17 And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Mark 10:17
The natural man cannot conceive of eternal life coming to anyone who does not “earn” or somehow “deserve” it. Jesus’ teaching set the record straight, but many today still do not regard what He said. Even preachers and religious leaders have bent the truth and twisted it in such a way so as to provide a way for professing believers to have a “work” they could point back to that marks them as having done that one thing that enables them to inherit eternal life….
The Kingdom of God is not earned by people who somehow elevate themselves higher than others through their good works or their religiosity. No, our Lord used children as examples whom He referred to this way, “For to such belongs the kingdom of God.”
13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” 16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them. Mark 10:13-16 (LSB)
Children do not belong automatically to the Kingdom but must come to Jesus and receive Him the same as adults, but what our Lord was saying is that no one can enter His Kingdom except by this same child-like faith, which is with humble trusting dependence, and the recognition of having achieved nothing of value or virtue in the sense of having “earned” or “deserved” salvation. This event in the Gospel of Mark is immediately followed by our Lord’s encounter with a rich young man who asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
17 And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Mark 10:17 (LSB)
This question is steeped in legalism. His mindset was such that he could only conceive of some religious deed that would guarantee him eternal life. What was our Lord’s response?
18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’” Mark 10:18-19 (LSB)
When I was a fairly new Christian, this question by our Lord puzzled me. However, now I understand that what He was doing was challenging the implications of ascribing to Him the title “good.” This is a title that fits only God completely so was he prepared to recognize the deity of our Lord? Then our Lord challenged him to compare his life with the standard of God’s Law. What was the young man’s response?
20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” Mark 10:20 (LSB)
No one can make this claim in complete sincerity. This young man’s answer was superficial and untrue. Since he obviously believed this about himself, we should wonder why he came to Jesus to ask his question.