16 Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19 Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:16-26 NRSV
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We may believe we have no attachments that stand in the way of our relationship with the Lord, yet He understands our hearts better than we do.
God will show us the things we have prioritized over Him in our life and heart. He will speak to us through the Holy Spirit. It is then we must rethink and make a decision for Him. It may take some time to prepare our response to be completely devoted to Him.
Our relationship is not about how good of a person we are, who we help, how great of a philanthropist we are. It all comes down to one thing, and that is our personal, one-on-one relationship with the Lord.
9 What then? Are we any better off?[a] No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, 10 as it is written:
“There is no one who is righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who has understanding,
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned aside, together they have become worthless;
there is no one who shows kindness,
there is not even one.”
13 “Their throats are opened graves;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of vipers is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery are in their paths,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
Romans 3:9-20 NRSV
Jesus requires that He is first and foremost in our lives. Everything else and every person must be a far second in our lives.
Salvation is not something we are entitled to, something we deserve, or something we can earn through good deeds, or keeping the law.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 NRSV
This was a difficult conversation that took place between Jesus and this young man. Jesus knew this man’s heart too. The young man wanted to present in a way that qualified him for the kingdom of heaven. The young man did all the right things, except for surrender his heart to God.
We too will find ourselves in a time and place in life, maybe it is right now, maybe you just had this conversation with God, or maybe it will be a time in the future, regardless of when, this is not a conversation, but a choice that has to be made.
Regardless of what “good” means, the man approaches Jesus with a query that demonstrates how far he is from the humble faith that all who belong to the kingdom possess. He desires eternal life, and in light of v.20, he appears to believe that there are positive things he can do, in addition to the demands of the law, to ensure his salvation.
Many Jews thought that performing a specific act of goodness may grant eternal life, and this young man sought Jesus’ advice on what that deed might be. As a response, Jesus questions the man’s lack of comprehension of goodness. Only God is good in the absolute meaning of goodness required for eternal life. What is good will not be determined by anything other than God’s will, according to Jesus. This man’s inquiries demonstrate that he desires something other than God’s will (v.20) and that he misunderstands God’s absolute goodness.
“If you desire to enter life, obey the commandments” (v.17) does not imply that observing God’s laws earns eternal life. Because he realizes that this questioner does not understand the concept that one cannot inherit the kingdom without a particular purity, Jesus tells him what good things he must do to gain eternal life.
Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, 10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. 1Corinthians 6:9-10 NRSV
But it isn’t the same as telling him that if he does these things, he will be granted eternal life.
“Love your neighbor as yourself,” Jesus says after listing the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and fifth commandments of Ex 20 in that order. The man’s rash response reflects a certain comprehension of the law; yet, the man’s subsequent comments, “What do I still need?” demonstrate a lack of understanding of the law. This young man’s uncertainty and lack of assurance that he would ever be good enough for salvation, as well as his belief that some “good works” are above and beyond the law.
In verse 21, Jesus responds to the query. “Come, follow me,” he says, rather than “Sell your goods and give to the needy.” Here, Jesus is implying total loyalty and wholehearted obedience. That was too much for this young man to bear. He was willing to discipline himself to follow all of the outer rules and even go above and above, but he had a divided heart due to his money. His money was competing with God, and Jesus demanded utter, radical discipleship—self-surrendering—as a requirement for eternal life everywhere he goes.
Of course, Jesus’ demand goes beyond anything in the Old Testament law. The fact that focusing on God’s will (vv.17-19) should lead to following Jesus is also remarkable. The reason for this is that the Old Testament foretells Jesus’ birth. God’s will, as revealed in Scripture, anticipates the arrival of Messiah. To be saved, absolute obedience to him, with the humility of a child, is required.
The condition Jesus now imposes reveals the man’s attachment to money as well as the fact that all of his legal compliance is meaningless because none of it includes complete self-surrender. The man requires the triumph of grace, for, as the following passages demonstrate, accessing the kingdom of heaven is impossible for him (v.26).
God, with whom everything is possible, must work; the story in Matthew 20:1-16 of the “Labors in the Vineyard” addresses this subject explicitly. However, the young man is deaf to it: he departs since, if forced to choose between money and Jesus, money appears to win. Alternatively, the young man may have departed in serious contemplation.
None the less, it is a choice that only we can make when it comes to who or what is first in our hearts.
If we’re clinging to anything too strongly, it’s tough to be obedient. The Lord wants us to be completely devoted to Him so that we can be His light in the world. You may have a lot of things that God has given you, but if you let any of them control you, His mission will suffer. However, by opening your hands, you allow the Holy Spirit’s power to freely flow through you.
Consider what captivates you and whether it also enslaves you. Is there anything you feel you’d never be able to give up? I challenge you to give your whole devotion to the Lord right now by releasing the relationship or situation to Him.
There is power in the name of Jesus. The phrase “pray in the name of Jesus” is often used by Christians, and it refers to the practice of praying to God and asking for His help, guidance, or protection.
Two things about the death of Christ. The first was that since one person died for and in place of everyone else, everyone had died. What is this death at the end? Either the death they deserved because of their sin.
It’s odd how we often acknowledge that we take on too much, and try to accomplish things in our own strength, and need to rely more on Jesus. And yet we continue to do the same thing over and over.
The conscience is a divinely given moral compass that can be swayed by many factors, such as our background, experiences, and thoughts. What is important is the truth that one has to inform their conscience.
Life is rough for most people today. Just when we have hope of a life returning to normal, we are seeing things none of us have ever seen in our lifetime.
To grasp the magnitude of our deliverance, we must first comprehend where we came from. We are not exempt from the repercussions of our actions because we are descendants of Adam.
