Text: Mark 10:17-31
Title: What must I do to inherit eternal life?
Introduction
There tends to be two times people look for Jesus
a. when you lose everything
b. when you have everything
Although rich, young and a ruler he asks Jesus “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus’ immediate answer appears strange.
“why do you call me good? Jesus answered. No one is good-except God alone.
Jesus addresses the greatest misconception about inheriting eternal life?
That one can someday, someway or somehow be good enough to inherit eternal life.
No one is good – except God.
If we were to have a show of hands of everyone here who thinks they are good people or who know someone who is good we would all raise or hands.
If we think we are good or know someone who is good then how could Jesus say that only God is good?
We judge goodness differently than Jesus.
If Jesus said that only God is good then goodness is behaving like God would.
We do not define goodness as behaving like God.
We lower the standard and some people lower the standard more than others do.
In our bible text the rich young ruler had a very high standard for goodness.
He did not murder. He did not commit adultery. He did not steal. He did not lie. He did not cheat. He did not dishonor his father and mother.
That’s a higher standard than all of us have!
Hopefully we would never murder or commit adultery but how many of us can say we have never stolen, lied, cheated or dishonored our father or mother?
Although you and I may fall short this rich young ruler thought he was good enough to inherit eternal life?
But if goodness is behaving like God then everyone lacks something.
“Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
We often think that it is only bad things that keep people from entering the kingdom of heaven but sometimes it is our good things that do the greater damage.
“The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things choke the word of God, making it unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22)
There are a number of reasons why it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
1. The love of money is the root of all evil.
2. We can be deceived into thinking our material blessings are somehow a sign of God’s approval
“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8-9)
3. We cannot love both God and money.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for anyone to love both God and money.
If no one is good except God then it is natural for us to react and say the same things as the disciples in verse 26.
“The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “who then can be saved?”
In other words if you cannot be good enough or rich enough to inherit the kingdom of God then who can be saved?
This is exactly what Jesus wants them to see?
Jesus saves murderers, liars, cheats and drunks but there is one kind of person he can never save. That is the person who does not see his need for a savior.
The whole point that Jesus is making and that the disciples are suddenly getting is that it is impossible for even very upstanding men and women to save themselves.
If it is impossible for men and women to save themselves then we must look elsewhere for the source of our salvation.
People look to philosophies or religions for the source of their salvation but according to the words of Jesus only God can save us.
“With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
The bad news is that you and I can never be good enough or rich enough to inherit eternal life but the good news is that God has made it possible for us to inherit eternal life.
We inherit eternal life only by accepting the free gift of God’s salvation and that is his son Jesus.
Eternal life is a free gift.
This is why we can literally sell everything (or donate it all for our yard sale on September 13th) and still have exactly what we need to get into heaven.
There may be someone here who is unclear about what it means to come to God.
When Jesus pointed people to God what he was really doing was to point people to himself.
In verse 21 he implied that to follow God was the same as following him.
This is because Jesus is God in the flesh.
Notice that in verse Jesus asked the rich young ruler why he called him good since only God is good.
Surely the logic here is that if Jesus is good then he must also be God.
Therefore we inherit eternal life by admitting our sins, recognizing our need for a savior and that only Jesus is that savior.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son".(John 3:16-18)
We have seen that one’s wealth is never an indicator of one’s true spiritual condition but it might help us to take a moment and see that one’s poverty is also not a true spiritual indicator of one’s true condition.
Thanks to the Apostle Peter we can see that God wants to bless us with material things. (V29-31)
God wants us to have homes, fields and a hundred other types of blessings.
God wants to bless us here on earth just as much as he wants to bless us up in heaven.
But God will only bless us with what he knows he can flow through us.
It appears that God will treat us the same way we treat him.
“ I tell you the truth, “ Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields- and with them persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” (V29-31)
What we give up for Jesus and the gospel here on earth God gives up for us from heaven.
Incidentally notice that this exchange does not take place without some hardships on our part. Not everyone is going to support your decision to follow Jesus and the gospel. Some of those people and things that you will give up will turn and persecute you.
Many parents do not want their children serving God and not every child wants their parents to serve God.
But the only way we are going to reverse our spiritual condition and our material condition is to put God first.
There was a former drunk who had given his life to Jesus and a friend asked him if he believed Jesus actually changed water into wine. To which the former drunk responded “I have no problem believing that he did because I have seen him turn beer into furniture.”
I’m sure everyone here has had financial difficulties and may have them today so may I challenge you to put God first by giving him his 10%(the tithe) and ask help to get on a budget.
In conclusion
If I once believed that in order to get to heaven one just needs to be good enough then I’m sure there are others here today who believe it still. My prayer is that you now see that we I can never be good enough to earn a place in heaven. Rather it is only by admitting our imperfections and recognizing that Jesus purchased for us our place in heaven by his death on the cross that we inherit eternal life and we receive this by faith.
Someone said that receiving eternal life is like the hand of a beggar reaching up to receive the gift from the king.
Lets reach out and up so that the free gift of eternal life can come down.
Lord Jesus, I am not good enough to earn eternal life so I thank you for coming and dying on the cross for my sins. I ask your forgiveness today. I ask you to come into my life and be my personal savior. From this day forth I will live for you. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
