Who here can complete this well-known piece of sage advice: “If it sounds too good to be true... ____________”

My follow up question would be: “How many of you had to learn that from personal experience?” Yeah...some of us can be slow learners. And yet...when it comes to all the many ‘gospel’ presentations out there today...why are we so quick to dismiss this nugget of wisdom? [long pause....]

To pick up where I left off yesterday (which is a subtle hint you might want to read that first if you missed it...) we were taking another look at the conversation Jesus had with that rich, young ruler which is recorded in Matt. 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18. This young man came to Jesus to begin a conversation inquiring what ‘good thing could he could do’ in order to receive ‘eternal life’ (Matt. 19:16).

The ’short answer’ Jesus offered him...if he was serious about wanting to ‘enter into life’ was: “keep the commandments”. (Matt. 19:17).

I should also point out this is not the only time Jesus ever answered that question in a such a manner. A certain lawyer came asking the same question and Jesus asked him in response what his take was on the ‘law’. The lawyer gave a good answer (Luke 10:25-27) to which Jesus commended him saying...”You have answered correctly; DO THIS (keep the commandments)...and you will live (enter life)” (28).

So now we have two very specific instances where people came seeking ‘eternal life’ asking how one might obtain it, and Jesus points them both...to ‘the law’, or ‘keeping the commandments’ of God . And this can be be quite confusing, if not troublesome for many NT ‘believers’ today, because how does ‘keeping the law’ have anything to do with the ‘gift of salvation’ or receiving ‘eternal life’ or being ‘saved’? Were not most of us taught that the ‘law’ was an ‘old testament thing’ and that we ‘Christians today’ are no longer ....’under the law but under grace’... based on what Romans 6:14 states? And this is where we need more ‘context’ because Paul (who wrote that statement in Romans also stated “IF...you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Gal. 5:18)...so there is that to take in to consideration.

So our young man asked Jesus: “Which ones? Which commandments should I keep?” (19:18). Again...it’s almost as Jesus is leading this fellow on...to humor him I suppose yet knowing exactly where the conversation will end up. So Jesus lists 5-6 of them.

You can only imagine how hopeful this young ruler must have felt when Jesus told him that he could have eternal life if he just ‘kept the commandments’, based on his immediate response of: “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I lack?” (Matt. 19:20)

Now, the ‘hook is set’, as fishermen like to say...and then comes the $64,000 question/condition: “If you want to be perfect...then sell what you have, give it away to the poor and then you will have treasure in heaven...and come follow Me.”

In both Luke’s and Mark’s version, Jesus tells him he only ‘lacks only one thing’, before offering him the same counsel...unload all your earthly possessions and follow Me; and Mark mentions something about ‘taking up a cross’ as well.

But the young man ‘blinked’. He was not prepared to hear that ‘one thing’ in which Jesus told him that he ‘lacked’. I’ve always read that and thought, ‘how impressive’ that this guy only ‘lacked one thing’ in the eyes of Jesus, as I’m sure most of you would agree? And when we read what Jesus instructs him ‘to do’, it becomes apparent: this young ruler needs to ‘sell out’ in order to be ‘fully in’.

If you are not careful here, you will make the mistake that others have, and I’ve personally met some...who believe in order for one to ‘be saved’, they have to cut loose of all their material possessions...homes, cars, and even jobs and just ‘go follow Jesus’. That is not what Jesus was saying here at all that this was the way one ‘enters into life’. Remember, it always goes back to our heart, which He sees and knows better than we do.

Jesus knew this man had a problem with greed/covetousness. Those ‘things’ owned him, and Jesus knew they would get in the way of God fulfilling His plan in this young man’s life. So he instructed him to cut loose from all of it, along with his ‘position’ and ‘influence’, most likely. And the young man blinked because he just ‘wasn’t there’ ...that ready and willing to ‘do that one good thing’. So he turned and walked away, and the Bible says he was very ‘sorrowful’. Several translations suggest he was ‘grieved’, which is interesting because we read in 1 John 5:3: “This is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not ‘grievous’ (burdensome).

Friends...God already knows all that is in our defiled hearts (Mark 7:21-23; Jer. 17:9-10; 1 Sam. 16:7) and He still loved us enough to lay down His life for us...while we were ‘still sinners’ (Rom. 5:8). And it’s our hearts that are in need of being purified, which is what Jesus came to do as He sets us free from all that is within us. Hence...His repeated response of how important it is to love the Lord our God with ALL our heart...soul and mind...in order that we can then go ‘love others as He first loved us’ (Love others as ourselves).

So when anyone ‘walks an aisle’ today, or ‘raises a hand’ as the music plays in those church services denoting you want to ‘give your heart to Jesus’...you need to realize that the same word Jesus gave that young ruler is the same word He gives to us: “You need to sell out in order to be fully in”. Is that not what Jesus was teaching the multitudes in Luke 14:25-33 and 9:23? And here is what we often fail to see or learn: God will test your heart, just like He did with that young man who ‘said’...He was interested in entering/receiving ‘eternal life’ (Deut. 8:2; 1 Thess. 2:4)

Oh, but you were told to ‘come as you are’ and that ‘nothing was required’ of you and that this ‘gift of salvation’ was a ‘free’ gift’...and as long as you were ‘sincere’ when you ‘prayed that prayer’...all would be right with your soul and you were now ‘guaranteed’ a place in heaven...when you died. Hmm...that almost sounds...’too good to be true’. I wonder if those folks in Matt. 7:21-23 or 1 Cor. 13:1-3 might have anything to add here?

Hang with me...because I have some really good news for you; but you’ll have to join me here tomorrow.