Theme
My favorite assurance of salvation passage is Luke 10:17-20:
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
This passage is my favorite “assurance passage” because these are the words our Savior directed towards His followers who had just returned from the work He gave them to do. Since those pre-cross believers in Jesus were to rejoice this confidently, then so can those on this side of the cross who have believed in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They can know that their names have been written in heaven.
Context
For context we will be looking at all of chapter ten, first covering some of the major points in chapter nine.
In verses one and two of chapter nine Jesus sends out “the twelve” (apostles) giving them “power and authority over all demons…to cure diseases” and to “proclaim the kingdom of God”. Even though shortly after their return from that kingdom trip Jesus told them what must soon happen to Him, none of His followers at that point understood that He must die at Calvary for the sins of the world and that He would rise again three days later.
In chapter nine Jesus does outline the gospel as we now understand it, yet His words were not understood until later:
“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Lk. 9:22).
“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying (Lk. 9:44-45).
In verses 28-36 of chapter nine we are given the account of the transfiguration where the apostles Peter, John, and James are with Jesus “on the mountain” and saw Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah. A cloud covered them all, and a voice from that cloud was heard; “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
After the voice had spoken, “Jesus was found alone.” Moses (representing the law) and Elijah (representing the prophets) were gone. Jesus was now the One to whom His disciples were to listen.
The three apostles, though, “Kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen” (v. 35). Jesus had just allowed His inner three disciples to see a preview of the new covenant in which the law and the prophets would be fulfilled in Jesus, and Jesus would be their new authority. Yet the disciples did not fully understand what they had seen, and Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what they had seen or heard until after He had risen from the dead (Mt. 17:9).
Even though Jesus was preparing His disciples for what He was about to do as He would die for the sins of the world and then be raised to life, they were not understanding what He was saying.
As we approach chapter ten, Luke says:
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. (Luke 9:51)
The phrase “he set his face to go to Jerusalem” indicates Jesus’ imminent crucifixion and the atonement for the sins of the world through the shedding of His innocent blood at Calvary.
Shortly later Jesus was walking with His disciples and followers. Some were vowing faithfulness to Him, others were saying they would follow Him but first had to say good-bye or fulfill family obligations. Then Jesus says this about those who would claim Him as their Lord:
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk. 9:62)
In other words, following Jesus has to take priority even over family expectations. One must leave even what he loves if it draws one away from Jesus. For us on this side of the cross, the “kingdom of God”, the gospel message, and salvation are all tied together. We sinners who have been declared righteous and justified by trusting the shed blood of Jesus and His resurrection receive eternal life—salvation—when we believe, and we become citizens of the kingdom of God.
As we read Jesus’ words at the end of chapter nine and come to chapter ten, we see that the apostles and disciples who experienced the events recorded there did not yet have a full understanding of the gospel message as we now know it on this side of Calvary. They had a unique role: they participated in Jesus’ ministry as He prepared them for His death and resurrection and as He taught them that having their names written in heaven was even more important than performing miracles by His power.
Without Calvary, however, there would be no salvation and no entry into the kingdom of God (Acts 4:10–12). The disciples were walking through the transition from Judaism to Christianity in real time, and Jesus was teaching them first-hand, as they shared His work and His suffering, what it meant to be a citizen of His kingdom.
Contrary to the Adventist belief that Jesus could have failed, we see an infallible, omniscient, omnipotent Jesus systematically preparing His disciples for their work of planting the church and strengthening them for walking through His death and resurrection. There was never a doubt that Jesus would fail; He was God the Son.
Furthermore, as new covenant believers, we have the same faith as that of the saints of old outlined in Hebrew chapter eleven. Those Old Testament saints trusted the infallible promises of our sovereign God, and we believe those same promises which have been fulfilled in the sinless God the Son who died, was buried, and rose again to take away the sin of the world.
Chapter Ten
As Jesus previously appointed the first twelve apostles, He now sends out another seventy-two to prepare the way for His arrival “into every town and place where he himself was about to go” (10:1). In other words, Jesus was sending His disciples ahead of Him to prepare the people for His ministry among them. His ministry in the cities of Judea fulfilled prophecy in the presence of the people of Israel, thus preparing the nation for His entry into Jerusalem and for the Passover that pointed to him as our one and only true Messiah. Concurrently, sending His disciples ahead of Him with His power was preparing them for their eventual work of carrying His gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit into the world after His resurrection and ascension.
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest (Lk. 10:1-2).
As was true both then and now, the instruction of our Savior is to pray for workers and to be one of those workers who bring the harvest into the kingdom of God.
The key verse in Jesus’ instructions to these apostles as they enter each city is:
“…Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’…” (Lk. 10:9).
In other words, by going into the cities of Judea and doing Jesus’ work among them with the power He gave them, they were bringing the kingdom of God near to those people. They were demonstrating the work of the Messiah which the Old Testament had foretold, and they were preparing the way for Jesus Himself to come to them. Jesus says somewhat the same thing in Matthew when He says to those who inherit the kingdom:
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ (Matt. 25:34-36)
Those who serve Jesus will perform His work in the world, not by their own determination and will but from a trusting heart.
Your Names Are Written In Heaven
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Lk. 10:17-20).
When the “seventy-two” returned they were excited because “even the demons are subject to us in your name”.
Jesus responded by telling them: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” In other words, Jesus witnessed Satan’s fall and is infinitely more powerful than he is. Jesus gave this same power to the “seventy-two”, so it is obvious that Satan and his demons could not withstand them “in Jesus’ name”.
For perspective on this comment of Jesus’, we need to go back to Genesis to the day that Adam and Eve sinned. That day God said to the Serpent (Satan) that he had already been personally defeated and cast out of heaven. Even before God revealed what was about to happen at Calvary, Satan was already destined for destruction:
The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:14-15).
What Jesus said to the returning seventy-two disciples (verse 23) was a stunning contrast to His word to Satan in Eden. His disciples were to “rejoice that [their] names are written in heaven”. Because they believed in Him, their eternal future was secure with Him as opposed to Satan’s certain destruction in the Lake of Fire. Jesus wanted them to understand that their citizenship in heaven was a far greater thing even than exercising His imputed, infinite power which He had given them over the demons. The devil who was subject to them in Jesus’ name was already doomed; the disciples carried the power of Jesus against him. He had to submit to those who served the One who was about to crush his head.
In other words, the seventy-two were preaching the gospel message of salvation as it was revealed at that time. They bore the name and the power of the Messiah into the cities of Judea. Both they and those who responded to their message were members of the the kingdom of God.
To complete the context and thereby gain a fuller understanding of the overall theme, we will now look at the rest of chapter ten.
Jesus Rejoices (verses 21 through 24)
Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and thanked the Father, a fact which gives us a deeper understanding of the relationship of the three persons of the Trinity:
In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will” (v. 21).
These things the seventy-two are learning have been hidden from the “wise and understanding” of the world (see 1 Cor. 2:20–25) yet revealed to “little children”. They, like little children with loving parents, believed Jesus because they trusted Him. Such was the gracious will of the Father.
Then Jesus said,
All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Lk. 10:22).
In this sentence Jesus reveals His singular oneness with the Father. God the Father has given “all things” to the Son. No one except the Father knows the Son, and no one knows the Father except the Son. In fact, His intimate knowledge of the Father is shared only with those “to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him”. In other words, salvation is only through Jesus.
Then Jesus turns privately to his 12 disciples and says:
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (Lk. 10:23b-24).
Jesus is telling His disciples that they are seeing the fulfillment of things the prophets and kings longed to see. Peter also says that prophets who predicted “the grace that would come to you” sought to know “what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating”. God “revealed to them” that the things they were preaching “have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit” (1 Pet. 1:10–12). Only those whose names are written in heaven can know the Father and Jesus the Son of God.
The Lawyer and the Good Samaritan (verses 25 through 37)
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he 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.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live” (Lk. 10:25-28).
The same account is recorded with similar words in Matt. 22:34-40, and in both accounts Jesus reveals that rote commandment-keeping does not save one.
In response to the lawyer’s question, Jesus elicited the lawyer’s understanding of the law. He answered correctly and listed the four-fold commitment to love God with one’s whole heart, soul, strength, and mind. Jesus answered the man by quoting the law: “… do this, and you will live” (Lev. 18:5). In fact, Deuteronomy 28:1-14 outlined how Israel was to live with blessings in the land if they obeyed their covenant law. What follows, however, reveals that the lawyer’s heart was compromised in spite of his correct answer.
Wanting to justify himself, the lawyer then asked; “And who is my neighbor?” (v. 29). Jesus replied by giving the account of The Good Samaritan in which robbers left a man “half dead” on the roadside. Along came a priest and then a Levite who both ignored the half-dead man. Then a Samaritan came by and rescued the victim.
Jesus asked the lawyer which of the three proved to be the “neighbor” of the half-dead man. The lawyer replied correctly, and Jesus said, “You go, and do likewise.” Since Jews considered Samaritans to be untouchable, low-class people with whom they would not associate, it would have been a shock to hear Jesus speak more highly of the actions of a Samaritan than of a priest or Levite.
Jesus revealed, however, that the ability to love God and man with one’s whole heart was not something that came from keeping the law. In John 3:1–18 Jesus explained that one must be born again, born of the Spirit, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. This new birth is the result of believing in Jesus and His work of atonement:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (Jn. 3:14-16).
Only this new birth with its new spirit and new heart can produce the four-fold love of God and man that is the expression of an undivided heart. Now we who claim to be Christians obey Jesus’ command to serve those in need as part of our loving them as ourselves. When we serve our neighbors from a born again, undivided heart, we echo our Savior.
In Mark 10:35-45, when the disciples were debating amongst themselves who would be the “great ones”, Jesus said this of himself:
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45).
Martha and Mary (verses 38-42)
We have just seen that serving the needs of others is a most important attribute of those who are followers of Jesus Christ. In this short passage at the end of Luke 10, however, we read of the actions of two sisters. Martha was “serving others” by preparing the meal for the crowd that was in her home, but she was “anxious and troubled about many things,” as Jesus said to her. She wanted Jesus to make her sister Mary help her with the work of the food, but Mary had chosen to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to Him teach. Yet this is what Jesus said to Martha:
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Lk. 10:41-42).
Martha’s food preparation was not wrong. Nevertheless, Jesus did not send Mary away from His feet to help her. Perhaps Martha’s anxiety indicated a heart that was distracted from the eternal value of listening to Jesus while He was in her home. Her frantic heart would have been quieted if she had submitted her worry about food service to the Lord and had allowed Jesus’ words to nourisher heart—perhaps even while she prepared food—instead of resenting her sister for not helping her.
The one necessary thing in all our busyness is to take time out to “sit at the feet of Jesus” in personal quiet prayer and study of the Scriptures.
Summary
- All those who have by faith accepted the promises of God which are centered on the death, burial and resurrection of the Savior/Messiah for the atonement of the sins of the world are in the kingdom of God with the promise of eternal life.
- Even before Calvary salvation has always been solely by faith in the sure promise of God which He announced on the very day Adam and Eve sinned and died.
- Only those to whom Jesus chooses to reveal himself and the Father can know God.
- Luke chapters nine and ten demonstrate by example that those who are in the kingdom of God are the ones appointed by God to bring the gospel message to all the world. When we humbly rejoice in our own salvation, we are giving that same exciting message to those who desperately need to hear the gospel. This sharing, of course, reminds us of the Great Commission given to us in Matthew 28:18-20.
- In Adventism we were taught to never to say we were saved because, according to the false doctrine of the investigative judgment, we could not know whether or not we were saved until we appeared before the judgment seat of God at the second coming. Yet according to the very words of Jesus, we are to know and rejoice that we are in the kingdom of God.
All biblical quotes are from the English Standard Version (ESV).
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God Bless you, sir, thank the Lord for bringing us out of adventism.
Thank you for sharing. There was a time when someone about fifty years ago who brought me out by sharing the gospel. For me it began when I was building a submarine missile tube while I was bragging about my “wild weekend” but the welder working with me pulled out his pocket New Testament in response and read from it. Those who are in the kingdom of God are those who are sent out by our Savior to present the gospel in word and deed. As it was for me though it was the Holy Spirit and the word of God that brought you out.