How to enter eternal life

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honour your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.’” “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Matthew 19:16-22

It’s a sobering thought (perhaps good for keeping one humble) when you realise that you have been reading the Bible for most of your life, but there are passages which you still puzzle over.

For me, the story of Jesus’ encounter with “the rich young ruler” is such a passage. I hope I’m not the only fairly mature Christian who wonders if they’ve really got to the bottom of it. It throws up a number of questions; I’ll pick out just two.

First, why is it that when the young man asks Jesus what “good thing” he must “do” to get “eternal life”, Jesus replies, “Keep the commandments”?

Wouldn’t we expect him to have replied, “Do? What do you mean, do? There’s nothing you can do! Entering eternal life isn’t a matter of anything you do – it’s purely a matter of trusting in the grace and mercy of God; eternal life is something you simply receive as a gift”?

By telling him to “keep the commandments” isn’t Jesus in effect teaching salvation by works rather than by faith? And doesn’t that contradict the teaching of the early church: as Paul puts it in Ephesians 2:8-9: “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works…” Or in Romans 3:20: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law…”.

I’m sure there is in fact no contradiction between Jesus and the first apostles, but it could certainly look that way. So how can we explain it?

The key is to see the story of the rich young ruler, on the one hand, and the teaching of Paul, on the other, in their very different historical settings. So bear with me, please…

The scholars reckon that Paul wrote Romans some time in the late 50s – that’s some twenty-plus years on from the crucifixion. So there was a significant interval of time between Jesus talking to that man (somewhere around 30) and Paul sitting down to write his letters (50ish). A lot has happened in that interval! In fact the whole world has changed, as God’s ancient plan, foretold by the prophets, has reached is climax in Christ.

Jesus, of course, was himself a Jew (as were all his first followers), but at that point in his earthly ministry he was concerned to make clear that he was not simply “a Jew” but in fact the long-promised “king of the Jews” – the Messiah. And he showed little interest in those who were born outside the Jewish nation – the slightly unsettling story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28, especially verse 24, makes that very clear!

So…? This means that at that point in history there was no such thing as what  the church came to know as “the doctrine of justification by faith”; no such thing, in fact, as the “church” at all; no such people as “Christians”, for the very word “Christian” hadn’t yet been coined (as Acts 11:26 tells us).

Certainly, it was by faith in God and loyalty to him that a Jew proved themselves a child of the chosen race – the race into which they were born. But how did a Jew demonstrate that faith and loyalty? How else than by keeping the commandments?

So when Jesus told the man to do just that, he was, in effect, telling him to demonstrate that he was worthy to be numbered among the people into which he had, by God’s grace, been born.

Do I hear a howl of protest at that word “worthy”? - “But the whole gospel of God’s grace rests on the fact that we are not worthy, and can never make ourselves so!”

That’s certainly true. But wait a minute! Listen again, please, to Paul, the great advocate of “justification by grace through faith”. Here he is in Ephesians 4:1: “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received”. And in Philippians 1:27: “Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ”. And in Colossians 1:10: “… so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord”.

Somebody once summed up the essence of Christian living as “Become what you are”. And if that sounds a little crazy, let’s expand it: “You are already made worthy by God’s grace given to you in Christ, received by faith: now prove it, then, by becoming worthy in the way you live!”

And is that really any different from what Jesus said to the rich young ruler? - “Given that you are already an heir of eternal life through God’s grace in causing you to be born into his chosen people, well now, prove it by living according to his holy will – by keeping the commandments”.

Getting a bit dizzy? My apologies! If you find this all rather theoretical or not really “scratching where you itch”, of course just ignore everything I have said. But if, like me, you have found this story puzzling, I hope my reflections may be helpful.

And if, of course, you can explain the story better than me, I would love to hear from you. Always eager to learn, me!

I said I had two questions to think about regarding Jesus and the rich young ruler. Well, I shall have to leave the second – what does Jesus mean by being “perfect”? - until next time…

Heavenly Father, thank you that you call us to enter eternal life by faith in Jesus, and on the basis of what he did on the cross. Help me now to live a life worthy of that calling. Amen.