In how many classes on personal evangelism are students instructed to tell people to keep certain commandments if they want eternal life, as Jesus plainly told the rich ruler? Evangelism students are much more likely to be told the exact opposite, that salvation has nothing to do with keeping commandments, and that anyone who says so is mixed up (or worse, “trusting in his works” and therefore heading for hell). Tragically, however, many professing Christians consider such a statement to be heresy. You know the commandments, “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother” (Luke 18:20).Īccording to Jesus, the Son of God, keeping the five or six commandments that He mentioned is required in order to “obtain eternal life” or “enter into life” (Matt. You know the commandments, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother” (Mark 10:19). Because God is good, thankfully, mercy and eternal life are in the realm of possibilities.īut does God’s goodness eliminate some requirement of holiness from those who would seek eternal life? Apparently not, because Jesus went on to say:īut if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself'” (Matt. Sinners are going to need some mercy from a good God. So if sinners are going to obtain eternal life, it isn’t going to be because of their goodness.
If only God is good, that means everyone else is not good. “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18 Luke 18:19). “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good” (Matt. All who desire eternal life would do well to listen closely to Jesus’ answer.īefore answering the young man’s question, Jesus first asked a question of His own and then made a comment: There was no one in all of human history who was better qualified to give him the correct answer-God in the flesh and the future “Judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42). It goes without saying that the sincere young man chose the right person to ask his important question. “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17 Luke 18:18).ĭon’t you wish that everyone was asking that question? What question could be more important? “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” (Matt. He wanted to know what he needed to do to obtain eternal life: His was not a question like those asked by the Pharisees, a question to trick or catch Jesus.įrom his knees, the sincere young man asked the most important, intelligent question anyone could ask. Mark tells us that he ran to Jesus and knelt before Him (Mark 10:17), which would seem to be an indication of his sincerity. The story begins with a young man who had a burning question that he believed Jesus could answer. You be the judge of the truthfulness of my bold claim!Ī Profound Question by a Sincere Inquirer If you believe any one of those five myths, reading this short teaching could well be, without exaggeration, the most important thing you ever do. Doing so exposes at least five widely-held (and spiritually-deadly) modern myths about the story. So in this eTeaching, I’d like to take an honest look at a story that God felt was significant enough to include in three of the four Gospels.
I’ve often wondered what would happen if professing Christians would believe the plain and simple truths that are revealed in Jesus’ conversation with the rich young ruler.
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