18 Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good. 20 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.’[”
21 The man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
22 When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich. (Luke 18:18-23 NLT)
This Rich Man had two big problems. He tried to be good, but he was not good enough. He was rich, but he did not love enough. His attempts to justify himself before Jesus failed.
Our attempts to justify ourselves are guaranteed to fail, too. We can never be good enough to earn our way into heaven. We can never have enough money to buy our way in either. We need faith in Jesus' love and forgiveness. Nothing else will work.
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good. 20 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.’[”
21 The man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
22 When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich. (Luke 18:18-23 NLT)
This Rich Man had two big problems. He tried to be good, but he was not good enough. He was rich, but he did not love enough. His attempts to justify himself before Jesus failed.
Our attempts to justify ourselves are guaranteed to fail, too. We can never be good enough to earn our way into heaven. We can never have enough money to buy our way in either. We need faith in Jesus' love and forgiveness. Nothing else will work.
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