Not far from the Kingdom of God

Part 2

22^nd February 2008

A while ago, I wrote a column called "Not far from the Kingdom of God, Part 1". I'd now like to continue to examine the position of those who have become interested in the things of God, but have not yet found salvation in Jesus Christ.

Luke 18v18-23
A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No-one is good - except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and mother.'"
"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said. 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."
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.

This story is also recorded in Matthew 19v16-19 and Mark 19v16-29. It's often called the story of "the rich young ruler" because the three accounts together show us that's what he was (e.g. rich - Luke 18v23, young - Matthew 19v22, a ruler - Luke 18v18). If you're none of these things, you may think that this story doesn't apply to you, but please read on.

This man had everything the world has to offer - money, youth and power. And yet he was desperate to find eternal life. He was no fool; he knew that this life on Earth would end sometime. Mark 10v17 says that he "ran up to [Jesus] and fell on his knees before him". To picture this in today's terms, imagine him parking his Ferrari round the corner, running up to Jesus and dirtying his Armani suit in the dust at Jesus's feet. He REALLY wanted to know!

Jesus's answer must have surprised him. He said "Why do you call me good? No-one is good - except God alone". We must accept that God can say whatever He likes. He's not bound by our agenda. He said this to make the rich young ruler think. If Jesus is truly good, then He is divine. And recognising that Jesus is God is a major step in finding eternal life.

Then Jesus went on to remind the young man of God's commandments. But the man's response was amazing: he claimed to have kept all God's commandments since he was a child. Jesus had just told him "no-one is good except God alone" but he hadn't listened. He thought of himself as a good man. And yet he knew he had not inherited eternal life.

Had he been more self-aware, he wouldn't have answered as he did but, since he claimed to live a sinless life, Jesus upped the stakes, telling him to sell everything he owned and then follow Jesus. The man walked away.

He was sad because he had great wealth. His security was in his money. After all, money can solve most problems. Is something broken? Replace it. Are you stressed out? - spend a fortnight in the Maldives. Are you sick? - buy the best medical care. Are you bored? - go to an expensive restaurant, or a show, or buy a new car. Feeling lazy? - don't go to work. And Jesus was asking him to give it all away. That's hard to do.

This man was, in some ways, near to the Kingdom of God. He knew something was missing. He knew he didn't qualify for eternal life. And he knew that Jesus was the person he needed to turn to. He knew Jesus was good. And he was prepared to humble himself - kneeling before Jesus. But he was living a contradiction - he believed that he kept God's law perfectly (although he didn't) and yet he asked "what must I do?" The truth is that we have all sinned and fallen short of God's standard - we've all broken God's law - and we all need forgiveness. The man didn't need to DO anything; he needed to accept that he needed to be forgiven, and to ask Jesus for that forgiveness.

He was claiming to be righteous already, and yet he knew he didn't have eternal life. Jesus found a way to help him realise he wasn't as righteous as he thought he was. He was wealthy in a country that knew great poverty, and yet he didn't share his wealth with those who needed it. He didn't obey the commandment to "love your neighbour as yourself" (Leviticus 19v18).

But the man couldn't find it in his heart to give away the security (and luxury) that his money gave him - and chose to walk away from Christ instead. He had come close to the Kingdom of God, but wouldn't enter in.

We now come to one of Jesus's most famous sayings:

Luke 18v24-25
Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, 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."

Jesus was saying that it can't be done! It's Impossible! No rich man - or any other man - can enter the Kingdom of God. Only by the grace of God can we enter in. It's not what we do that gains us entrance - it's the forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ.

The people - and the disciples - were perturbed by this saying:

Luke 18v26-30
Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."
Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow you!"
"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no-one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."

To repeat, it's not what we do that gains us entrance into the Kingdom of God - it's the forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ. It's impossible for me to earn salvation - but God is willing to forgive me my crimes and give me eternal life.

Peter pointed out on behalf of the disciples that they'd given up all they had to follow Jesus. But we're not saved because of what we've sacrificed; we're saved by His sacrifice on the cross. But - though we're saved 100% by grace and not by our own efforts - Jesus promised that whatever we give up for His sake will be rewarded - both in this life and in the next.

But what about those of us who have received forgiveness of sins and eternal life, and yet have never given up everything we have?

Security comes in many forms. The rich young ruler had his money. Some of us have good careers, or supportive families, or belong to great churches, or are particularly intelligent or beautiful. If we're to follow Jesus as the best Christians we can be, we need our security to be in Him. And if we ever pray a prayer like this "Heavenly Father, please do whatever it takes for me to be the best Christian I can be" then we can expect Him to adjust things so that all our security is in Him, sometimes by removing the other security we have.

God is immensely gracious, however, and will not force us into a level of discipleship that we don't want to live. We can choose to be mediocre Christians, keeping some of our security in other things. But I don't want to be a mediocre Christian. The trouble is, I don't want to give away my money, or friends, or family, or church, or ability either.

Sometimes God puts us in a position where we have to choose.