May 15 2025

Thursday May15

Luke 18:18-30 – God’s Salvation Requires Humility and Repentance

18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 19 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 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.' " 21 And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth." 22 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." 23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich. 24 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! 25 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." 26 And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?" 27 But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." 28 Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You." 29 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, 30 who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."

Today, we're looking at Luke chapter 18, verses 18-30, the story of the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus looking for salvation. In verse 17, Jesus had just made the statement, "Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." You have to come to Jesus like a child, totally dependent upon Him, hungry for Him and Him alone. In the very first “Beatitude” Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). This young ruler comes to Jesus is an illustration of someone who will not enter the kingdom of heaven because of their pride, possessions, and their wrong views of Jesus, self, sin, and also basic dishonesty.

Jesus says to this rich young ruler, "Keep the commandments", and He lists five of them: "Don't commit adultery, don't murder, don't steal, don't bear false witness, honor your father and mother." The man responds, "I've done all these things since I was a youth." He called Jesus "good Master," honoring the Lord with his lips, but his heart was far from Him. He didn’t truly believe Jesus is the Son of God, despite implying it by calling Him "good Master." He also had a wrong view of his own sin, claiming he’d kept all the commandments.

Notice that Jesus didn’t quote the last commandment, "Thou shalt not covet." He tells the man, "Go sell everything you have, give to the poor, and follow me." The man went away very sorrowful because he had great riches. We see that this man had a problem with covetousness, and Jesus knowing his heart deal with that by telling him to give his wealth away.

What’s important is that unless we come to Jesus with a heart like a child, willing in humility to repent of our sin, our selfishness and our pride, we will not receive the grace of God to be saved (Ephesians 2:8-9; James 4:6). This man thought he could get saved by what he did, asking, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He wasn’t looking at his heart or the need to repent of his sins. He felt he was a pretty good guy, keeping all the commandments.

You don’t get to heaven by keeping the commandments. I’ve asked people over the years, "Are you going to heaven? How do you know?" They’ll say, "I do the best I can and try to keep the commandments." But my friend, that doesn’t take away our sin. Our problem is a sin problem, a covetous, selfish, prideful heart problem. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We must come like a child, admit in humility that we have sinned, turn from our sin, and trust Jesus.

Scripture doesn’t teach that it’s wrong to be wealthy. You can possess great wealth and be a wonderful, loving Christian, making a major difference in the kingdom of God. But you can’t let wealth possess you. Keep your focus on kingdom work, not personal gain. I’ll never forget a wealthy friend who said, "I take care of God’s business, and God takes care of my business." He was one of the most giving people I’d ever met.

Keep your focus on eternity, knowing we are sinners. The only way to heaven is to repent, turn from sin, and trust Jesus Christ as Savior. Go to the cross, where sin was taken care of. Jesus died in our place, gave us the only parachute left on the plane, and went down with it. But thank God, He rose again the third day. He’s alive, and today He can save you if you come by faith to Him.

Don’t be like this rich young ruler who goes away “very sorrowful”. No, you can live a happy, joyful, wonderful life in Christ when you give your heart to Him.

God bless!