Introduction
What is the one thing in life that you can’t live without? What is that "one thing" that is most important? Many would name some material thing such as car, or a piece of property. Others would name their job or favorite hobby. Still others would mention some immaterial thing such as particular relationships, their health, or the status they had obtained. Many people have many different ideas of what the most important thing in life is. In the movie "City Slickers", the main character who is played by Billy Crystal finds himself in a "mid-life crisis" and retreats to a remote area to go on a cattle drive to seek relief from his problems. On the drive he is confronted by "Curley", the leader of the cattle drive who responds to Billy Crystal’s restlessness with life by lifting his index finger and saying that the key to life is "One Thing". The story continues on with the challenge for Billy Crystal to find out what that "one thing" is.
In a similar way Jesus is confronted by a man who is experiencing restlessness and perhaps even a mid-life crisis of his own. He is empty on the inside and searching for something to fill the void. He desires security for the future and the life to come. He wants to be sure he inherits eternal life. Jesus directs him by saying there is "one thing" you lack (v.21). I want to show you that the "one thing" he lacked was saving faith. You may be here in a similar position of restlessness. Sensing that deep down something is missing. Your life is full of a lot of things. You have accomplished things in life, you may have degrees you can look back on, you have been relatively successful in life, yet you seek peace in life. The peace to know if you died you would go to heaven. Maybe that one thing you’re missing is saving faith. Saving faith is the proper response to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It involves placing your trust in Jesus Christ and his death on the cross as the only way to a living relationship with God. In a few moments I will give you an opportunity to come forward to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Saving faith is the "one thing" you need to exercise to become a Christian. In the passage we can discover the qualities of saving faith.
I. First, saving faith acknowledges Jesus for who He is. (vv.17-18) He is the divine Son of God. Jesus is Lord. The rich young ruler had a distorted view of who Jesus was. Notice he was very respectful in approaching Jesus. He ran to meet Him, knelt before Him, and addressed Him with a prestigious title. The title was "Good Teacher". This title is no slap in the face. Only rabbis were given the title "teacher". The rich young ruler expressed enough confidence in Jesus’ ability as a rabbi to ask him one of the most important questions anyone could ask. "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Yet this title is not sufficient in understanding who Jesus is.
A. Jesus is more than "teacher". (vv.17-18) Many religions in the world acknowledge Jesus Christ as a "prophet" who had a excellent doctrine of morality. This view of Jesus is insufficient for saving faith. Jesus said, "I and the Father are One" (Jn 10:30) He also said "I am the Way the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me." (Jn. 14:6) This contradicts the Jehovah’s Witnesses teaching that Jesus is just one of the sons of God being a brother to Michal the archangel and even the brother of Satan. Or Islam’s teaching that Jesus was just one of the prophets who preceded Muhammad the ultimate prophet. Or New Age religion’s teaching that Jesus is one way to God along with the many other ways. No Jesus is more than just another teacher. Jesus is Lord. Not only is Jesus more than just a "teacher"
B. Jesus is more than a good man. (v.18) This is seen in the term "good" used by the rich young ruler. To call Jesus "Good" inferred much more than the English connotations of the word would suggest. In the Old Testament and in the tradition of Judaism, only God is characteristically called Good. Either Jesus is Good and divine or He is repudiating His own goodness and therefore denying His own Deity. The Gospel of Mark was written to proclaim Jesus as the "Son of God" (1:1) and therefore Jesus statement, "Why do you call Me good?, No one is good except God alone." would not be written with the intention of undermining the doctrine of Jesus as the sinless Son of God.
Jesus was not denying that He was God, rather He was affirming it. He wanted to make sure the rich young ruler knew what he was saying and was willing to accept the responsibility involved. Jesus Christ is more than "Good Teacher" , He is the divine Son of God who shed his blood on the cross to provide a way for you and me to be forgiven and restored in a relationship with the Living God. Saving faith acknowledges Jesus for who He really is. He is Lord. If we are to have saving faith we must acknowledge Jesus as the Divine Son of God and the Lord of our lives. This is the first quality of saving faith. Who do you say Jesus Christ is and how is that affirmed in your life?
II. The second quality of saving faith is that we accept who we are (vv.17b, 19-20). The rich young ruler not only had a distorted view of who Jesus was but he also did not understand his own position and condition. Jesus tries to help him understand who he is by pointing him to the Law of Moses. Jesus wants us to understand that sin separates us from Holy God and that only by saving faith can we be made right before God.
A. We must understand our position (v. 17b, 19-20). We are lost sinners without the Lord Jesus Christ. The rich young ruler did not see himself as being in a helpless position. In v.17 he asks what he can do to inherit eternal life. He did not realize that good works would not merit salvation. Saving faith acknowledges that apart from the grace of God in Jesus Christ, salvation by works is impossible. Saving faith rests totally in Jesus Christ. The rich young ruler did not see himself as a condemned sinner before the Holy God. He has a superficial view of the Law of God for he measured obedience only by external actions and not by inward attitudes. In exercising saving faith we acknowledge our position as a helpless sinner in need of salvation.
B. We must also understand our condition (vv.19-20). Our position is one of helplessness and our condition is one of imperfection. We all have sinned and fall short (Rom. 3:23). There is none righteous, not even one (Rom. 3:10). Jesus points to the 10 Commandments. The rich young man quickly responded maybe even interrupting Jesus with, "I have kept all these". It turns out that his wealth keeps him from following Jesus which is breaking the commandment "Thou shalt not covet". He failed to see his own condition as a sinner. Many today try to explain away their sin by denial. "I live a good moral life" they say or "I’m just as good as the next guy". They over estimate themselves with too high a view of their condition.
Muhammad Ali, who is one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century and maybe the best boxer of all time is well known for his personal view of himself. He said of himself, "I am the greatest". One day Ali was in flight to a major city when the plane began to experience some major turbulence. The captain ordered all passengers to return to their seats and buckle their seatbelts. One of the flight attendants noticed one of the passengers had not buckled his seat belt. It was Ali, but the flight attendant did not follow boxing and did not know who he was. She approached him and said "Sir, the captain has ordered everyone to buckle up." Ali did not respond but just glared straight ahead ignoring her. She verbally confronts him again and he continues to ignore her. Finally she reaches down to buckle his seatbelt herself. He quickly and firmly grabs her hand glares into her eyes and says, "Superman don’t need no seatbelt!" To which the young attendant quickly responds "Superman don’t need no airplane, now buckle your seatbelt!" Sometimes our view of our condition is too high.
Saving faith confesses "I have sinned." You can’t get saved before you get lost. Anything short of acknowledging yourself as a helpless and imperfect sinner is not saving faith.
III. The third quality of saving faith is that we repent of our sin (vv.21-22). Repentance in the Bible is a change of mind which results in a change of action. It begins first with the change of mind. That is, repentance involves a change in your philosophy of life. Many people believe that when they get to heaven that God will weigh their good works against their bad ones and if their good ones outweigh their bad ones then they will be accepted into heaven. This is not the truth. The truth is the only way to heaven is through a commitment of faith in Jesus Christ. That is was saving faith is all about.
A. Repentance involves turning from sin (v.21). Once a person realizes the truth about who Jesus is, and who they are the proper response is one of obedience to the Gospel. The call of Jesus to the rich young ruler was to liquidate all his assets and give the money to the poor. He was unwilling to give up what he possessed. He was confronted by his own covetousness and the preeminence he gave money in his life but was unwilling to turn from his sin. The call to sell all that you have is not to be applied to anyone who seeks to be a disciple because Jesus was addressing the specific need of the rich young ruler. The call to go and sell all you possess referred to the first four Commandments as well as the tenth which Jesus was trying to get the young man to see he was breaking. He saw the sacrifice of giving all he had earthly as being to great a sacrifice. The sad truth to this story is that he eventually lost the very thing that he is unwilling to give up. We have the tendency to think that if we ask Jesus to be the center of our lives, we will be the loser. But the opposite is true. It is he who willingly gives his life that experiences life to the fullest (Luke 9:24-25). A wise missionary once said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
B. Repentance also involves turning to God (vv.21b-22). Jesus called for the young man to "Come, follow Me". In these words Jesus points the young man back to the issue of who He was, Lord and God. If Jesus is just another man or teacher, the call for someone to submit himself completely to His authority and will would be a call for him to break the commandments that relate to one=s relationship with God. The rich young ruler instead resisted, turned from God, and walked his own way. He walked away "grieved" (v.22) not over the fact that he was a sinner but that he couldn’t come to Jesus on his own terms. This is the difference between repentance and remorse. Just being sorry for your sin is not enough. Godly sorrow leads to repentance (2 Cor. 7:9-10) God is calling you to change your mind by turning from your sin and turning to Jesus Christ in faith. This is not something you do on your own but God will help you when you call out to Him with a sincere heart.
Conclusion
These are the qualities that characterize saving faith. It is the one thing you can’t live without. It is essential. It was the "one thing" that the rich young ruler "lacked". It is the one thing that you lack if you have never come to know God in a personal way. Jesus calls out to you right now to acknowledge Him as Lord and Life Giver. He invites you to confess that you are a sinner in need of His grace. He calls you to turn from your sin and to turn to Him in faith by following Him. You can make this commitment right now. You can do this by praying a simple prayer in your heart receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. Bow your heads and pray, "Lord Jesus, You are the Lord of all. I acknowledge that You are the Son of God who died for me on the cross and who is raised from the dead. I am a sinner and I am helplessly and hopelessly lost in my sin. I call out to You to save me. I turn from my sins and I turn to You in faith. I trust in You totally for my salvation. I love You. Amen."
