Clay Brick Fixed to Solid Rock

One of the most distinct memories from our first years in Northern Uganda, not far from the border with Congo and South Sudan, took place on a trip to a major refugee settlement. People come to Uganda to escape violence, war, famine, and other challenges, yet new issues inevitably beset them. We were riding with a friend to visit a local church out in the settlement right after the seasonal rains had started. The road is rough. These lands have belonged to various local communities who have then had foreigners come in as land was appropriated for them to build and farm on. If you are coming in as an immigrant/refugee, it is of utmost importance that you prioritize the establishment of a sturdy living space.

You would not believe my surprise, as I watched intently out the passenger window, to see a brand new home built of clay bricks, which require backbreaking labor, and a tightly-thatched new grass roof, which was built on shifting sands. As the rains picked up, orderly and upright as the home appeared, it had a fast moving river flowing through two of the walls.

This person had apparently spent substantial resource, and the time of preparation, investment, and building had now passed, and they had built wrongly. It all may have seemed good to them when there were no rains, but when the rains came and persisted, the devastation of their home was great. This became the mental image for every time I read the following passage.

Luke 6:46-49 says: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Though neighbors had warned that it may have looked like a good place for a home, without a right understanding that there was no foundation in that place, and that a river was coming, obliteration was sure.

Throughout the whole of his ministry, Jesus is calling people to himself. That is inherently a calling to believe on him by repentant faith unto salvation, and to follow him. That is what will inevitably take place when the grace of God pierces the heart, when the Spirit illuminates the truth. The Scriptures consistently declare the sovereignty of God and man’s responsibility. Jesus tells his disciples that those who love him will keep his commandments.

The keeping of commandments is not the grounds of salvation, for by works no man will be saved. However, good works will be the resultant fruit shown in the lives of those who are saved by grace and moving forward by faith in the Son of God. This is closely tied with the paragraph just before this passage, where Jesus declares that good trees bear good fruit and good flows from the lives of those with good heart treasure.

Luke writes Jesus’ power-packed words of imagery. In a parable-like simile, Jesus draws a distinct dividing line. Jesus says that the man who hears his word will do what he instructs and commands; that is clearly a hearing by faith, not merely the physical ear. That man’s life will be unavoidably altered as he gains a new heart; his will is new, different than it once was. He is changed; his glad desire is to obey Jesus. Grace has shone in his heart and brought him from death to life, from darkness to light, from hopeless dependence on self to sure-footed dependence on Christ.

The man who hears Christ’s word and does them is like the man who builds his house on the firm foundation, his life on the right basis. That is a wise man who builds his house, his home, his security and family habitat and space of rest, on a solid foundation, having dug deep. He has connected to that which can withstand the force of anything which comes against it, in this life and on the last day. 

Alternatively, Jesus reveals the pitiful state of the foolish man who hears Jesus’ words and does not do them. That foolish man who disregards the words of Christ is equated with the man who would begin and construct his home with no concern for the foundation. All his efforts, time and money invested, and hopes for security in his home will come crumbling down and wash away on the day of adversity. That which was most significant, most essential, was neglected to his ultimate demise.

Jesus uses this illustration to amplify for his hearers their need to truly hear, receive by faith, and stake their lives on his words. This is the lesson preserved in the Scriptures for the saints of today as well. The passage is in unison with its parallel found in Matthew 7:24-27, and both accord completely with the whole teaching of the Gospel accounts and all of Scripture. Luke leaves no room for his readers to claim ignorance or that they were uninformed about Christ’s expectations, intent, and what he will bring in the life of his redeemed.

Jesus says there are those who are calling him “Lord, Lord,” as though he were their Master, yet they in no way submit to him. They are not surrendered before the Messiah, they are merely delivering lip service. While they may be deceiving themselves, or others around them, Jesus is not deceived. Verse 47 is the flow of thought into a new illustration, though it extends the meaning found in the previous verses.

Jesus makes an analogy that the man who calls him “Lord, Lord,” but does not do what he has commanded is like the man who builds a foundation-less home that will not stand when the storm comes. The reality is that this sort of man is lacking right relationship to Jesus as Lord and Savior. To be inextricably united to Christ is also to be united to his Word.

This illustration would be gripping in a place where people were accustomed to building their own homes with their own hands, along with family. They know that the foundation is absolutely fundamental, essential, and non-negotiable. Only a mad man would attempt to raise something without a firm foundation. The listeners would know how much effort and finance, time and labor is required, and how important it is for the home to remain standing. They would not want to be like this foolish man, for they understand the cost of failure.

The text in focus is a death blow for those who believe they are saved by the words which passed their lips without any genuine saving faith from the soul. In this passage, Jesus delineates between those who think themselves saved and yet disregard what he has given, with those who are saved by grace through faith and are actively living out their salvation-faith in all of life.

This passage is key in the Lordship Salvation controversy, which is of incredible magnitude. Jesus makes clear that saving faith will make a man wise. The one who hears his words and does them is a wise man. He has built his house, illustrative of his life, on the exclusive firm foundation. All other ground is truly sinking sand. There are those who believe they can build wisely apart from Christ and they are mistaken in such a costly way. Anything they build apart from the firm foundation that is Jesus’ life, Word, and finished work will not uphold them in this life or when they stand before God for judgment. You cannot have Jesus as Savior while rejecting him as Lord.

Like the paragraph prior to this text, this illustration given by Jesus draws out the good fruit in the life of the believer. His house is well built. His life is steady and stable because Christ is his rock and refuge, his firm foundation which cannot be shaken.

Alternatively, the bad fruit of unbelief leads to complete destruction. The ear that claims to hear but does not listen, even among those who say with the lips, “Lord, Lord,” looks like a poorly planned home that crumbles when the storm and rainy season comes. A house with no foundation does not stand a chance, even from the beginning. The implication is that you must be sure you are rightly rooted, founded on the only foundation that can stand the test of time and eternity, Christ Jesus the Lord. It doesn’t matter how appealing the structure is to the eye, how square all the joints are, how well covered and closed in, if the base is lacking.

The theme on display here is that true faith saves and sustains and guides all of life. It is nonsensical for someone to claim faith in Christ, call him as though he were Lord, yet go on living in the sinful old life, in selfish desires, in worldly pursuits, building your being in this world that is passing away. That man will lose his life here, and will be apart from God forever, unless he hears the word of Christ by faith, and builds everything on Him. There is no other means of salvation. All else is sinking ground, waiting to be pummeled and destroyed when the stream comes against it. What a great destruction that is, for those who convince themselves of salvation yet build their whole life apart from Christ.

This passage also serves to encourage those who hear the Word of the Lord and are doing it. They are seeking to live wholeheartedly devoted, consistently in faith in the Savior, striving to grow in holiness as God’s grace works in them, as the Spirit has filled them, the Scriptures grow them more and more, and they walk out their salvation.

Though there is not a specific quote or reference made here, the reader may call to mind the Israelites who would often claim with the mouth that Yahweh was their God, while they would abuse the sacrificial system and carry on in defiant idolatry, joining the surrounding nations in their wickedness, a duplicitous people. Of those in Israel who lived with disregard for his Word, his good and righteous law and commandments, God condemned them.

Isaiah 29 and Ezekiel 33:31 both reveal a hearing of the truth from God, but a refusal to do it, with preference for selfish or idolatrous lust in the stead of worship of God. They may have sought to honor God with their lips, but that was the end of it, and that was no honor at all, for their hearts were far from him. Their lives were ultimately about lust and selfish gain. We also see those in Jesus day who think they have a righteousness of their own and no need of a Savior; their hearts are hardened and cold.

Jesus lays plain that nothing is hidden from him. He knows the one who says “Lord, Lord,” but the heart is not towards him. Jesus’ illustration is a strong display of the difference between those counted righteous by faith and those still dead in sin. Those who carry on living in the world are like the man who behaves foolishly, investing capital and work hours and resources to build something futile that will come to ruin in a moment. This is the end of the sinner who never repents of his sin and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. 

The man who builds on the solid foundation, that is to build on the living word of God, on Christ the cornerstone himself, has true life and life forever. That man will stand through the test of every trial that comes his way because his life is built on the Savior. On the day of judgment this man will enter the kingdom of heaven for eternity, for he is counted wise by way of hearing the Word of God and believing it in such a way that it alters his life. It is the rock he builds all else on. Once he was laboring for something which would only perish, now he is laboring on a firm foundation that can never be moved. 

Jesus truly knows the heart of every man and is calling them to examine themselves. This teaching is a strong refutation to distorted “grace” teachings which make a mockery of genuine grace. So many cheapen God’s kindness and defy what the Scriptures reveal. The sinner saved by Christ, by grace through faith, does not desire to carry on in the old life, but to put on the new life. Saved man will not go on sinning because of grace but will worship the Savior with his everything. The house is representative of all the basic functions of a person’s life. Without your home you will be lost and destitute, your life shaken. That is the accurate depiction of a life built on loose soil that will flood and flow away apart from a well dug foundation of faith in Christ.

Every person should examine themselves to see if they are in Christ, built on his life, death, and resurrection. All who were in the gathered crowd listening to Jesus speak would be thinking of their home and how it was built, and some would have ears to hear as he taught and they would consider if their lives reflect a reality of God as Master of their lives or merely a minor facet of who they were.

Those paying lip service to the Lord should repent and believe and cling to Christ for all of life. This is the only right response. Those who are in Christ by faith, having heard the word which is mighty to save, should be encouraged to continue building well on the firm foundation knowing that your house will stand in the day of testing and trials, flooding and storms, and ultimately, most significantly, finally and forever, on the day of judgment.

The greatest disaster has been diverted for Christ cannot be moved and you are built on him entirely. You will be with him forever, for he will not lose his own. But woe to those paying lip service; the Lord knows your heart. God cannot be deceived. You must trust Christ. Jesus says he is the way to the Father and those who love him keep his commandments. These are the ones who will bear good fruit and build their lives in wisdom. 

Call upon him from a heart of sincerity, love, and truth, and he will know you as his child. Yet, if you will not repent and believe, if you will not turn from the world and your selfish life or idolatry of any form, you will die in your sins and on the last day, the day of judgment, you will be swept away to Hell. Great will be your destruction on that day. There is no more terrible disaster that can strike a man than this. It will be the fiercest and most enduring tragedy, that of eternal consequence.