Rich Ruler Pt.2 The Role Of The Law - Mark 10:17-27 Series

Introduction

Why Perfection is Required

If you want to be justified by the law, you have to keep it perfectly.

Galatian 3:10-12 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."

Why is it that God requires perfection of imperfect beings? Why does he make it so hard? We read the Sermon on the Mount and find out that if you get angry you’ve committed murder, if you so much as look in order to lust you’ve committed adultery, etc. And if you hear all that and think, Those examples are such minor infractions, you’re thinking exactly like the rich young ruler. What makes those examples minor? The only thing that could possibly make them minor is if your standard is set by the average sinful person. But Jesus already started this conversation by letting us know that we’re not talking about goodness compared to other people. We’re talking about goodness compared to God. James says if you keep the whole law but stumble at just one point, you’re guilty of breaking all of it. It’s not like bowling, where you can knock a few down and leave the rest standing. Breaking God’s law is more like putting a brick through a picture window. One brick breaks the whole thing.

Sin is Adultery

And that would be obvious to us if we understood what sin is. It’s adultery against God. It’s any time you love something in the world more than you love God. It’s a relational offense, not just a violation of a code. Imagine a wife is upset at her husband for committing adultery, and he says, “What are you so upset about? Sure, I slept with that woman, but not with that other woman. I didn’t sleep with her or her or her. I didn’t fall in love with hardly any of those other women—just two or three, that’s it!” Is the wife going to say, “Oh well, I guess 7 out of 10 aint bad”? No. You commit adultery with just one other woman and you shatter the covenant.

Marriage exists to teach us what it’s like between us and God. And what have you and I done? Did we love something in this world more than God just two or three times? Just a handful of instances of adultery? No. It would be in the thousands just in recent months. We’re a lot closer to breaking all of God’s laws than breaking none of them.

Not Fair?

Someone says, “But it’s not fair! How can God require something of us that isn’t even possible?” Think of it this way. Suppose you have a 1 year old, and you want to take the child to Dairy Queen. You’re more than willing to pick the child up, put him in a car seat, and take him to Dairy Queen. But the child wants to do it another way. He wants to go on his own.

So he says, “Mom, what must I do to get to Dairy Queen.”

“I’ll take you there.”

“No! I want to do it on my own. What must I do?”

“Well, you’d have to walk out the door, and—” “Mom! You know I can’t walk. Why are you making this impossible for me?”

Is that mom being cruel? No. Is she making it impossible? No. The child is making it impossible by insisting that he get there some other way besides being carried. God says, “I’ll carry you to heaven if you want,” and we say, “No! I want to get there on my own.” Jesus says, “Ok, then, you’d have to keep the whole law, perfectly.”

“Why are you making it impossible?” It’s only impossible if we insist on doing it in an impossible way. But if we will receive it like little children, then it’s very possible.

But at this point in the conversation, you’re a little concerned that your child is a little confused about what he is—a child. So you put your hands on your hips and say, “Go to Dairy Queen.”

He gives it a few tries, but can’t even stand on his feet, much less walk. So he starts crying and says, “I can’t!”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m a baby.”

“Ah, bingo. Now you understand. So how are you going to get to Dairy Queen?”

“Mom, will you take me?”

The Role of the Law

That’s what Jesus was doing with the rich young ruler in v.19.

Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.' "