In the gospel of Luke we read the following story,
Luke 18:18-27
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
The first thing to notice here is the mindset of the man asking the question. I think it is pretty clear from the question that this man knew who he was. Think about the word "inherit". Being one who inherits something only happens by powers outside of self. In other words, you don't decide to be an inheritor. This man asks this question, using these words because he knew that he was part of the people of God. He could ask this question because of his covenant status. Because he was a Jew, he knew that he was in a position to obtain an inheritance. At this point in history, anyone outside of the Abrahamic Covenant, that is, the covenant that God had with the descendants of Abraham, could not ask this question. You have to be part of a family (either by birth or by adoption) to inherit from that family.
The other thing to see from this question is the responsibility of those in covenant with God. Simply asking the question "what do I have to do", more than implies that something is required of this man in order to gain his inheritance. This is not a situation of the long lost relative, completely out of relationship, showing up and taking what is his. In every single instance of God creating a covenantal relationship with man, both God and man have responsibilities in that relationship.
Man has to do things. We see this kind of talk, over and over again throughout the gospels. Jesus understood this, the apostles understood this and the masses of Jews understood this. But to clarify. Having responsibilities in the covenant is not the same thing as earning a position in the covenant.
For the Jew, if one was born into one of the twelve tribes of Israel and was circumcised, that was it. He was in. But he still had responsibilities to keep in order to be faithful.
So too for the follower of God today. If one is born into a Christian family and is baptized, that is it. He is in. But one has responsibilities to keep in order to be faithful. This is not about earning one's salvation or entrance into heaven. If you are part of the body of Christ, you have already received the free gift of eternal life. You can look forward to eternity in the blessed presence of God for eternity. But this is not a "once saved, always saved" situation. You still must show yourself faithful. You must strive after holiness, strive after an imitation of Christ, and fight against the influence of the world, the flesh and the devil. You have responsibilities.
To go back to the text in Luke, the really sad part of this story is just how poorly the questioner understood what he was supposed to be doing. This man believed that he was following the commands of God, yet Jesus shows him, in the first commandment, how he was not keeping the law. The first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me," in this case, money, the man failed to keep. Jesus knew his heart, he knew the man loved cash more than he loved God. And the man confirmed Jesus' understanding by walking away sad.
We are called to love God and love neighbor. Will we walk away sad too?
Luke 18:18-27
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
The first thing to notice here is the mindset of the man asking the question. I think it is pretty clear from the question that this man knew who he was. Think about the word "inherit". Being one who inherits something only happens by powers outside of self. In other words, you don't decide to be an inheritor. This man asks this question, using these words because he knew that he was part of the people of God. He could ask this question because of his covenant status. Because he was a Jew, he knew that he was in a position to obtain an inheritance. At this point in history, anyone outside of the Abrahamic Covenant, that is, the covenant that God had with the descendants of Abraham, could not ask this question. You have to be part of a family (either by birth or by adoption) to inherit from that family.
The other thing to see from this question is the responsibility of those in covenant with God. Simply asking the question "what do I have to do", more than implies that something is required of this man in order to gain his inheritance. This is not a situation of the long lost relative, completely out of relationship, showing up and taking what is his. In every single instance of God creating a covenantal relationship with man, both God and man have responsibilities in that relationship.
Man has to do things. We see this kind of talk, over and over again throughout the gospels. Jesus understood this, the apostles understood this and the masses of Jews understood this. But to clarify. Having responsibilities in the covenant is not the same thing as earning a position in the covenant.
For the Jew, if one was born into one of the twelve tribes of Israel and was circumcised, that was it. He was in. But he still had responsibilities to keep in order to be faithful.
So too for the follower of God today. If one is born into a Christian family and is baptized, that is it. He is in. But one has responsibilities to keep in order to be faithful. This is not about earning one's salvation or entrance into heaven. If you are part of the body of Christ, you have already received the free gift of eternal life. You can look forward to eternity in the blessed presence of God for eternity. But this is not a "once saved, always saved" situation. You still must show yourself faithful. You must strive after holiness, strive after an imitation of Christ, and fight against the influence of the world, the flesh and the devil. You have responsibilities.
To go back to the text in Luke, the really sad part of this story is just how poorly the questioner understood what he was supposed to be doing. This man believed that he was following the commands of God, yet Jesus shows him, in the first commandment, how he was not keeping the law. The first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me," in this case, money, the man failed to keep. Jesus knew his heart, he knew the man loved cash more than he loved God. And the man confirmed Jesus' understanding by walking away sad.
We are called to love God and love neighbor. Will we walk away sad too?
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