Three Views of God's Law

There are several commendable things about the man in the verses which are before us today. Tell me one. He wanted to have eternal life. He was concerned about his relationship with God. Many people in his day as well as in ours have no concern about their relationship with God and eternity. He did.

Second. He went to Jesus to seek an answer to his question. {17} "Good teacher," he asked. {18} Jesus' answer: "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone," means this man did not believe Jesus was God. In spite of that it was a positive step for him to go to Jesus.

Since the man had asked what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus quoted from the law of God, the commandments which this man knew very well. If you want to do something to earn eternal life, you have to do what God demands. And God demands that we do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud. He also demands that we honor our fathers and mothers. "Keep the commandments," Jesus said, " and you will gain eternal life."

The man's superficial view of the demands of God's law comes out in his answer to Jesus. {20} "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." He honestly could say looking back at his life that he hadn't ever taken anybody else's life, hadn't ever had a sexual relationship with somebody to whom he was not married, hadn't taken anything which didn't belong to him, hadn't lied in a courtroom under oath, hadn't earned his money with deceptive business practices, and hadn't publicly dishonored his parents. If that was all God demanded to inherit eternal life, he had done it all.

There are two ways in which we would want to follow this man. What is one? We need to have the same concern about our relationship with God and about eternity which this man had. Is that easy? That is not such an easy thing to maintain today when the society in which we live is so totally wrapped up in itself that spiritual matters, like a relationship with God and eternity, are hardly considered at all. We must constantly ask the Lord to keep us tuned in to Him and eternity, otherwise we will surely be swallowed up by the "Live life for today" attitude that is so prevalent around us.

We would also do very well to follow this man as he went to the right source to answer his questions about spiritual matters. Jesus is a good teacher. He does have the right answers. In fact we know He is more than a good teacher. He is goodness personified. As true God, He can transmit to us the precisely correct answers to all our questions. Is that easy? It is not easy to continue to go to Him for spiritual answers when the society in which we live is founded on the concept that we ought to be able to come up with our own answers for everything. We must constantly ask the Lord to keep us going to Jesus for answers, otherwise we will surely be swallowed up by the "We can take care of ourselves" attitude that is so prevalent around us.

What shouldn't we use this man as a good example about? The man's superficial view of God's law is an attitude which we should not follow. It is very hard not to follow that attitude. The typical religious person of our day takes exactly that attitude. "If I don't hurt anybody, God should be satisfied." In fact that is the religion that is in each of our hearts by nature. "If I don't commit any gross, public actions to harm anybody, I should be able to earn eternal life." Lord, don't let us get taken in by the "I am a pretty nice person based on my outward actions" attitude.

It was Jesus' task in this situation to correct this man's view of the Law, to get him to understand that God considers why a person does something as important as, and sometimes even more important than, the action itself.

{21} "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me," Jesus told this man. This man had just declared that he had kept all the laws of God. God says: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love is the fulfilling of the law, the Bible says. So, Jesus was trying to get this man who felt that he had kept all of God's laws to ask himself, "Have I been loving God and the people around me with my actions?"

Jesus could look into this man's heart. He knew whether there was love there or not. But in order to get the man to make a choice between loving or being selfish, Jesus told him, "Sell everything and give to the poor."

Jesus knew the man was not using the wealth to love. So, Jesus knew exactly which command He should give this man to help this man determine whether he had actually kept the law or not. The man went away sad. His action admitted that holding onto his wealth and its advantages was more important to him than loving other people.

Jesus lesson from the incident – {22} "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" {25} It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Entering the kingdom of God means coming to faith in Jesus the Savior from sin, trusting in Him for forgiveness and eternal life, and thus grasping all the blessings He wants us to have. Why would it be difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God? Because a person who enters the kingdom of God must be led by the Holy Spirit to admit that he is completely dependent on the Lord for salvation.

The wealthy person is usually a successful person who has come to trust in himself. He trusts his intelligence to figure out what needs to be done next because in the past he was always smart enough to get him to his present wealthy position. He trusts in his own actions to do what is right because he has been able over the years to react correctly which has also brought him to his present standing. He can trust that he has enough reserve because of past successes so that he can make up for any deviations or mistakes in the present. He has every reason to be self-sufficient. It would be very difficult for that kind of a person to lead himself to trust in God for salvation, to admit his total dependence on Jesus.

Just so that we understand that Jesus isn't totally singling out the rich, look at the sentence between the two about the rich. {24} "How hard it is to enter the kingdom of God." Everybody likes to trust in himself as the rich young man did. The disciples for a change were in tune with Jesus. On the basis of what Jesus said, the disciples asked, {26} "Who then can be saved?" "Jesus, if what you are saying is true, then nobody can on his own do enough to inherit the kingdom. Nobody can on his own do enough to inherit eternal life."

"Who then can be saved?" That is exactly the right question. That is exactly the right conclusion each of us needs to come to. Lord, on the basis of the Law who can be saved? Certainly not me. The purpose of God's law is to show us our sin and to convince us that we need help and rescue.

You'll notice that Jesus agreed with the disciples' evaluation of the whole situation. {28} "With man it is impossible to enter the kingdom of God on his own. With man it is impossible to be saved on his own." Why? Because man on his own knows only one person to trust in - himself. On his own man thinks he is a good person to trust in.

With man it is impossible to be saved on his own. With man it is impossible to enter the kingdom of God on his own. Why? Because on his own man doesn't keep God's commandments. On his own man doesn't perfectly love God and love his fellowman. On his own man may outwardly keep some commands, but his attitude just doesn't make it.

BUT. That is probably the most important linking word in this text. {28} BUT this is not impossible with God. Because all things are possible with God, God can bring it about that a person trusts in someone besides himself. God can bring it about that a person knows somebody else in whom he can properly put his trust. God can bring it about that a person can love God and his fellowmen. God can turn people's attitudes around, because God can do anything.

"I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ my Lord nor come to him. But the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, and sanctified me." Do these words sound familiar? Luther in the explanation to the third article of the Apostles' Creed is just paraphrasing Jesus: "With man coming into the kingdom of God is impossible, but not with God. All things are possible with God."

With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. It is possible for Almighty God to transfer the huge guilt of our sins onto a Substitute, Jesus of Nazareth, if He chooses to do so, and He did. It is possible for Almighty God to punish that Substitute with death and hell in our place, if He empowers that Substitute to do so, and He did.

It is possible for Almighty God to transfer the holiness which this Substitute lived for us to us, if He so chooses, and He does. It is possible for God to declare us holy on the basis of the actions of this Substitute, and He did. It is possible for Almighty God to look at us as holy people, people who keep His law, because we are wearing the holiness of our Substitute Jesus, and He does.

It is possible for Almighty God to get us to realize that there is somebody in whom we can trust besides ourselves. And He has. It is possible for Almighty God to convince us that Jesus is a good person to trust in. And He has. It is possible for Almighty God to lead us to trust in Jesus instead of ourselves. And He has.

Prayer: Lord God Holy Spirit, lead us to three proper views of Your law. Lead us to ask: What must I do?" Then on the basis of the demands of the Law lead us to ask :"Who then can be saved?" And then on the basis of Jesus' words to realize "All things are possible with God."