’ and yet the works were done from the foundation of the world, 4 for He spake in a certain place concerning the seventh day thus: ‘And God did rest in the seventh day from all His works;’ 5 and in this place again, ‘If they shall enter into My rest–;’ 6 since then, it remaineth for certain to enter into it, and those who did first hear good news entered not in because of unbelief– 7 again He doth limit a certain day, ‘To-day,’ (in David saying, after so long a time,) as it hath been said, ‘To-day, if His voice ye may hear, ye may not harden your hearts,’ 8 for if Joshua had given them rest, He would not concerning another day have spoken after these things; 9 there doth remain, then, a sabbatic rest to the people of God, 10 for he who did enter into his rest, he also rested from his works, as God from His own. 11 May we be diligent, then, to enter into that rest, that no one in the same example of the unbelief may fall, 12 for the reckoning of God is living, and working, and sharp above every two-edged sword, and piercing unto the dividing asunder both of soul and spirit, of joints also and marrow, and a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart; 13 and there is not a created thing not manifest before Him, but all things are naked and open to His eyes–with whom is our reckoning. 14 Having, then, a great chief priest passed through the heavens–Jesus the Son of God–may we hold fast the profession, 15 for we have not a chief priest unable to sympathise with our infirmities, but one tempted in all things in like manner–apart from sin; 16 we may come near, then, with freedom, to the throne of the grace, that we may receive kindness, and find grace–for seasonable help.”
You can also see this with the Pharisee and the tax-gatherer. How the pharisee “stood by himself” just as the lawyer in Luke 10:25 and how the Pharisee continued to justify himself. The lawyer of Luke 10:25 did not want the propitiation (covering) of Christ.
Luke 18:10-14 “10 ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer; 11 the Pharisee having stood by himself, thus prayed: God, I thank Thee that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unrighteous, adulterers, or even as this tax-gatherer; 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all things–as many as I possess. 13 ‘And the tax-gatherer, having stood afar off, would not even the eyes lift up to the heaven, but was smiting on his breast, saying, God be propitious to me–the sinner! 14 I say to you, this one went down declared righteous, to his house, rather than that one: for every one who is exalting himself shall be humbled, and he who is humbling himself shall be exalted.’”
Finally an another ominous statement from Jesus speaking to the pharisees. Jesus was speaking they are doing.
John 8:38 “38 I–that which I have seen with my Father do speak, and ye, therefore, that which ye have seen with your father–ye do.’”
Those that are the ones that are doing the works of the law like the Lawyer in Luke 10:25
John 8:41 “41 ye do the works of your father.’ They said, therefore, to him, ‘We of whoredom have not been born; one Father we have–God;’”
John 8:44 “44 ‘Ye are of a father–the devil, and the desires of your father ye will to do; he was a man-slayer from the beginning, and in the truth he hath not stood, because there is no truth in him; when one may speak the falsehood, of his own he speaketh, because he is a liar–also his father.”
Look what the Jews said about Jesus:
John 8:48 “48 The Jews, therefore, answered and said to him, ‘Do we not say well, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon?’”
Add that in because look at who the Lawyer of Luke 10:25 had to hear:
Luke 10:33 “33 ‘But a certain Samaritan, journeying, came along him, and having seen him, he was moved with compassion,”
The Jews of John 8:48 say Jesus has a demon and call him a Samaritan and Jesus himself in Luke 10:33 speaks about the Good Samaritan.
They are infinitely tied together even more when you see this verse as well, on the heels of that verse comes this one:
John 8:50 “50 and I do not seek my own glory; there is who is seeking and is judging;”
Wasn’t the lawyer of Luke 10:25 also trying to justify himself for GLORY?
Luke 10:29 “29 And he, willing to declare himself righteous, said unto Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’”
The Pharisee of Luke 18:10 was judging and declaring himself righteous.
Luke 18:11 “11 the Pharisee having stood by himself, thus prayed: God, I thank Thee that I am not as the rest of men, rapacious, unrighteous, adulterers, or even as this tax-gatherer;”
Galatians 6:13 “13 for neither do those circumcised themselves keep the law, but they wish you to be circumcised, that in your flesh they may glory.”
1 Corinthians 1:29 “29 that no flesh may glory before Him;”
This is the last thing we can discuss on this matter. The Righteousness of God to us is “above” that of the scribes and Pharisees. The scribes and Pharisees always want you to “DO” something. The rest in Christ is NOW. Rest from the works of the law is the light of the salvation. If we are working then we are not in rest. When we work the works that is because we are seeking our own glory. Are you seeing the flame or the light of the word? The flame forces you to work the light is rest. When you are working you are offering a sacrifice or your sacrifice.
Matthew 5:20 “20 ‘For I say to you, that if your righteousness may not abound above that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye may not enter to the reign of the heavens.”
This is summed up perfectly in this below. This is what happens at the RISING again when the righteousness of Christ rises in men:
Acts 15:1 “1 And certain having come down from Judea, were teaching the brethren–‘If ye be not circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye are not able to be saved;’”
Acts 15:7-11 “7 and there having been much disputing, Peter having risen up said unto them, ‘Men, brethren, ye know that from former days, God among us did make choice, through my mouth, for the nations to hear the word of the good news, and to believe; 8 and the heart-knowing God did bare them testimony, having given to them the Holy Spirit, even as also to us, 9 and did put no difference also between us and them, by the faith having purified their hearts; 10 now, therefore, why do ye tempt God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 but, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe to be saved, even as also they.’”
Notice they are TEMPTING God by trying to do the works of the law or to Judaize the people as Peter did below also. The commands were fulfilled in Christ. What command wasn’t fulfilled in Christ that you would like us to do? Light does not work… Light only radiates and shines upon the darkness. God made the light and the light is GOOD.
Galatians 2:14-3:13 “14 But when I saw that they are not walking uprightly to the truth of the good news, I said to Peter before all, ‘If thou, being a Jew, in the manner of the nations dost live, and not in the manner of the Jews, how the nations dost thou compel to Judaize? 15 we by nature Jews, and not sinners of the nations, 16 having known also that a man is not declared righteous by works of law, if not through the faith of Jesus Christ, also we in Christ Jesus did believe, that we might be declared righteous by the faith of Christ, and not by works of law, wherefore declared righteous by works of law shall be no flesh.’ 17 And if, seeking to be declared righteous in Christ, we ourselves also were found sinners, is then Christ a ministrant of sin? let it not be! 18 for if the things I threw down, these again I build up, a transgressor I set myself forth; 19 for I through law, did die, that to God I may live; 20 with Christ I have been crucified, and live no more do I, and Christ doth live in me; and that which I now live in the flesh–in the faith I live of the Son of God, who did love me and did give himself for me; 21 I do not make void the grace of God, for if righteousness be through law–then Christ died in vain. 1 O thoughtless Galatians, who did bewitch you, not to obey the truth–before whose eyes Jesus Christ was described before among you crucified? 2 this only do I wish to learn from you–by works of law the Spirit did ye receive, or by the hearing of faith? 3 so thoughtless are ye! having begun in the Spirit, now in the flesh do ye end? 4 so many things did ye suffer in vain! if, indeed, even in vain. 5 He, therefore, who is supplying to you the Spirit, and working mighty acts among you–by works of law or by the hearing of faith is it? 6 according as Abraham did believe God, and it was reckoned to him–to righteousness; 7 know ye, then, that those of faith–these are sons of Abraham, 8 and the Writing having foreseen that by faith God doth declare righteous the nations did proclaim before the good news to Abraham– 9 ‘Blessed in thee shall be all the nations;’ so that those of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham, 10 for as many as are of works of law are under a curse, for it hath been written, ‘Cursed is every one who is not remaining in all things that have been written in the Book of the Law–to do them,’ 11 and that in law no one is declared righteous with God, is evident, because ‘The righteous by faith shall live;’ 12 and the law is not by faith, but–‘The man who did them shall live in them.’ 13 Christ did redeem us from the curse of the law, having become for us a curse, for it hath been written, ‘Cursed is every one who is hanging on a tree,’”