Jesus, What Must I Do To Share In Everlasting Life?

By Steven Merten

Part I

Note: Jesus' words are in red

"If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." "Which ones?" he asked. Jesus replied "'You shall not kill'; 'You shall not commit adultery'; 'You shall not steal'; You shall not bear false witness'; 'Honor your father and mother'; and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

Of the four times scripture presents Jesus with the question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?", three times Jesus answers obey the commandments and twice he tells us to love. (MAT 19:16) (MAR 10:17) (LUK 18:18) (LUK 10:25) This chapter takes a look at these answers and the relationship of obedience and love to eternal life.

NAB MAT 17:1 Jesus Transfigured.

Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before their eyes. His face became as dazzling as the sun, his clothes as radiant as light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them conversing with him.

NAB MAR 12:18

Then some Sadducees who hold there is no resurrection came to him with a question ...\\...12:24 Jesus said: "You are badly misled, because you fail to understand the Scriptures or the power of God. When people rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but live like angels in heaven. As to the raising of the dead, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God told him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob'? He is the God of the living not of the dead, You are very much mistaken."

NAB LUK 13:28

And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out.

Saint Moses, Saint Abraham, Saint Isaac and Saint Jacob are alive in heaven. How did they get there? Moses and Abraham were both sons of Adam and carry Adam's sin as we do. Moses gave us the will of God but then he sinned against one of God's wills (NUM 20:12). Abraham could not be called righteous on his own account but only through his faith (GEN 15:6).

It is by the blood of Jesus that we New Testament sinners are brought to salvation. What brought sinning Abraham and sinning Moses to salvation in heaven? Was it their circumcision? Their faith? Their righteous deeds? Their obedience to the commandments? The sacrifice of a goat or a lamb? If it was by one of these, then why did God have to sacrifice His Son for us, the New Testament sinners? Why can we not be circumcised, have faith, do righteous deeds, obey the commandments, or sacrifice a goat to earn heaven? If Abraham and Moses could have earned eternal life through the law or a function other than Jesus death, why cannot we?

NAB GAL 2:21

I will not treat God's gracious gift as pointless. If justice is available through the law, then Christ died to no purpose!

The fact is, that nothing Abraham or Moses could do would ever have gained eternal life for themselves. It is the blood of Jesus that brings Abraham and Moses to salvation. When Christ died he went to the right hand of the Father. It is through the Right Hand of the Father that we Christians are brought to salvation.

NAB MAT 26:64

Jesus answered: "It is you who say it. But I tell you this: Soon you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven."

NAB PSA 80:18

May your help be with the man of your right hand, with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.

It is through the Right Hand of the Father that Abraham and his descendants are also brought to salvation. The psalms are written by King David. David was guilty of adultery, coveting another's wife, and murder. David died a thousand years before the time of Christ. Yet repentant David proclaims salvation through the Right Hand of God the Father. It is by the blood of Jesus, the right hand of the Father, through which repentant sinner David is brought to eternal salvation.

NAB PSA 118:15

The joyful shout of victory in the tents of the just: "The right hand of the LORD has struck with power: The right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD has struck with power." I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. Though the LORD has indeed chastised me, yet he has not delivered me to death.
Open to me the gates of justice; I will enter them and give thanks to the LORD. This gate is the LORD's; the just shall enter it. I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me and have been my savior. The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it. O LORD, grant salvation! O LORD, grant prosperity! (MAT 21:42)

NAB PSA 98:1

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. The LORD has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God.

NAB WIS 5:15

But the just live forever, and in the LORD is their recompense, and the thought of them is with the Most High. Therefore shall they receive the splendid crown, the beauteous diadem, from the hand of the LORD - For he shall shelter them with his right hand, and protect them with his arm.

NAB PSA 77:16

With your strong arm you redeemed your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph.

INT PSA 45:4

In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds.

INT PSA 138:7

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me.

NAB ISA 41:8

But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, offspring of Abraham my friend - You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and summoned from its far-off places, You whom I have called my servant, whom I have chosen and will not cast off - Fear not, I am with you; be not dismayed; I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, and uphold you with my right hand of justice.

INT PSA 108:6

Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.

NAB PSA 21:9

(Jesus destroys Satan and all evil.)

May your hand reach all your enemies, may your right hand reach your foes! Make them burn as though in a fiery furnace, when you appear. May the LORD consume them in his anger; let fire devour them.

NAB PSA 48:11

As your name, O God, so also your praise reaches to the ends of the earth. Of justice your right hand is full; let Mount Zion be glad, Let the cities of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments. (PSA 78:54)

SIR 36:5

PSA 49

PSA 51

PSA 56:14

David, a covetous adulterer and murderer, thanks God for his salvation in Jesus Christ. "I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. Though the LORD has indeed chastised me, yet he has not delivered me to death." If Moses' law does not condemn David to hell, for what purpose did God give man the law? It is through the law that man knows how to love God. It is those who love God who inherit Christ's blood.

The way people go to heaven is through Jesus Christ, the reason people go to heaven is because they love God and love for God is accomplished through free from the will of God obedience to the will of God. What must God do that I may inherit eternal life? God must protect me with His Right Hand Jesus Christ. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Obey and love God.

Jesus has created a route in which all men since Adam can be brought to heaven. However, Jesus never changed the reason for God's establishment of His covenant of free will. The only way to create love for God is through the power of free will. Choosing sin and disobedience to God's law of love is hatred for God. Because of Jesus death this hatred for God does not always cause eternal death. However, choosing life, obedience and faithfulness to God with all your heart is always the way men love God. It is love that God looks for when He decides who will enter into heaven through Jesus and who will not enter into heaven.

God through Moses did not deliver the ten commandments to the Israelites so they could earn their way to heaven. Nor did He deliver the ten commandments so all men could perish in hell by sin. These commandments were given to the Israelites to teach them how to love God. It was through Jesus Christ that God offered salvation to David, Abraham, Moses and the Israelites. Love for God was the reason God brought an Israelite such as Moses to heaven through Jesus' blood. Hatred for God is why an Israelite such as Korah (JUD 1:11-13) (NUM 16) burns in hell without Jesus salvation.

Jesus' work on earth was threefold. First, Jesus chooses love for the Father. Second, Jesus creates a path for his brothers to return to the Father. Third, Jesus teaches men how to love God and how to return to God. Jesus taught men how to love God as Moses had done before him. Jesus cultivated the fruit of love for God through his teaching to men; then he took this fruit back to the Father through his death and resurrection. Through Christ's life men are instructed how to love God. Through Christ's death men are then able to bring their love before God.

Choosing obedience with all your strength is to choose eternal life and is love for God. God allows creation to continue and some men to go to hell in order that some men will love Him through His covenant of free will. The reason saints are begotten into heaven through Christ's blood, is because they love God through obedience, faithfulness and gifts of love with all their strength. The eventual saints sin and do not choose love, life and obedience perfectly, but they choose life, love and obedience with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their mind and with all their strength.

The most important message that Moses ever revealed was, 'Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart.' Whenever scripture uses the term 'Love God with all your heart' it is referring to the commandments. It is through the commandments that God reveals to us how to love Him with all your heart. When Jesus uses God and Moses' term 'Love God with all your heart' he also is referring to obeying the commandments.

Throughout scripture the term 'with all your heart' reappears with the commandments to stress God and Moses' concept of loving God through the commandments. The phrase 'with all your heart' appears roughly fifty-four times in Old Testament. Forty-five out of its fifty-four appearances are directly followed or preceded by references to God's commandments of love.

OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD "WITH ALL YOUR HEART"
DEU 4:29	DEU 6:5	DEU 8:2	DEU 10:1	DEU 11:13	DEU 13:3
DEU 26:16	DEU 30:2	DEU 30:6	DEU 30:10	DEU 32:46	DEU 22:5
1SA 12:20	1SA 12:24	1KI 2:4	1KI 8:48	1KI 9:4	1KI 14:8
1KI 15:3	1KI 15:14	2KI 10:31	2KI 23:3	2KI 23:25	2CH 6:38
2CH 15:12	2CH 15:17	2CH 22:9	2CH 34:31	PSA 119:2	PSA119:10
PSA119:34	PSA119:58	PSA 119:69	PSA 119:145	PRO 3:5	PRO 4:4
JER 3:10	JER 24:7	JER 29:13	JOE 2:12	TOB 13:6	SIR 6:27
SIR 7:27	SIR 7:29	SIR 7:30

The other times 'with all your heart' appears in scriptures it is used as an adjective to indicate doing something to the elevated level of man's need to obey the commandments of love. The following verses relate to a level of enthusiasm equivalent to the omni-important love for God through the commandments.

JOS 23:14	NEH 4:6	PSA 9:1	PSA 86:12	PSA 108:1	PSA 111:1
PSA 138:1	JER 32:41	ZEP 3:14

When Jesus tells us to 'love God with all our heart' in order to receive eternal life, he is quoting from Moses and the forty-five, if not fifty-four, references which teach us to love God by obeying God's commandments. Love and obedience are one in the same according to the teachings of Jesus and Moses. Four times scripture presents to Jesus the question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Three times Christ answers 'obey the commandments'. In the other instance Jesus tells us 'Love God with all your heart' is correct." "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."

NAB DEU 6:1

"These then are the commandments, the statutes and decrees which the LORD, your God, has ordered that you be taught to observe in the land into which you are crossing for conquest, so that you and your son and your grandson may fear the LORD, your God, and keep, throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus have long life. Hear then, Israel, and be careful to observe them, that you may grow and prosper the more in keeping with the promise of the LORD, the God of your fathers, to give you a land flowing with milk and honey." The great commandment. Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today. Drill them into your children. Speak of them at home and abroad, whether you are busy or at rest. Bind them at your wrist as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.

NAB MAR 12 The Great Commandment.

(Jesus quotes from Moses.)

"Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "This is the first:
'Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!
Therefore you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.'
"This is the second,
'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
There is no other commandment greater than these." The scribe said to him: "Excellent, Teacher! You are right in saying, 'He is the One, there is no other than he.' Yes, 'to love him with all our heart, with all our thoughts and with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves' is worth more than any burnt offering or sacrifice." Jesus approved the insight of this answer and told him, "You are not far from the reign of God."

NAB LEV 19:18
(God speaks through Moses.)
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. "

NAB MAT 19:16

The dangers of riches. Another time a man came up to him and said, "Teacher, what good must I do to possess everlasting life?" He answered, "Why do you question me about what is good? There is One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." "Which ones?" he asked. Jesus replied "You shall not kill"; 'You shall not commit adultery'; 'You shall not steal'; 'You shall not bear false witness'; 'Honor your father and mother'; and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" The young man said to him, "I have kept all these; what do I need to do further?" Jesus told him, "If you seek perfection, go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor. You will then have treasure in heaven. Afterward, come back and follow me." Hearing these words, the young man went away sad, for his possessions were many.

NAB ROM 13 Love Fulfills the Law.

(St. Paul is speaking.)

Owe no debt to anyone except the debt that binds us to love one another. He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet," and any other commandment there may be are all summed up in this, saying (namely) "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love never wrongs the neighbor, hence love is the fulfillment of the law.

NAB DEU 10:12 The Lord's Majesty.

"And now, Israel, what does the LORD, your God, ask of you but to fear the LORD, your God, and follow his ways exactly, to love and serve the LORD, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD which I enjoin on you today for your own good?"

NAB DEU 26:16 The Covenant.

"This day the LORD, your God, commands you to observe these statutes and decrees. Be careful, then, to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you are making this agreement with the LORD: he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments, and decrees, and to hearken to his voice. And today the LORD is making this agreement with you: you are to be a people peculiarly his own as he promised you: and provided you keep his commandments, he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made, and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God, as he promised."

NAB MAT 22:36 The Great Commandment.

"Teacher, which commandment of the law is the greatest?" Jesus said to him:
"'You shall love the Lord your God
with our whole heart,
with your whole soul,
and with all your mind.'
This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments the whole law is based, and the prophets as well."

NAB MAR 10:17

As he was setting out on a journey a man came running up, knelt down before him and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to share in everlasting life?" Jesus answered, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments:
'You shall not kill;
You shall not commit adultery;
You shall not steal;
You shall not bear false witness;
You shall not defraud;
Honor your father and your mother.'"

NAB JOH 14:21

"He who obeys the commandments he has from me is the man who loves me; . . . . "

NAB MAT 7:12 The Golden Rule.

"Treat others the way you would have them treat you: this sums up the law and the prophets."

NAB TOB 4:15

Do to no one what you yourself dislike.

NAB GAL 5:14

The whole law has found its fulfillment in this one saying: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." If you go on biting and tearing one another to pieces, take care! You will end up in mutual destruction!

NAB JOS 22:1 The Eastern Tribes Dismissed.

At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh and said to them: "You have done all that Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you, and have obeyed every command I gave you. For many years now you have not once abandoned your kinsmen, but have faithfully carried out the commands of the LORD, your God. Since, therefore, the LORD, your God, has settled your kinsman as he promised them, you may now return to your tents beyond the Jordan; to your own land, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave you. But be very careful to observe the precept and law which Moses, the servant of the LORD, enjoined upon you: love the LORD, your God; follow him faithfully; keep his commandments; remain loyal to him; and serve him with your whole heart and soul." Joshua then blessed them and sent them away to their own tents.

NAB LUK 10:25

On one occasion a lawyer stood up to pose him this problem: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?" Jesus answered him: "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" He replied:
"You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your strength,
and with all your mind;
and your neighbor as yourself."
Jesus said, "You have answered correctly. Do this and you shall live."

NAB LUK 18:18

One of the ruling class asked him then, "Good teacher, what must I do to share in everlasting life? "Jesus said to him, "Why call me 'good'? None is good but God alone. You know the commandments:
'You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not kill.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear dishonest witness.
Honor your father and your mother.'"

NAB BAR 3:9

Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life:

NAB JOH 12:50

"Since I know that his commandment means eternal life, . . . . "

NAB SIR 45:5

Where, face to face, he gave him the commandments, the law of life and understanding,

NAB PRO 4:4

He taught me, and said to me:
"Let your heart hold fast my words:
keep my commands, that you may live!"

NAB JOH 8:51

"I solemnly assure you, if a man is true to my word he shall never see death."

NAB DEU 11:13

"If, then, you truly heed my commandments which I enjoin on you today, loving and serving the LORD, you God, with all your heart and all your soul, I will give the seasonal rain to your land, the early rain and the late rain, that you may have your grain, wine and oil to gather in; And I will bring forth grass in your fields for your animals. Thus you may eat your fill. But be careful lest your heart be so lured away that you serve other gods and worship them. For then the wrath of the LORD will flare up against you and he will close up the heavens, so that no rain will fall, and the soil will not yield its crops, and you will soon perish from the good land he is giving you."

NAB JOH 14:23

Jesus answered:
"Anyone who loves me will be true to my word, and my Father will love him; we will come to him and make our dwelling place with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words. Yet the word you hear is not mine; it comes from the Father who sent me."

NAB DEU 13:1 Penalties for Idolatry.

"Every command that I enjoin on you, you shall be careful to observe, neither adding to it nor subtracting from it.
"If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer who promises you a sign or wonder, urging you to follow other gods, whom you have not known, and to serve them: even though the sign or wonder he has foretold you comes to pass, pay no attention to the words of that prophet or that dreamer; for the LORD, your God, is testing you to learn whether you really love him with all your heart and with all your soul. The LORD, your God, shall you follow, and him shall you fear; his commandment shall you observe, and his voice shall you heed, serving him and holding fast to him alone."

NAB 1TH 4:9

As regards brotherly love, there is no need for me to write you. God himself has taught you to love one another, . . . .

NAB JAM 1:15

Once passion has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin reaches maturity it begets death. (TOB 14:11)

NAB LUK 11:28

"Rather," he replied, "blest are they who hear the word of God and keep it."

NAB ROM 2:4

Do you not know that God's kindness is an invitation to you to repent? In spite of this, your hard and impenitent heart is storing up retribution for that day of wrath when the just judgment of God will be revealed, when he will repay every man for what he has done: eternal life to those who strive for glory, honor, and immortality by patiently doing right; wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness. Yes, affliction and anguish will come upon every man who has done evil, the Jew first, then the Greek. But there will be glory, honor and peace for everyone who has done good, likewise the Jew first, then the Greek. With God there is no favoritism.