Did you know that you can be a good person in any religion of the world. You can be called a good Moslim. You can be a good catholic. You can be a good Jew. I would argue that the biggest religion of the world is humanism – believing in the people. It is not any different. You can be a good man.
Here is what is distinctive to Christianity: No Bible-knowing believer will call themselves a good Christian. We read there is none good, but one, that is God. It is so because the standard of God’s law is set so high that its requirements can only be accomplished by God Himself.
Christianity means people who follow Christ. It means those who come to Jesus to take up their cross and follow Him. Today I want to find out what makes the real saving faith unique and different to any religion of the world, or any man-made concept of God.
Let us see how today’s passage begins. There is a certain man and he comes running to Jesus. He is kneeling in front of Him. It is certainly a very good and godly response. He already knows the basics that you have to come to Jesus with reverence and respect. You approach your Lord.
The key however is to have the understanding of the gospel. You may come running to Jesus. You may worship Him. But what are your motives?
The man calls the Lord: ‘Good Master’. It can also be translated as Good Teacher. It is a grand title, written in capital letters. A master is someone who mastered certain way. In this case it is used in spiritual context. Lord Jesus is called the ‘Good Master’, as one who mastered the way of God. You call a master him who you want to follow. You acknowledge his superiority. There is great respect in that title.
The Lord answers him: ‘Why callest thou me good?’. In other words He is asking him why do you want to follow my way? Why do you follow me? Why do you want to become a Christian? Why do you call ME good? The answer to this question is essential, for Jesus knew there would come usurpers pretending to have keys and knowledge on how one can be found righteous before God. We read: “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Mt. 24:5).
We need to know why we come to Him. Jesus is truly the Good Master as the Scripture testifies about Him. But here is the thing: We need to see Jesus as so much more than an exceptional teacher. He is life. He is resurrection. He is Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. He is the way, the truth and eternal life. (J. 14:6)
Jesus continues in the next verse: “Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother”. In other words he is saying: You know the law. Measure yourself by it. Why? So that by the exposure of your own fall, Christ can be magnified. The reason is not that His value grows in this process. The value of the Lord value is infinite, so it cannot grow. But your understanding of this value becomes more proportionate to the greatness of His glory. You need to know the law so that you may see your own iniquity. Law is showing us our own sins and the result is that we see our need for Jesus.
The Lord gives here a few examples, in random order, because it is just a generic reference: Go to Moses, go to the law. Everything was already given to you. You have your Bible. There you will find it all.
The answer of the man is: “Master, all these have I observed from my youth”. It is interesting how he no longer calls Jesus the ‘Good Master’. He was challenged, by hearing that there is only one good, God. Perhaps he felt reproached and now he calls Jesus master, skipping the good adjective. I wonder how the situation would develop if he would insist on using the ‘Good Master’ title and by doing so consciously acknowledged the diety of Lord Jesus at this very moment. But instead he is opting to say: “all these have I observed from my youth”. In other words he is calling upon His religion: I am a good Jew!
Yet, by observing the law he does not have eternal life. He is searching for it. If you turn with me to the epistle to Galatians:
“Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Gal. 3:21-24
The law is our schoolmaster! It is our guide leading us to the understanding that our salvation is possible only through Christ.
What is the council that the Lord gives to this man? In verse 21:
“Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.”
Go thy way. Remove any obstacles that makes you blind. The advice to go his way and sell whatsoever he has is specific to the young ruler. The prosperity that he has is his obstacle. It is not a universal advice and does not apply to everyone equally. Not all Christians have to sell everything and give to the poor, although that is a very good deed and a noble one too. But everyone of us may have different obstacles in our hearts.
The point is that you have to give in all your heart, all your sins, there is nothing that can be left holding you back from surrendering completely to the Lordship of Jesus. Sell whatsoever, what prevents you from truly and fully coming to Jesus Christ and acknowledging that He is your only hope.
“One thing thou lackest.” There is one thing that all people who seek to be saved need. It is JESUS.
Remove all obstacles, then come. The second part of the verse instructs the man to: “come, take up the cross, and follow me.” Come. This great ‘come’! The great calling to come to God for salvation which is consistent across all the Scriptures. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Mt. 11:28. You have to come. That is the only way to eternal life. You have to come to Jesus. You have to respond to His call.
Then it says you have to take up your cross. What does it mean? You take that thorn, that body of sinful flesh which is crucified with Christ. You take up the cross to go through your life and to carry that cross.
Finally Jesus says: ‘Follow me’. And that is the new life that you have in Jesus. God removed all the obstacles (it was not you!), you came to Lord Jesus (because He called you!), you took up the cross admitting you are a guilty sinner (because the Holy Spirit convicted you!). And now you have a new life in Jesus. You have to be born again in Him. Now you follow Jesus. You are a Christian.
Lord Jesus is pointing the young ruler to salvation through Himself twice:
1) Right at the beginning of Lord’s reply. The answer to eternal life is hidden in the question: ‘Why callest thou me good? There is no good, but one, God’. Why do you call Jesus good? Why it is Him you call the ‘Good Master’? Why do you come to Him? Why not any other religion? If you are a Christian, you understand that Jesus Christ is the only way to God, for He and the Father are one.
2) It can also be seen at the end of the conversation, when the Lord says: ‘one thing thou lackest’. You see that similarity here? There is none good, but one, that is God. One thing thou lackest. Thou lackest God! Here is the implication: you lackest Jesus! There is one thing that he lacks in all this: it is trust that salvation is only accomplished by Jesus Christ who is the perfect, sinless Son of God. ‘Sell all you have’. He needs to get rid of all the richness of his own self-righteousness. He has to admit he is not a good Jew. None of us can fulfil the demands of God’s law and God’s righteousness. Only Christ did that for us. Then you can ‘come’. You come to Jesus knowing who He is. He is the Son of the Living God, the Christ, the Saviour, the only hope of salvation.
What a wonderful day it is when the Lord tells us ‘follow me’. We can hear His voice in our hearts. We finally see that we have sold everything and turned to God by believing the gospel of Jesus Christ. We finally hear these wonderful words calling us to come and take up the cross and follow our Good Master. This is the day when we truly see the marvellous light of Jesus’ glory in heaven. Can you see heaven yet? It is the place where there is no sin, no iniquity, no suffering, no illness, no death. There are all our brothers and sisters together in the joy of Lord Jesus.
Let me ask you a slightly different question: What is the purpose of life? There is no greater purpose in the world than to proclaim the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no more noble job that a man can deal with while being here in this fallen world. Preaching the saving grace is almost like fulfilment of that blessing that God gave to Noah:
“And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them: Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” Gen. 9:1
This is the power of the gospel. It holds us in the promises of the Word of God. The feeling of God’s power and presence in your life through His Holy Spirit at the moment of your conversion is almost like that keeper of the prison who suddenly discovered how he was living in the prison of sin. When he called for light and said to Paul and Sylas: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30)
And they said: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thine house”. Let’s start with the latter part. How is it that my house shalt be saved? When you believe, you will pray for your family. You will want them to experience God’s salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. You will share the Word of God. The final call is upon God for it is all His work. “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Rom. 9:15) One thing is sure though: God does answer fervent prayers of His righteous people who call Him in Jesus name.
I would like you to see how in that single verse: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ” is the full power of the gospel declared. Your salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the promised Saviour of the world. And He is your Lord too, whether you believe or not! In these words we have Jesus’ Lordship. There is also the majestic title Christ, the chosen one by God. You also have the only name of God by which we are saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
We do not know what happened to the young ruler afterwards. He received the words of the Lord and was sad at the saying. He went away grieved, for he had great possessions. But we can hypothesise that the man did follow the word received. I believe he did eventually sell all his possessions and came back to Jesus and followed Him. In the book of Isaiah we read: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Is. 55:11.
The compassionate love that Jesus has for this man knows no barriers. We know that Jesus loved him. He beheld him and loved him. Jesus held this man in His arms. There was love and compassion in the eyes of our Saviour. What a wonderful blessing is such love of Jesus. He is full of mercy for that man.
Note also the wonderful command at the end of Lord’s words: ‘Come, take up the cross and follow me’. There is hope for this man. And there is also hope for us today. You know what you need to do. God’s call is yours:
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” Deut. 30:19
Choose life. Turn to Jesus Christ. You know there is nothing you can do to be saved, but Jesus said on the cross: ‘It is finished’. You are a Christian, when you know that you need Jesus. You are a Christian when you know, He died for you on the cross. You are a Christian, when you know, Jesus is so much more than a ‘Good Master’. Truly, He is the one living God, the Lord of Lords. To Him be all the glory from everlasting to everlasting.
