What the scribe needed was the touch of divine enlightenment which would enable him to feel the need of repentance for sin and faith in the Saviour; that no man can be saved through the law but through repentance and faith toward Christ, the sinner’s Advocate with the Father. The scribe was near to the kingdom of God, in that he recognized deeds of righteousness to be more acceptable to God than burnt-offerings and sacrifices. Yet he still needed to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. All the religious service of the Jews was of no value whatever unless connected with living faith in Christ Jesus, who was the substance of which that service was the shadow. Christ had repeatedly shown that his Father’s law contained something deeper than mere authoritative commands. The moral law contains the gospel in principle. {3SP 54.2}

Det, som den lovkyndige trængte til, var guddommelig oplysning, som kunne lede ham til at føle nødvendigheden af at angre synden og tro på Frelseren. Ingen kan blive frelst ved loven, men ved omvendelse og tro på Kristus, som er en trofast talsmand hos Faderen for syndere. Den lovkyndige var ikke langt fra Guds rige derved, at han erkendte, at retfærdigheds-gerninger var mere antagelige for Gud end alle brændofre og slagtofre. Men det stod endnu tilbage for ham at erkende, at Jesus var Guds Søn. Hele jødernes gudstjeneste var uden nogen som helst tro på Kristus Jesus, som var den virkelighed, hvoraf denne tjeneste var en skygge. Jesus havde gentagne gange vist, at hans Faders lov indeholdt noget, som var af større (55) betydning end blot udvortes bud. Den moralske lov indeholder evangeliets grundsætninger.