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? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 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. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 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: 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. 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. (Mark 12:28-34)
The Pharisees had been silenced by Jesus as they tried to trick Him. The Sadducees had been put to silence by the wise answers of Jesus. Now a scribe, who is also described as a lawyer, decided to take a shot at finding out if Jesus is truly wise. He asked Him a question about which there was a great deal of disagreement among the doctors of the law. It does not appear that the scribe was trying to trick Jesus, but was rather truly testing Jesus’ knowledge of the Law. The question, essentially, is “What is the greatest command of all?” Of course, all of God’s commands are important and carry the weight of God’s authority with them. However, this question was not inappropriate. Jesus, of course, replied that loving God was first and loving your neighbor was second. The lawyer/scribe agreed totally with Him, recognizing that those things come first and guide the follower of God to offer sacrifices according to the Law.
It is Jesus’ response that I want to particularly note. He said, “Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” Of the several inferences that can be drawn from this statement, I want to note two here. First, he could only be “not far from the kingdom” if he was not in the kingdom. Secondly, then, there was something that he still needed to do to move from being “not far from the kingdom” to being in the kingdom.
From time to time, I hear someone talking who is part of the denominational world. Many times, while their language often is filled with unbiblical terminology, there is also often a great deal of recognition of the truth of God’s Word. In many cases, I think that someone I am hearing or talking to fits in the category of those who are “not far from the kingdom of God.” The problem is that the person who is not far from the boat still drowns.
It is possible, and this is important, for someone to believe in God, to recognize Jesus as His Son, even to see the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, and still to be “not far from the kingdom.” Holding onto denominational groups, doctrines and philosophies keeps one from being in the kingdom, no matter how close he or she may be to it. Failing to teach the truth on how to become a Christian, how to worship according to God’s will, failing to recognize the necessity of obeying God (Hebrew 5:8-9) as well as having a mental assent, or on the other hand, teaching that we can somehow earn salvation by good works done on our part, all of this will keep us out of the kingdom, no matter how “close” we may be.
It saddens me to think of those who are not far from the kingdom, but who never come to the understanding of the truth that causes them to take the actions necessary to be in the kingdom, and to remain faithful to it. Many are good moral people – very religious people – truly dedicated people, who have been deceived by denominational dogma, and kept from ever truly entering the kingdom. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven’” (Matthew 7:21). He went on to show that many will think they were right, whom He will reject. Many of these will be those who are not far from the kingdom – but lost.
In view of this let us: (1) Examine the Scriptures and make sure we are in the kingdom, not just close; (2) Do all that we can to show those around us, those who profess Christianity and are not far from the kingdom, the way to the kingdom and into the eternal home with the saved through Jesus. (3) We must teach in love, in humility, but without compromise. How sad to think of those who will spend eternity separated from God, who had been not far from the kingdom of God, but who were never shown the way into the kingdom of God.
