Luke 18:18-27
18 And a ruler asked him, Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 19 And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother. 21 And he said, All these I have kept from my youth. 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, One thing you still lack. 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 these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, How difficult it is for those who have wealth 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 person to enter the kingdom of God. 26 Those who heard it said, Then who can be saved? 27 But he said, What is impossible with man is possible with God.
In the story of Jesus' interaction with the rich young ruler, Jesus makes the statement that "no one is good except God alone" (verse 19). This seems like an aside to the main story, but it strikes me as a key paradigm shift. It is tempting to want to be "good", to think that if we get control of our addictive habits we will finally be "good". But the truth is that even when we are sober we are still a sinner in need of grace. This can be a paradigm shift, but it frees us from constantly striving for perfection in our works, and allows us to freely receiving God's saving grace. This is why later Jesus says that "what is impossible with man is possible with God" (verse 27), for our striving to be good enough, to be clean enough of our sin, is impossible; but God in His mercy can do the work for us.
Lord, thank you for Your saving grace.
18 And a ruler asked him, Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 19 And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother. 21 And he said, All these I have kept from my youth. 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, One thing you still lack. 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 these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, How difficult it is for those who have wealth 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 person to enter the kingdom of God. 26 Those who heard it said, Then who can be saved? 27 But he said, What is impossible with man is possible with God.
In the story of Jesus' interaction with the rich young ruler, Jesus makes the statement that "no one is good except God alone" (verse 19). This seems like an aside to the main story, but it strikes me as a key paradigm shift. It is tempting to want to be "good", to think that if we get control of our addictive habits we will finally be "good". But the truth is that even when we are sober we are still a sinner in need of grace. This can be a paradigm shift, but it frees us from constantly striving for perfection in our works, and allows us to freely receiving God's saving grace. This is why later Jesus says that "what is impossible with man is possible with God" (verse 27), for our striving to be good enough, to be clean enough of our sin, is impossible; but God in His mercy can do the work for us.
Lord, thank you for Your saving grace.