\u00a0by David Gibson<\/p>\n
Once a scribe asked Jesus, “What commandment is the foremost of all?<\/em>” Jesus answered that loving God with all your heart comes first, followed by loving others as yourself. The scribe heartily agreed, adding that love of God and others “is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.<\/em>” “When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God’<\/em>” (Mark 12:28-34 NASB; see Matthew 22:34-40). Unlike many Pharisees, he had a clearer grasp of what mattered most (Luke 11:42). To stand with Jesus could cost him the favor of his peers (John 12:42-43; Matthew 23:13). Would this unusually perceptive Pharisee be willing to buck the establishment and enter the kingdom?<\/p>\n James Burton Coffman has written, “‘Not far from the kingdom . . . .’ Alas, this is the epitaph for many. Men behold, in some glorious burst of apprehension, the majesty and truth of the Son of God; but the road of acceptance is rugged, being blocked at every milestone with difficulties and opposition” (Commentary on Mark, pp. 235-236).<\/p>\n If you are “not far,” then you are close. However, “not far” is not an option. One can be close yet remain outside. One can believe but still lack the blessings that come with obedient faith (James 2:14-26; Romans 1:5; 16:25; John 3:3, 5; Mark 16:16).<\/p>\n Don’t let this happen to you! If your convictions really line up with the Scriptures, then please act on them-now<\/strong>!<\/p>\n Then instead of being “not far from the kingdom of God<\/em>,” you’ll be all the way in!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0by David Gibson Almost there! Once a scribe asked Jesus, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered that loving God with all your heart comes first, followed by loving others as yourself. The scribe heartily agreed, adding that love of God and others “is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” “When…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[99],"class_list":["post-89949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-becoming-a-christian"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55656,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-gospel-of-the-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":89949,"position":0},"title":"The Gospel of the Kingdom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \u00a0 Text: Psalms 2 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0An important event happened during the first century that many today have ignored or have declared did not happen \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus spent time teaching that the kingdom of God was at hand - Mark 1:14-15 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was the good news about the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57387,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-the-thief-on-the-cross\/","url_meta":{"origin":89949,"position":1},"title":"Notes on the Thief on the Cross","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\"In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, 'He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He trusts in God;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40935,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-kingdom-of-heaven-and-the-kingdom-of-god-different\/","url_meta":{"origin":89949,"position":2},"title":"Are the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God different?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the article entitled \"The Church Is the Kingdom\", it is proposed that the kingdom and the Church are the same.\u00a0 I agree that the kingdom \"of God\" is the church, but I assume you would also assert that the Church and the kingdom \"of Heaven\" are the same\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4027,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-the-kingdom-exist-before-jesus-death\/","url_meta":{"origin":89949,"position":3},"title":"Did the kingdom exist before Jesus’ death?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Brother Hamilton, We know from the information the kingdom\/church was established in Jerusalem on Pentecost. We can also see the numerous passages speaking of the kingdom being \"at hand.\" Even just before the cross, on the cross with the thief, and after the cross, we see several comments intimating\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31726,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-relation-to-the-law-of-moses\/","url_meta":{"origin":89949,"position":4},"title":"Jesus’ Relation to the Law of Moses","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Matthew 5:17-20 by Bobby Graham When Jesus was teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, was he merely explaining the Law to bring the Jews into closer alignment with God's will, or was he setting forth principles that would operate in the coming kingdom?\u00a0 It is understood that there was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48047,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/seek-first-the-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":89949,"position":5},"title":"Seek First the Kingdom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Keith Sharp Billy was 6 years old. It was springtime, close to summer vacation. When school was out, he and his mom, a widow who was remarrying, were moving. He came home from school and told his mom he wouldn't return to baseball. When she asked why, he replied,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89949\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}But still not there<\/h2>\n