A. Having just presented this text from Luke 10:25-37 in a Sunday School teachers' meeting recently, I would have to say I concur with your pastor. The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us to abandon good works as a means of getting eternal life. But this should not be pitted against the equally Biblical concept of "loving one's neighbor as one's self." God's Word never presents either of these as an "either/or" proposition. Rather, 1.) reliance on grace and 2.) showing kindness to our neighbor are "both/and" ideas.

It is helpful to remember a basic rule of thumb for reading parables in the New Testament. Parables are earthly (human) stories with a heavenly (spiritual) meaning. There might be one or more secondary points which can also be seen in the parable, but Jesus' reason for telling the story in the first place would be to make one specific point. Again, in this parable, that single point is that no one can love his neighbor so perfectly that he could deserve heaven as a result of that love. Therefore we are automatically reminded by the parable to rely only on God's grace.

But there is no doubt that the Bible teaches us to be kind to other people. St. Paul reminded the Galatian Christians to go out of their way to show love for all people, although they could prioritize the giving of that care to fellow Christians first. "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Galatians 6:10). Jesus taught clearly that we should not restrict our love for others only to those who are nice to us. "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:43-45). In fact, in the Good Samaritan text Jesus makes it very clear that showing such love to others is not optional, but is something we must continue doing on an ongoing basis.

But keep in mind that Jesus had to be speaking these instructions to believers, since we are reminded in Hebrews 11:6 that "without faith it is impossible to please God." Believers already have forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Jesus. So they aren't trying to earn anything by being kind and loving to other people.

A proper understanding of Law and Gospel makes it easy to see where Jesus was going with the parable of the Good Samaritan. When He said: "Do this and you will live..." Jesus was answering the question exactly as it was put to Him by the expert in the law. (What must I do...") By His own words, the man had already shown that he didn't obey these godly instructions nearly as well as God required. Jesus was simply driving home the point that this man needed to rely on God's grace for eternal life, not on anything he did.