Based on Luke 18:18-30 (New King James Version)
“Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ’ And he said, ‘All these things I have kept from my youth.’ So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, ‘You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, ‘How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For 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.’ And those who heard it said, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But He said, ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.’ Then Peter said, ‘See, we have left all and followed You.’ So He said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.’”
Today's message is the simplest there can be, so simple that even a child can understand it, but at the same time, it is the most difficult to be able to live because it puts man at the crossroads, to choose between loving God more than everything else. The vast majority of people fail in their faith precisely because of this matter, and they will not enter the kingdom of God precisely because they cannot achieve what they have to achieve, what God demands from each person, because God does have a demand. The point is that despite the fact that salvation is completely free, because it cannot be bought or worked for, that it is only by grace, nevertheless, getting into the kingdom of God does have a price, and this is what the Lord is dealing with. There is a work (because it undoubtedly consists of action) that must be in our life above all work, above all that can exist, which is loving God above all things.
There are very deep things in this passage, in its details, which leads us to understand what must happen in each person, if they legitimately want to inherit or obtain eternal life. The matter begins with the question this ruler asks: “…what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The word he used has to do with an action, and the action is a deed. His question is very simple, but also incredibly profound. The most interesting thing about the matter is that the Lord corrects him for calling Him good, and that God is the only good One, but He does not say anything about correcting his concept of the work. The Lord does not say to him: “Man, eternal life does not consist of works.” And even more peculiarly, so to speak, the Lord leads him to remember the law, to the Ten Commandments. Anyone today who believes that salvation is only by faith and the grace of God would say that the Lord is wrong to point to the law, but we have to say that the Lord Jesus Christ is not wrong, but rather, those who have changed the true path to salvation, those who have turned following Christ into a hollow, fruitless, and worthless religion. They have turned the truth into something intangible, and that is why we have what we have today—a large group of people who believe that they will have eternal life just because they say a few words and profess to have some kind of belief, but without any kind of substance in their lives, ultimately, without the work that must be in each one who really wants to inherit or enter the kingdom of God. And the Lord, seeing that this man has complied with much of the law, leads him to the foundation of the law, to the reason why the law exists to begin with, to the first commandment. It is written: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9. This is the all of the law because it is the foundation for all of the law. And the Lord Himself reiterated this point and reestablished this as the first commandment, as it is also written: “Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.” Mark 12:29-30. Therefore, whoever says that the law no longer applies, and that there is nothing that needs to be done after a supposed decision, with all due respect, they are abysmally very mistaken. For the Lord also said: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17-18.
And to reinforce more this topic, the Lord made these declarations and clarifications, so that this topic could be made very clear in that we must fulfill the law, the first commandment, to love (action, work) God above all things: “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘seta man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 10:34-39. “Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, ‘If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:25-33. That’s why, the only person that will inherit eternal life is the person that lives out this concept: “For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” Romans 14:8. Why does God demand this? Because it is fair. He created us, made us, gives us breath and life, and the beating of our hearts. And through Christ, He gives us eternal life without us deserving it, without any kind of obligation, freeing us from eternal hell. We owe everything to Him. So then, the matter is quite simple: “Do you love the Lord as He deserves to be loved so you can have the eternal life that only He can give?” Lord bless! John