The Rich Young Man - Something I wrote

[Goodboy]

The Rich Young Man

Matthew 19:16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
Matthew 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Matthew 19:18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Matthew 19:19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Matthew 19:20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
Matthew 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Matthew 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Matthew 19:23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 19:24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Matthew 19:25 When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
Matthew 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Most would tend to think that the rich young man spoken of did not go to Heaven, which I would tend to agree with. Most would also say that the reason he did not go to Heaven is because he was not willing to sell all he had and give to the poor, which I do not agree with. Even if he did sell all he had and give to the poor, he would still not be able to enter Heaven. There is only one way to enter heaven which is to believe in and accept Jesus Christ as your savior.

So let’s examine closely what the rich young man said to Jesus.

• The first thing he did was to call Jesus “Good Master”.
• The second thing he did was to ask Jesus “What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life”.

Now let’s examine closely Jesus response.

• The first thing Jesus did is ask the rich young man “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God”. Jesus was making the point that the young man did not consider Jesus to be God. The young man should have addressed Jesus as Lord, not good master.
• The second thing Jesus did was to tell the man what good thing he could do to have eternal life which was to keep the commandments. Unfortunately no one is able to keep the commandments, so while the statement is true, no human is able to gain eternal life through this method.
• The third thing Jesus did was to tell the young man what he could do to be perfect. The first step was to sell all he had and give it to the poor which would give him treasures in heaven. The second step was to follow Jesus which would give him eternal life. As the rich man did not understand or believe that Jesus was God, he was not willing to follow him. He was only focused on what Jesus said about giving away all his money which was really the rich man’s God.
• Jesus then states how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.
• Jesus later states that with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

What Jesus is saying here is that no man can redeem himself and for a rich man it would be even harder. He then states that with God all things are possible, meaning God can redeem man through belief in and acceptance of Jesus Christ as savior. All the rich young man had to do was to believe in and accept Jesus Christ as savior (follow him) and he would have been saved.

Goodboy

 

[Kaatje]

Love your whole post my friend, but especially this

Most would tend to think that the rich young man spoken of did not go to Heaven, which I would tend to agree with. Most would also say that the reason he did not go to Heaven is because he was not willing to sell all he had and give to the poor, which I do not agree with. Even if he did sell all he had and give to the poor, he would still not be able to enter Heaven. There is only one way to enter heaven which is to believe in and accept Jesus Christ as your savior.