That was then; this is now. Everything’s different, right?

This text reminds me of Luke 10:25-29. Verse 25 sets the stage.

One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

Every word is important, none more so than “do.”

We stand on this side of Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. It should be easier for us than it was the people of Isaiah’s day as well as this expert in religious law. 

Jesus was on trial. Sure, it was Moot Court, but it was the trial he was on every day in the hearts and minds of people with the mindset of obedience to 613 laws as the outward sign of rightness with God. 

In Isaiah’s day and in the days recorded in Luke’s Gospel, people had the baseline idea that they had to do something to save themselves. The cross of Jesus nailed down our salvation. We no longer live in a “What must I do?” relationship with God. We live in a “What I (God) have done for you” relationship with him. 

Even in Isaiah’s day, hundreds of years before the incarnation of Jesus, God said to his people, “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved.” Let’s state the plain truth: Salvation is by relationship, not rules. 

God also said, “In quietness and confidence is your strength.” God doesn’t need our bravado. Our muscle strength and mental acuity do not make him better. We are better off being still than powerful. 

God added one convicting word we need to take to heart: “But you would have none of it.” We prefer to do salvation our way. We prefer pumping our own gas. 

Go back to Luke 10 and notice the lawyer’s mindset. “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (verse 25). “The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” (verse 29).

“Do” and “Justify his actions” indicate he wanted something like a checklist. Sounds familiar. He focused on minimum standards. His idea of salvation was useful only to the point that he didn’t have to try anymore and maybe not even care anymore. 

Today this checklist might look something like this:

• Go to church regularly, even if regularly means something less than ever before.
• Get baptized.
• Give a little here and there.
• Do something nice once in a while.

Where Jesus was focused on an all-consuming relationship with our Father in heaven and an all-out effort to live life as a stewardship of all of God’s good gifts, the lawyer wanted to do just enough to get in. He did not care enough to share God’s heart and mind. He did not love enough to depend on God’s strength and extend his compassion to everyone everywhere. Keep reading verses 30-37 for the rest of the story.

Salvation is God’s gift. The most we can do to earn it is to receive it. To receive it, we acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves, no matter how hard we try. Having received it, we pass along the gift to others who are likewise trying to save themselves.

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I will put away my checklist and pick up the wrapping paper.

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Our Father, thank you for the gift of salvation. Empower us to live in an ever-deeper, all-consuming relationship with you. Empower us to pass along to others what we have freely received. Amen.