The Rich Young Man
16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Jesus met this young man where he lived, in the law. The young man agreed with Jesus and said he had kept the law. Then Jesus said something profoundly different. “If you would be perfect!”
Keeping the law does not make one perfect, it only makes us law abiding.
Jesus then exposed the young man’s heart. He had things he felt he could not lose and be content.
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
What the man asked of Jesus was eternal life based on good deeds. Eternal life is not granted based on good deeds. The young man’s question itself was flawed.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
There is the letter of the law and then again the spirit of the law. What are the terms and conditions of the law, to obey both the letter and spirit of the law. What is the spirit of the law?
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.