‘POSSIBLE WITH GOD’

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 14, 2021 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: July 14, 2021 from Luke 18:18-30

Theme: The salvation that people cannot bring about for themselves is only possible with God.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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As we’ve studied the story of how our Lord made His way closer to the city of Jerusalem—and to the sacrifice He would make on the cross for us—we have found that He encountered situations with people that made the necessity of that sacrifice clear to us. That’s especially evident when it comes to the story of the encounter we find in Luke 18:18-30.

It describes our Lord’s conversation with a “ruler”. Most likely, this title meant that he was a ruler or a lead person in the synagogue. He would have been considered a very religious and pious man by all around him. In Matthew’s Gospel—in Matthew 19:22—we’re told that he was a young man; so he was a remarkable person who had achieved a level of respectability and notoriety among his people at a relatively early age. And what’s more, all three of the synoptic Gospels tell us that he had “great possessions” (Matthew 18:22; Mark 10:22) and was “very rich” (Luke 18:23). From all outward appearances, this man was very accomplished and successful.

And yet—as is often the case with those who are outwardly accomplished and seemingly successful—there was a great void within. And because of the void he felt, he ended up asking the Lord Jesus the greatest question that any human being could ever ask.

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Let’s first consider …

1. THE RICH RULER’S QUESTION (v. 18).

Luke tells us,

Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18).

Now; as we have often found when we read this gospel, the writer—the physician Dr. Luke—tends to give us the straightforward facts. But when it comes to this story, Mark’s Gospel fills in many of the details. He tells us (in Mark 10:17) that the man didn’t simply walk up to Jesus and ask his question; but rather ran to Him and fell on his knees before Him as he asked it. He wasn’t simply interested in discussing philosophy with the Lord in a casual way, but was in a state of inward desperation. He absolutely had to have an answer. It would have been a remarkable sight to those who beheld it, watching as this rich, respected, successful young man fell humbly before Jesus and pleaded with Him for an answer to the aching need of his soul.

Notice a couple of things. First, notice what the man called Jesus. He referred to Him as “Good Teacher”. He addressed Jesus in an honorable manner. Jesus certainly was a good Teacher. In fact, He is the greatest Teacher who ever walked the earth. And the man would not have come to Jesus in the way he did—and with the remarkable question that he asked—if he thought that Jesus was anything else but a great Teacher. But it’s a title that falls short of His true identity. It is quite a bit less than how Peter referred to Him in Luke 9:20. Others had been saying that Jesus was a great prophet; but Peter declared that He is “The Christ of God”.

And notice also the question the young ruler asked. It had to do with eternal life. That was the great longing of the man’s heart. He knew that—with all else that he possessed—he did not yet have eternal life. And yet, he didn’t ask Jesus how to ‘receive’ eternal life, or how to be ‘granted’ eternal life as a gift of grace. Instead, he wanted to know what he needed to ‘do’ in order to ‘inherit’ eternal life. He—like so many others—believed it was an inheritance that was to be ‘earned’ by human effort.

This rich young ruler represents the attitude of so many around us—and also the yearning of heart that they are left with as a result.

So, then; the question was concerned with what the man needed to ‘do’ to ‘inherit’ eternal life; and that leads us to …

2. THE LORD’S RESPONSE (vv. 19-22).

The Lord responded first by challenging the man’s attitude toward Himself:

So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God” (v. 19).

Jesus wasn’t rebuking the man for calling Him “good”; because He truly was good. Nor was He—in some strange way—denying that He was God; because He made it clear elsewhere that He was one with the Father. Even His enemies had challenged Him because He had declared Himself to be God (John 10:33). Rather, what the Lord was doing was prompting the man to say more than that He was just a ‘Good Teacher’. It was as if the Lord was saying, “Only God is ‘good’ in the way that you mean that word; for only God could give you the answer to the question you have asked. Are you calling Me God? Are you prepared to follow Me as the Giver of the eternal life you seek?” Perhaps the man didn’t quite understand what Jesus had said. But the Lord’s disciples—who were watching all of this go on—would have understood it very well!

Jesus then went on to answer the specific question the man asked. He wanted to know what he needed to ‘do’ to inherit eternal life; and so, Jesus said;

“You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother’” (v. 20).

Jesus was not telling the man that it was possible to do this. In fact, the Lord went on a little later to make it clear that it was completely impossible to do this. But the man had asked what he needed to ‘do’; and that’s the question that the Lord answered. If someone wanted to ‘earn’ eternal life by their own efforts, then they would have needed to keep God’s commandments perfectly. As God—the Lawgiver Himself—said in Leviticus 18:5; “You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them …”

Remarkably, we go on to read the man’s response to this:

And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth” (v. 21).

And we have no reason to doubt his sincerity. Perhaps he did—indeed—keep those commandments that were mentioned faithfully. But do you notice that Jesus only mentioned the second ‘table’ of the law, and not the first? He only described those commandments that had to do with our relationship with other people. This may be because the young man may have been focusing on outward performances through his own efforts—and not on the condition of his heart toward God. And do you notice something else? Jesus didn’t mention the last commandment of the second ‘table’ of the law; the one that says;

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:17).

That commandment addressed the inordinate love for material things. And it seems that that was the man’s great point of failure. Jesus—in still answering the question regarding what the man must ‘do’—then put His finger directly upon the man’s great deficit:

So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (v. 22).

The standard for earning eternal life was perfection before God in accordance with His law. And the Lord showed the man the ‘one thing’ that he lacked. He was a wealthy man, who could not very easily let go of the things that he coveted. He had not kept the law as he thought he had.

When it comes to receiving salvation from God, that is an essential step. We absolutely must come to a place of complete despair of our own ability to earn it. Jesus lovingly brought this man to that place of despair. In fact, we’re told in Mark 10:21 that Jesus looked at the man and loved him as He told him this.

And that leads us to what this story teaches us about …

3. THE INCAPABILITY OF HUMAN EFFORT (vv. 23-25).

Luke tells us,

But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich (v. 23).

It wasn’t that selling all that he had and giving it to the poor would save him; because that would have just been another effort to earn eternal life. Instead, Jesus was taking away any hope that this young ruler could earn eternal life for himself; because he knew he couldn’t do—by his own efforts—what Jesus said he must do.

Now; the other Gospels tell us that, with this, the young man went away sadly. And it was then that the Good Teacher turned to His students. It seems that this encounter wasn’t just for the sake of the rich young ruler only; but that it was also meant as a teachable moment for Jesus’ disciples—who were watching this encounter with intense interest. Luke tells us;

And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For 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” (vv. 24-25).

What did Jesus mean by this? Some have said that Jesus was speaking of something literal; that, in ancient times, there was typically a hole in the wall of a city called “the eye of the needle”; and that if a man came with his donkey loaded with goods, he’d have to unload all his goods and squeeze the donkey through in order to get in. But there’s really no historical backing for that idea. It seems best to take Jesus’ words as a figure of speech—that it truly would be easier for a very large animal like a camel to be squeezed through a very tiny hole like the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. A love for things would make it impossible.

We should remember, though, that this doesn’t mean that no rich people will ever be in heaven. The Bible tells us that it’s “the love of money” that’s the cause of the problem (1 Timothy 6:10)—and not the money itself. Many of the saints we read of in the Old Testament were very wealthy. But it was God—and not their riches—who had hold of their hearts.

Now; this left the disciples absolutely astonished. They would have thought that surely a man such as had fallen on his knees before Jesus—pious, respected, manifestly blessed, remarkably obedient to God’s commandments—would have earned eternal life. But even he could not.

That’s when we go on to learn of …

4. THE ABILITY OF GOD TO DO WHAT WE CANNOT (vv. 26-27).

Luke tells us,

And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?” (v. 26).

If not even such a man as that could ‘do’ what it would take to inherit eternal life, then who could possibly ever do enough? They realized, of course, that no one could. As the Bible tells us in Galatians 2:16, “for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” And that points us to the main theme of this encounter. Luke goes on to tell us;

But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (v. 27).

Jesus Himself—the Son of God in human flesh—came to this world to do for us what we cannot do. He kept the law for us perfectly, and then died on the cross to pay the debt for our sins; so that by faith in His sacrifice we are washed clean for our sins, and by being united to Him in His perfect obedience to His Father’s commandments we are declared righteous in God’s sight. He has purchased eternal life for us!

And that leads us—finally—to what our Lord told His disciples about …

5. THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE (vv. 28-30).

Then Peter said, “See, we have left all and followed You” (v. 28).

Peter often said aloud what the others were thinking. Hadn’t he and the others done what Jesus told the man to do? It’s true that they didn’t have great riches to give away. At the most, it was a few boats and a few nets. They had left their families and homes to wander with Jesus and minister to Him as He taught. They didn’t do it because they were trying to earn eternal life by their works. Rather, as Peter once said after many others turned away from Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68-69).

Hadn’t they, then, forsaken all and followed after Jesus? But they didn’t do it to earn anything. What then was there for them?

So He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life” (vv. 29-30).

Someone who seeks to earn eternal life for themselves by their efforts will not gain eternal life and will end up losing everything. But whoever forsakes all and follows Jesus—trusting Him for eternal life—will not ultimately lose anything, and will gain eternal life as a gift of God’s grace.

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There was another man in the Bible who asked a question very similar to the rich young ruler. His story occurred long after Jesus had died on the cross, and was raised, and the message of the gospel had begun to spread.

The missionaries Paul and Silas had preached the gospel in the ancient city of Philippi, and were arrested for it and thrown into prison. They didn’t know if they would live or die. But they had the peace that belongs only to those who have received eternal life as a gift of God’s grace by faith in Jesus. Acts 16 tells us;

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.” Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized (Acts 16:25-33).

What must one ‘do’ to receive eternal life? Only believe on Jesus. For the salvation that people cannot bring about for themselves is only possible with God.

EA