Luke 6:46

Context

Luke 6:20–49 records the teaching that Jesus gave to his disciples and a great multitude after he had chosen the Twelve, come down from the mountain, and stood "in the plain" (Luke 6:17). It is commonly called the Sermon on the Plain. Its content overlaps with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, though it is shorter.

Verse 46 comes in the final section of the sermon and links two illustrations. It is preceded by the parable of the tree and its fruit (6:43–45) and followed by the parable of the two houses (6:47–49). Jesus asks, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" He then says that whoever hears his sayings and does them is like a man who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on a rock, while whoever hears and does not do them is like a man who built his house upon the earth without a foundation.

The parallel passage, Matthew 7:21–27, places this saying alongside a scene of judgment "in that day," thereby emphasizing the final judgment. Luke, by contrast, presents it as a brief rhetorical question addressed to those listening in the present.

Interpretation

• Common reading: Various denominations understand the title "Lord" not as a mere courtesy but as a confession acknowledging authority. They read the verse as exposing the contradiction of making such a confession while failing to obey the one so confessed.
• Reformed reading: The Reformed tradition regards obedience not as a condition of salvation but as the fruit that grows out of genuine faith. Connecting the verse to the preceding parable of the tree and its fruit, it explains that works are not the ground of justification (God's declaring the sinner righteous) but evidence that such faith is genuine.
• Wesleyan reading: Methodist, Holiness, and other denominations rooted in Wesleyan theology emphasize the verse as a call to sanctification (the believer's progressive transformation in holiness). They stress that faith must issue in real change of life.
• Discipleship-centered reading: The Anabaptist tradition and those influenced by it place living out Jesus' teaching at the center of faith, and this verse serves as one of the grounds for that emphasis.

Debates and Issues

There are no major disputes concerning the translation or manuscript tradition of the verse itself. Discussion arises chiefly over the relationship between faith and works.

In the late 1980s, American evangelicalism saw the so-called Lordship salvation controversy. John MacArthur and others argued that believing in Jesus as Savior cannot be separated from following him as Lord, citing this verse and passages such as Matthew 7:21. Opponents countered that presenting obedience as though it were a condition of salvation obscures salvation received by grace and the teaching that one is justified "by faith" (Romans 3:28).

Some also caution against lifting the verse out of its context and using it to undermine believers' assurance of salvation.

Perspective: Korean Protestant practiceHow this idea is used in Korean churches, kept from the original Korean article.

In Korean churches, the verse is frequently used as a sermon text warning against a faith in which verbal confession and actual life are disconnected. It is often cited together with Matthew 7:21.

Related Passages

• Matthew 7:22–27
• James 2:15–17
• Galatians 5:6
• Romans 3:28