What Really Matters

By Paul Smithson

All human life is precious and sacred as it is bestowed by God in His image. This is true regardless of race, gender, age, born or unborn. God declared that life is precious and sacred to Him and should be to us when He commanded, “You shall not murder” (“Thou shalt not kill” KJV) Ex. 20:13.  He went on to say in the next chapter that those who disregard His command are to be punished saying, “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death” Ex. 21:12. Did God contradict Himself?  Certainly not.  He simply gave a law then stated the penalty for the violation of that law. We must recognize that there can be no law against crime without a penalty for its violation.  Because where there is no penalty to accompany the law, the law only becomes a wish or a desire and is not actually a law at all. God gave and values human life and expects us to value it as well and shows this by His command and the penalty set forth for those who would disregard it.  God has always viewed human life as precious and sacred. Long before giving the Ten Commandments through Moses,  God,  after stating that blood is equivalent to life,  declared to Noah, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man” Gen. 9:6.  Jesus declared that all who disregard the will of God and fail to seek mercy and forgiveness will be eternally lost including murderers. “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” Rev. 21:8.  

However, God is not just concerned with us refraining from taking someone’s life.  It is His desire that we show love toward all.  Jesus, quoting from the Law declared, “Love the Lord your God will all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you mind and with all your strength…and your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these” Mk. 12:30-31. And Jesus made it very plain in the story of the Good Samaritan that our neighbor includes all people regardless background or race (Lk. 10:30-37). If we all loved God with our all, and loved our neighbor as ourselves, then the will of God would be on earth as it is in heaven.  Then there would be no enmity or strife, war or hunger, riots or dissention.  There would be no divisiveness racially nor religiously.

All human life is precious, yet every living individual houses a soul/spirit which is even more precious.  Our physical lives are temporary, but our souls within our physical bodies will continue to exist throughout eternity.  Jesus emphasized just how much our souls matter when He declared, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?  For what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37.  In fact, He said we should value our soul over our physical life stating, “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell”  Matt. 10:28. And the Scriptures make it plain that it is our heart and soul that matters to God. “…For God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” 1Sam. 16:7.   

Speaking of the physical body and the eternal soul, Solomon stated that there will come a time for every person when “The dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” Eccl. 12:7.  That is true concerning everyone regardless of race or gender.    Life is precious but is temporary. Thus, it is most important how we live our lives and prepare our souls for eternity because “..it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” Heb 9:27.  This too, is true concerning everyone regardless of race or gender. All those who are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, who have been baptized into Christ and clothed themselves with Christ are one in Christ regardless of race or gender.  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” Gal. 3:26-28.  The apostle Paul tells us that our physical body will die and yet be raised and changed at the resurrection at the last day. He explains that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” In the resurrection flesh and blood will be transformed into a body that suited for eternity. (1Cor. 15:50-53).  Thus, the color of one’s flesh has no spiritual significance, as all will be changed and transported to judgment. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” 2Cor. 5:10. Again, this is true regardless of race or gender.   What will make the difference as to whether our souls are saved or lost will not be what color our skin was, or if we were a man or woman, but how as a person we lived our lives, loving God and others.  That is what will really matter.

Who Is My Neighbor?

By Paul Smithson

An individual who was skilled in the Law tested Jesus asking, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk. 10:25-37). Jesus lets him answer his own question by referring him to the Law he knew so well, asking, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” The lawyer knew the heart of the law and answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” When Jesus referred him to God’s Law it not only answered the lawyer’s question, but also pricked his conscience. Realizing he had never fulfilled the requirement of the Law that he knew so well, the Scriptures state, “Wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” He attempted to justify himself by trying to limit who would be considered one’s neighbor.

To answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?”, Jesus told the parable of The Good Samaritan. “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise, a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So, he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you” (vv. 30-35).

By the contrast that Jesus makes in the story, the robbed and beaten victim in the parable is presumably a Jewish man.  A priest and a Levite, two supposedly religious men, knowledgeable in the Law, and of the same race as the victim, fail to assist the man in need.

It was a Samaritan, a man of a race despised by the Jews, who gives his assistance to the man in need. Unlike the others who were only traveling 14 miles from Jericho to Jerusalem, the Samaritan was “on a journey.”  No doubt, like everyone who is on a trip, he wanted to hurry and get to where he was going. But this fellow, Jesus said, “Felt compassion.” Compassion is not a mushy, sissy, characteristic. It takes a person with real character to be compassionate. Anyone can be hard hearted and simply turn their head at someone else’s needs. Anyone can walk away and say, “I just don’t want to get involved.” Anyone can say, “I don’t help that race of people.” But being a loving person involves being a compassionate person, and Jesus says we must “love our neighbor as ourselves.” To show love toward others demands we get involved. When you see others in need, if you have any desire to show love toward your neighbor, you will have compassion for them; taking the time to do whatever you can to assist them in their situation– regardless of the risk, regardless of their race.

After telling the parable Jesus asked, “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” The lawyer answered, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same” (vv.36-37). The parable not only caused the lawyer to consider the truth, but to admit it.

What an important lesson for the lawyer. Oh, what an important lesson for us! It is not the one who just professes kindness and love who truly loves their neighbor, but the one who shows love and kindness by their actions to all men.   Real love leads us  to deny ourselves and to sacrifice even our own welfare for the benefit of others.

God not only requires that we strive to have an accurate knowledge of His will, but that we also put that knowledge into everyday practice, showing our love for Him and our neighbors. We will strive to do both if we want to inherit eternal life.

A test for all of us is to place ourselves in the parable as one who came upon such a one in need, then honestly answer— would I prove to be a neighbor, or one who passed by on the other side, trying to justify ourselves asking, “Who’s my neighbor?”