Please help me to understand Luke 6:46-49.
Luke 6:46-49 reads, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears my sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against the house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built his house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great” (NKJV).
The Lord spoke these words to TEST THE PROFESSION of all who called Him Lord. There were many in that day who professed Jesus as Lord with their lips, but their failure to obey what Jesus commanded them proved their profession was not genuine. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus said, “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Salvation is a gift of God through simple faith in Jesus Christ, but one proves they have been saved by making Jesus the Lord of their life and obeying His Word.
In Jesus’ parable the FOUNDATION is HIMSELF! In Matthew 16:16 Peter confessed Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and the Lord Jesus went on to say in verse 18, “Upon this rock (the confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God) I will build my church.” The apostle Paul said in 1st Corinthians 3:11, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” In the Lord’s parable the man who “laid the foundation on the rock” is the one has trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation and gives evidence of faith in Christ through obedience to the Word. This does not mean the believer will never fail, but the character of his life will be such that he is marked by doing God’s will. The “man who built his house on the earth without a foundation” represents all who have never trusted in Christ as their Savior and thus they may call Him Lord with their mouth, but their lack of obedience betrays the fact that their “faith” is a “dead faith.” James spoke of this in James 1:22 and 2:17, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves…Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” How solemn to consider Jesus’ last words to those who have not built their life and hope of salvation on Him: “against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” God has said in Acts 17:31, “He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained.” When that “storm of judgment” comes, the one who has rejected Christ as the ROCK OF SALVATION will be swept away into eternal judgment. We would plead with all who read these lines to flee to Christ for salvation while there is time. If you do trust in Christ alone to save you, the storm of judgment won’t touch you. John 5:24 declares, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and DOES NOT COME INTO JUDGMENT, but has passed from death into life” (NASB). (196.7) (DO)