“Richard Ruler”

I’m going to read to you a passage not from the Bible. But I invite you to turn to a similar passage in the Bible. There are three similar passages actually. One in Matthew, one in Mark and one in Luke. They’re all about the same occasion in the ministry of Jesus. I invite you to turn to Mark’s version. Mark 10:17ff. The passage I’m reading I came across the other day. It’s mysterious in its origins. Maybe it came from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Maybe it’s a long lost passage from a witness of the occasion. Maybe it’s made up. As you hear me read it and compare it with the passage in Mark 10, you’ll be able to tell if what I’m reading sounds characteristic of Jesus or not. Well, here it is. Jesus is speaking. It’s the end of one of His sermons.

 “In closing I know there are many who have questions. When we dismiss, there are 12 qualified disciples here who would love to sit down and share with you how you can know and experience My father who art in heaven. Just meet us out under the sycamore tree. This could be the most important 5 minutes of your life. Good night and God bless you.” The crowd applauds and Jesus begins to exit stage right where he is approached by Richard Ruler who has been listening from the rear of the crowd. “Excuse me, sir.” “Ah, yes.” “My name is Richard Ruler. I’m a mayor in Judea.” “Funny, you don’t look old enough to be a mayor.” “Well, I am young. I enjoyed your talk. I did have a question though. You mentioned eternal life.” “Yes.” “I wonder what one would have to do to get it, eternal life that is.” “Well, it’s quite simple. You see just as there are physical principles that govern the universe so there are spiritual principles that govern our relationship with My Father.” “And get us eternal life?” “Sure. First, you must understand that my Father loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Jesus stops to draw a diagram in the dirt with his finger. “You see, sin creates this gap here between man and My Father. All have sinned…” Richard interrupts, “Well, I’ve kept all the commandments since I was a kid even.” “But unfortunately that’s not enough.” “It’s not?” “No. The answer is principle three. That’s me.” “You?” “That’s right. I am the way, the truth and the life.” “Eternal life?” “Exactly. But it’s not enough to know about me, you must receive me into your life. That’s principle four.” “What do I have to do?” “You simply pray this little prayer I’ll give you here.” “That’s all I have to do?” “You have to really mean it of course.” “And I’ll have eternal life?” “It’s the gospel truth.” “But there must be more. Doesn’t it cost me anything?” “It’s free.” “You mean I can keep on being a rich young ruler? Yes, absolutely! In fact your testimony will be a real help to many other rich young rulers.” “What a relief! I heard this was really going to cost me a bundle.” “No, it’s a free gift of God. Just pray this little prayer.” As the curtain closes, Richard Ruler prays his prayer, exits stage left and lives happily ever after for he had great possessions.

It’s not uncommon today for people to have the Richard Ruler experience with a pastor who claims to represent Jesus. But you can probably tell from Mark 10 that when a rich young ruler came asking about God’s terms for eternal life, that was not how Jesus answered him. The true story is that the man who came asking was thinking that he was sufficiently good, righteous, and obedient to inherit eternal life, and Jesus assured him that he did need to keep the commands of God to have eternal life, but then Jesus opened his eyes to the fact that he was not doing that, he was not good, he was actually an idolater. His god was money and possessions. Jesus helped him to realize it by making it a requirement of him that he sell all he has and give the money to the poor. His unwillingness to do so revealed that wealth, not God, had first place in his heart. The man went away sad.

Then Jesus made a couple astonishing statements to His disciples. First He said, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at His words because wealth in their society was generally seen as a mark of a righteous person who had God’s favor. Then Jesus said to them, ““Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 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.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?“” They understood that Jesus is saying for us to be saved, to enter into the kingdom that’s dawning on the world, we have to live, what to many is, a seemingly impossible way of life. We have to truly give God first place in our hearts and lives and actually do the things as He’s commanded in our homes and work places and everywhere. They say “Who can do that? Who can be saved?”

Maybe you’ve had the same reaction as the apostles after reading carefully some things Jesus said.

Matthew 10:37-39, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Wow! He’s got to come before mom and dad and our kids. We have to actually give our lives over to Jesus.

Luke 14:33, after a couple illustrations about the importance of counting the cost before you commit to something, Jesus stated the cost of being one of His disciples. He said, “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” In a sense, it will cost all you have. You must renounce ownership of everything you have… truly say from your heart, “Lord it’s all yours. Just show me what you want me to do with your stuff.”

Or like Matthew 5:27ff, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble [if you have a looking problem], tear it out and throw it from you [do whatever it takes to stop that]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble [if you have a touching problem], cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” He doesn’t sound be saying that the ending of sinful habits as we see them in our lives is optional. It sounds like, if what it takes to stop our sin is to gouge out eyeballs and cut off hands then that’s what we need to do. We actually have to keep our hands and even our eyes only on our own spouse. We actually need to be pure from the heart outward. Wow!

Have you thought, “Who can be saved? Who actually lives to that level of righteousness?”

Jesus’ response to the apostles when they asked that in Mark 10:27 was, “With men it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” God can fit camels through the eyes of needles. God can take greedy, idolatrous, impure, addicted, selfish hearts and transform them into hearts that listen and obey His commands.

We talked last Sunday about being born of God. Being born of God is when God works that heart changing miracle within someone, when He gives them a new inner nature that can be obedient to His will. Our part is humble cooperation with God in accepting Jesus as our Master and Savior and turning from our sins to walk in His ways and being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. In and through all that, the Spirit of God makes us new creatures. It’s not that we rise from the water fully mature, looking exactly like our Father, but like a newborn, resembling our Father a bit and having the capacity to grow into His spitting image. And we come to look more and more like Him as we continue to listen and try to walk in the steps of Jesus, as we co-operate with His Spirit.

Don’t misunderstand, salvation is indeed a free gift. “For the wages of sin,” wrote Paul, (what we’ve actually earned, merited, deserve) “is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Eternal life is a free gift, but Paul’s free gift language has been distorted by some today to mean that we do not have to do anything to inherit eternal life, except merely in our minds accept the gift from Christ. But if you read the whole chapter of Romans 6 leading up to that statement from Paul, it’s clear that Paul is not at all saying we don’t need to live righteously. The whole chapter is about how we absolutely must not continue in sin but walk in newness of life as slaves of God using the members of our bodies as instruments of righteousness. He says at the being of the chapter that that was the purpose of our baptism into Christ. It was to put to death the old self that was enslaved to sin, and to be raised with Jesus, a new person, free from sin, able to be a righteous servant of God. Eternal life is a free gift in the sense that we do not deserve for God to empower us, free us from our self-destructive ways, forgive us, guide us, protect us, respond to our prayers, and then clothe us in immortal bodies and give us the world to come. He doesn’t owe us any of that.

Confusion and deception abound today about God’s terms for eternal life, because Satan and fallen angels and demons and confused people and evil people have muddied the waters of Scripture with clever alternative interpretations and fine sounding arguments. It has made it difficult for people to open the word and understand what the Lord actually requires of them. With the rest of my time this morning I’d like to show you what I think are two clear spots in the muddied waters. The first is in Romans, the second in I John.

Romans 1:18-2:11

For a little context (1:18ff), Paul describes the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men and God’s anger toward it. He explains how the Gentiles willfully ignore what the creation makes evident about our Creator. They refuse to acknowledge His greatness, wisdom, goodness and do not give Him thanks for life and all we have. So God disciplines them by  not holding them back from the degrading, shameful and self-destructive behaviors they want to engage in. He gives them over to sexual perversion in which they dishonor themselves and contract diseases and suffer other consequences. And in verse 28, “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

Romans 2:1, “Therefore, you…” in contrast to “they.” The end of chapter 1 was about they and them, the Gentiles. “You” are the Jews. “Therefore you [Jews] have no excuse, O man [you are just men like the Gentiles], every one of you who judges. [The Jews judged the Gentiles as the scum of the earth because of their idolatry and immorality, and regarded themselves as God’s people on the basis of their bloodline and circumcision and knowledge of the Law and religious observances.] For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. [Or the same kind of things. Maybe they don’t bow down to an image of stone, but they bow down to money. Maybe they’re not sleeping with people they’re not married to, but they just divorce and remarry when they want to be with someone else. And they gossip and slander and boast and hold grudges and lie and such, just like the Gentiles.] We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” God is righteous and will judge us righteously. If we live like the pagan world our judgment will be the same as theirs.

Then at Romans 2:6-11 he says here’s how it will be on the day when God comes to judge: “He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.” God is good, righteous, fair, just, He’s not going to show favoritism. So when God comes to judge, it is the doers of good, the practicers of righteousness, to whom he will give eternal life. But for the unrepentant, the doers of evil, practicers of unrighteousness, it will be a bad day.

Paul’s argument in the early chapters of Romans is not as some say, that you can be ultimately saved without living righteously as long as you believe in Jesus. His point is how unrighteous evil doers can become righteous good doers and be forgiven. And He explains it’s not by circumcision or knowledge of the Law or religious rituals. That’s not changing the hearts of the Jews. It is by believing in the risen Lord Jesus the Messiah. As we trust Jesus, then on the basis of His sacrifice for our sins, He grants us forgiveness and His Spirit and the wisdom and promises of His word, all of which empower us to live righteously. As righteous living, forgiven people, we will stand acceptable before God when He comes to judge.

I John 3:4-10

3:4, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.”  I think he says that because talking to John’s readers were those, like many today, who trivialize sin. Who speak of sin as no big deal. Commonly today sin is called just a mistake or a poor choice, as if it was an accident or just the result of not thinking things through. It’s commonly said that “Everybody makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect.” which is true, but frequently it’s said to suggest that sin is no big deal. Sometimes in our culture sin is called other things to make it sound not so bad. Homosexuality is alternative lifestyle. Pornography is adult entertainment. Drunkenness is having a good time. Abortion is a woman’s choice. Not disciplining your children is building self-esteem. Immodest dress is fashion. Coveting your neighbors house and cars and possessions is called having drive and ambition. Amassing material wealth and being selfish with it is success. John says, “No! It is lawlessness! It is defying, disregarding God’s laws, commands and God’s authority. Sin is an act of rebellion against God.” So if you are practicing sin you are continually rebelling against your Maker and the King.

Verse 5, “You know that he [Christ] appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.”

Sin is the most serious problem in the universe. And to get rid of it is why Christ came. He did not come just so we could be forgiven of sins, but He came so He could get it out of our hearts and lives. So hanging on to sin is fighting against Christ.

“6 No one who abides in him [Like a branch to a vine or a body member to its head, when one is connected, guided, and nourished by Him, no one who has that relationship with Jesus…] keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.” Sounds like John does not think it’s possible to realize how wonderful, good, loving, wise, powerful and trustworthy Jesus is and keep on sinning. If you know how fantastic Jesus is, then you gladly let Him have His way with you. If you don’t let Him have His way with you then you don’t yet know Him.

“7 Little children, let no one deceive you.” It doesn’t matter if he has a Ph.D. in theology and can read the original languages, if he says you can be safe and secure while willfully hanging on to sin in your life, he’s deceiving you. The apostle John wrote in a way that ordinary believers like you and me can understand. And John walked and talked and ate with Jesus for 3½ years and was one of His best friends. John knew the real Jesus and he says you cannot have fellowship with the real Jesus and keep on sinning.

“Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” There are two sides in the world, two kings exerting influence in the world, Jesus and Satan. We are under the influence of and in the kingdom of the one we act like.

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” The implication being that those who won’t quit doing the works of the devil will be destroyed.

Verse 9 is puzzling to some, but I don’t think it needs to be. “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” I think the ESV is good here at the end of verse 9, “he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” Some translations say, “he cannot sin, because he is born of God,” like you can never ever sin at all. But John’s not talking here about occasional sin where you go, “Ahh! I wish I hadn’t said that or done that,” and then you acknowledge that to God and repent and try not to do it again. John is not contradicting what he said in I John 1:8-9. Remember? “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” None of us are completely sinless and never need to confess. In chapter 3 John is talking about ongoing willful sin. Where you know specific habits or patterns of behavior or attitudes you have are against the commands of the Lord, but you’re not repenting. You’re just keeping on in them.  John says, interestingly, you can’t do that if you are born of God. You actually can’t keep on in sin if you are born of God. And the reason is, God’s seed abides in you. It’s sperma in Greek, from which you know what word we get. There’s debate about what exactly is God’s sperma in us. Is it His word? Or is it His Spirit? I’m not sure we should limit it to one and exclude the other. I think it’s safe to say that within us is a bit of God if we are born of Him, and it has so changed our perspective of things and our nature that we cannot go on sinning. I think that’s true of me. Not to my credit, but to God’s glory. It’s how He’s changed me. There’s no way, I’m pretty sure, that I could get into an immoral relationship or some clever way of stealing money or something like that and then just keep on doing it on a regular basis. I’m pretty sure I would be so uncomfortable, unable to sleep at night, in such agony in my conscience, I couldn’t keep on doing it. Because God has made it the case with me now that my joy and my peace and my sense of security is in doing what pleases Him and having His favor. I know there is nothing in the world that can give that to me. I can commit a sin in a stupid moment or when I’m caught off guard, but I can’t practice sin, because by His amazing grace and mercy He’s changed my nature.

What about you? Can you go on willfully sinning? Does it not tear you up enough inside to make you stop? If you can go on sinning willfully, I think John would say you still have yet to be born of God. Or maybe you were once, but you somehow degenerated and you need a heart transplant again.

Verse 10 sums up the point. “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” Loving your brother is a central part of righteousness and that transitions into the next section of the letter, which will, Lord willing, be another lesson.

What must I do to inherit eternal life? Very simply, you must abstain from sinning and live righteously; God first, honest, pure, generous, loving. How can we possibly do so? By the help that comes from the risen Lord Jesus. Listen to Jesus. Trust Jesus. Submit to Jesus. Be baptized in the name of Jesus. Call on Jesus. Learn from Jesus. Follow Jesus. He’s the way and the truth and the life. He’s the good shepherd, wonderful counselor, light of the world, bread of life, living water, and the true vine. And He’s very near and available. Come to Him if you hunger and thirst for righteousness and you will be satisfied.

-James Williams