Most people have heard the story of “The Good Samaritan”. Just as most people have been told, at least at some time in their lives, that they are a good boy or girl. But we also know that at other times we have not been good. Ian opens up to us what this story is really about, so that we can see more of why Jesus told his story about this good Samaritan, this exceptionally good Samaritan.

A question worth asking is, ‘was this Samaritan good enough to be accepted into heaven?’ And the answer is that no one can ever be good enough to be accepted into heaven. So why is it said that many will be in heaven (where no nastiness can exist) when they could not have been good enough, yet they are freely and fully accepted by God into heaven. To be good enough by your own effort, you have to have lived a perfectly good life with nothing that the laws of God could hold against you. So the next question is ‘why is this so’ – ‘then what do I need to do to ultimately get to what we have heard is that very nicest of places, into heaven?’ Surprisingly, the answer to this is that there is nothing more that we can do to get into heaven, once we have accepted Jesus as Lord of our life. This is because what is necessary to get us there has already been done by Jesus on our behalf. However, when we grasp hold of this truth, we then find that there is much that we WANT TO DO, which will not get us into heaven, but it will please God in heaven, and this is why we strive to do good things, things that will please God, perhaps even by helping people who are in need, which is just what the good Samaritan did.