The Rich Young Ruler

Q. In Matt 19:17 a rich young man asks Jesus, The Author of Eternal Life, what he must do to gain Eternal Life.  Jesus tells the man to `keep the commandments`.  Now since Eternal Life is not the promise under the Old Covenant, the answer Jesus gave was pertaining to the New Covenant of grace.We know this because it is under this New Covenant that Eternal Life is the promise. You teach that good works has nothing to do with one’s salvation. If you are right, wouldn’t that mean that Jesus lied to this man?

A. To begin with, let us clarify the two different covenants you speak of.  The Old Covenant, or the Mosaic Covenant, was essentially a land grant covenant that deeded the land of Israel to the Children of Jacob, provided they met the conditions of God’s covenant.  This particular covenant was peculiar among the different covenants outlined in the Bible (Adamic, Noahic,  and Abrahamic) in that it was a conditional covenant that required both parties to fulfill the terms of the agreement.  It should be noted that this covenant had nothing to do with eternal life of those who were participants.

The personal salvation of man was not based on the Mosaic Covenant.  While the Aaronic priesthood and the sacrificial system existed as a tangible reminder to the people that their sins could only be covered by blood, the blood of animals could not atone for sin (Hebrews 10:4).  The entire sacrificial system for righteousness was only in place in order to point God’s faithful in the direction of the Messiah, whose blood would be required to truly bring righteousness to people.  Therefore, personal salvation has always depended on belief in the LORD and trusting the LORD with one’s fate.  This is why in Genesis 15:6 it is said of Abram, “Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6, NASB).  Therefore, we are accorded righteousness before the Lord by our faith in Him.

Now, in consideration of this, let us look at Matthew 19.  Jesus told the young man to keep the commandments, but it was not because this is the path of salvation.  He was revealing to the young man his own sinfulness.  The young man attested to keeping the commandments from his youth.  It is interesting to note, however, that Jesus did not ask him about any of the commandments pertaining to his relationship to God. The young ruler’s reaction, however, tells us what Jesus found in his heart.  While he was willing to claim a certain portion of blamelessness in front of God, he was not willing to fully obey the word of God, nor was he willing to place his God above his possessions.  The whole of the law could be summed up in two commandments:  Love the LORD your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.  By valuing his possessions over obedience to the will of God, the young man was revealing his own fallen state.

When it comes to salvation, there are two options.  First, we can stand on our obedience to the law.  This was the approach of the young ruler.  However, we cannot keep the law.  Jesus, in the same passage, affirms our inability to keep the law when He says “With people, this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26, NASB).  If we, like the young ruler, try to stand on our obedience to the law, we are doomed to fail, as “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, NASB).  Only one person, Jesus the Messiah, was able to fully keep the law.  By accepting His sacrifice and gift of salvation on our behalf, we, like Abraham, are accorded righteousness before the LORD our God.  Rather than teaching that salvation could come only through the law, Jesus instead was pointing to salvation through grace based on wholehearted love and devotion to the LORD.

provided to www.gotquestions.org.

All Who Are Weary

Come to Me, all who are weary, and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

This, if any, is the invitation of a lifetime.  The freedom from striving to be good enough for God, the freedom from a lifetime of bondage to sin and suffering that threatens to overwhelm us and take us down to the depths of Sheol.  This is not just any invitation.

Jesus offers us, in this tiny passage, freedom from our struggles with our own sinful natures.  You see, His offer is this:  “Cease your striving, come to Me, and I will give you rest from trying to save yourself by the law.  My burden, believing in Me, and trusting in Me for your salvation, is light compared to the burden of trying to save yourselves.”

It is easy for us to see the strivings of the Pharisees when we read Matthew, but harder still for us to see our own strivings.  Often, we as Christians pride ourselves on our abilities to avoid trouble, avert temptation, or our own moral fortitude.  We forget that, while moral uprightness IS a virtue, it is a virtue not of ourselves, but bestowed by the LORD to us, that we would not continue to live in bondage to sin and suffering, but would instead be transformed by His great love for us and find rest for our souls in the sacrifice of Jesus.

Take a moment.  Are you striving?  Do you feel that your own holiness is important to your salvation?  Do you feel that your own spectacularly high standard is the standard by which God will judge others?  If so, take time to really take stock and realize a few things. First, to not see your own inherent sinfulness means that you are not being honest with yourself.  Second, since you are sinful, you have two options:  One is to try to save yourself with whatever good works you can achieve.  The other is to trust Jesus with your burden, and take His offer for rest.  If you do that, the final step is to realize that the freedom given to you by Christ is a gift that you can’t earn.  By doing so, you realize that the rest He gives you from the law is the same rest He gives everyone.  Therefore let no man boast of His sinlessness and blamelessness, for the rest of Christ Jesus is not to be bought by works, but rather, to be celebrated and praised in songs of thanksgiving.  Then, go out and do your good works empowered by the One who has brought true rest to your soul, knowing that your work is an outgrowing of the wonderful, matchless gift of grace from Christ, our Savior.

Christianity Lite?

What is it about mankind that makes them squeamish about the truth?  What causes people to run and hide when they feel that a finger may be  pointed at them, when they feel that truth may cause them to move out of their comfort zone and into the world of black and white, where things are either good or evil?  One of the disturbing characteristics of postmodern thought is that it has even invaded the church.  Before the postmodern era, church doctrine was fairly straightforward.  Christians held fast to certain doctrines, such as the virgin birth, the Triune God, Hell, Salvation, Sanctification, Justification, and any other “ication” you can think of.  Good was good, evil was evil, and there was no real middle ground.

Unfortunately, with the advent of postmodernism, the reality of absolute truth has given way to a muddled pool of “maybe,” where “there is no absolute truth.”  The implications for society as a whole are clear:  No absolutes means no accountability, because morality is relative.  Unfortunately, it also has implications for the church.  How?  Glad you asked.

A coworker and I were talking about churches today when he informed me that his congregation of over 2,000 members typically dwindles when hard truth (tithing, hell, church discipline) are the topics of discussion.  If it was only my friend’s church that had this problem, that would be okay.  Instead, the problem is rampant throughout Christendom.  Many believers partake of “Christianity Lite,”  a veritable smorgasboard of beliefs and doctrines, where you simply pull together whatever doctrines please you, wrap them all together, then smack a church bumper sticker in your back window of your car.  Garnish with whatever great books that offer no truth, just fluff (I’m thinking Brian McLaren here) then go about your daily affairs with no concerns for the LORD whatsoever.

Many believers tend to rationalize and toss out whatever beliefs hit them as too difficult.  Hell?  NO, Hell is for the unenlightened who believe in a God who is mean and petty and dishes out eternal judgment.  Morality?  NO, morality is relative.  What’s true for you is not true for me!  Have you heard this before?  Chances are, you have, and if you haven’t then you will.  The effect this has on church is staggering-  Believers that leave their bibles at home, Christians who dress for church as though they were attending a nightclub, empty tithe plates that pass by young, wealthy individuals who are at church to see and be seen.  Would that they came to see God and be seen by the Eternal One!

How does the church cope with this staggering problem?  Many times, the church compromises, offering a watered-down version of Christianity to bring in seekers as well as keep the masses unoffended.  Sermons become 30 minutes of feeling good, preceeded by some worship songs that dote on the singer almost as much as they glorify the unchanging LORD of the universe.  Holiness is then second to coolness and inoffensiveness, as the church moves to ingratiate itself more with the world, to the point where the world looks scarcely different from the church.  This is not just a problem for a few churches.  This is a problem rampant in Christianity.  How do we find that sweet spot of offering the Grace of the Gospel and the Truth of the Word all 100% at the same time?

For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand,  until I make your enemies your footstool.’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:34-41, ESV)

I don’t think Peter knew much about the whole “Seeker-Sensitive” movement.  I also don’t think he was concerned about looking stupid in front of “Postmodern” listeners.  The amazing thing is the last line of that passage.  Three THOUSAND souls were saved.  It wasn’t by giving people what they wanted.  Peter gave them what they needed:  the utter, naked truth.  They were sinners.  They participated in the death of the glorious Son of Man.

The church needs some straight talk to add to the great worship music and the fabulous comfy auditoriums.  The church needs grit, truth, and spine as well as grace.  The dividing line has been pushed further back by postmodern society.  It is time for the church to push back and find the balance between grace and truth.

Witnessing in Love

Okay, I have to confess.  Sometimes, when I get into a theological argument with a believer in another religion, I get a little arrogant.  And mean.  I remember a Jehovah’s Witness coming to my door with a recruit, and in order to entirely remove her argument from her, I pulled out my Greek New Testament, turned it to 1st Corinthians, handed it to her upside down, and then asked her to explain where John 1:1 says that “the word was a god.”  Well, she stammered for several minutes, then I craftily took the Greek Testament back, flipped it right side up, explained that I had given it to her upside down and turned to Corinthians, then I proceeded to flip the text to John 1:1 where I proceeded to properly parse John 1:1 to remove any possibility of Arianism from the verse.

I thought that this would be enough to properly persuade the woman and her young trainee that they were following a lie.  Instead, they quickly left with no more words and I have never seen them again.  I didn’t think about what I had done, only that I had smashingly won that round of religious ping pong.  It wasn’t until far later that I thought, “Hmm, I won, but they probably still don’t accept Christ in terms of orthodox Christianity.  I wonder why?”

Sometimes we know the truth, and we can even tell the truth, but if we tell it in pride, we may as well be a clanging cymbal or gong.  Witnessing to others means being both truthful and graceful to others.  Love does not take pride in wacking someone over the head with the mallet of truth.  I pray that God will give me the grace necessary to spread the gospel next time, not win an argument.

Grace and Truth

I have a confession to make.  I am often not a humble person.  Sometimes I forget that when you are talking to someone about faith matters, it is important to remember why you are doing it.  My wife and I got into a heated debate because I was not being loving in the way I discussed a certain scriptural matter we were pouring over.  Needless to say, it was not something I want to have happen again.

Of course, it never is.  This happens frequently.  I have been a proud person for my entire life, and old habits die hard.  When we speak to others of the truths that we hold, we should remember to do so in love.  Jesus was by far to superior to us in every way, yet when he shared truth, he shared it in love.  We would do well to remember that.

I am not kidding when I say that apologetics sealed the deal for me believing in God.  However, it was the kindness and love of a then friend who is now my beloved wife that originally brought me on my knees to God’s altar in the first place.  Those in apologetics and discernment ministry carry a heavy burden in that they must defend the truth, but not brandish it.  My prayer for all believers is that you can carry on the work of defending your faith in a way that is both full of truth and full of grace.