Bible Strands
Luke 10:28
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to a lawyer in Luke 10 who has just recited the command to love God and neighbor. These words occur between the man’s declaration and his follow-up question about who qualifies as a neighbor.
The words — ὀρθῶς (orthōs) means correctly, and ποιεῖ (poiei) means do or perform. Jesus affirms the man’s answer and commands him to put that answer into practice.
The thread — The promise to live by doing matches Leviticus 18:5 and Ezekiel 20:11, where obedience to God’s statutes is tied to life. Matthew 19:17 similarly links keeping commandments to entering life.
Why it lands — The text commands immediate obedience to the love commandment as the path to life. It requires the reader to act on the stated love for God and neighbor rather than merely defining it.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 20:11 And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances—for the man who does these things will live by them.
- Leviticus 18:5 Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD.
- Matthew 19:17 “Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
- Nehemiah 9:29 You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They turned a stubborn shoulder; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.
- Ezekiel 20:13 Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness.
- Ezekiel 20:21 But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the wilderness.
- Luke 7:43 “I suppose the one who was forgiven more,” Simon replied. “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
- Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Galatians 3:12 The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”
- Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law, to bring righteousness to everyone who believes.