Inherting Eternal Life

Intro

Children’s trust and snipe hunting.

Main Point

Salvation does not come through the keeping of the law, but through childlike faith and dependence on God through Christ. Therefore, Christian, let us rest in God’s gift to us in Christ and follow our King.

Points

Matters of the Law

Inheriting Eternal Life

Leaving it All

Matters of the Law

Is Divorce Lawful?

Jesus was a shepherd, a teacher who was constantly pouring out his life into others and teaching them. And we see this here in 10:1 as Jesus enters the region of Judea on his way to Jerusalem. The crowds gathered around him and he taught them as he normally did, as was his custom. But as he is teaching, a group of pious religious leaders called the Pharisees approach him, and they begin to question him about the law in order to test him. So they ask him, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?

The disciples seek to put Jesus to the test here with this question, but in doing so they expose their own hardness of their hearts in asking this. So instead of allowing the Pharisees to put him on trial about matters of the law, Jesus flips the question on them and asks there in verse 3 what did Moses command you? Jesus knows the law and in the end actually answers the question about divorce before said and done. But as he flips the question on the Pharisees, they are being exposed at what they are trying to get at. For notice their response in verse 4 (READ).

This answer is coming from what was written in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 which says:

When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.

However, the thing is, this comes after many laws concerning the permanence of marriage. And even in the midst of this law being given, it is a law given not allowing divorce itself, but protecting the woman in the midst of being wronged from a man taking her twice and receiving an endowery twice. The law is not encouraging divorce, but a means of protecting the woman who was put aside from being left without anything, especially in a male dominated society.

But the Jewish people, including the Pharisees have begun to take this as a means for divorce. Simply by a man finding no favor or pleasure in his wife, he can now simply divorce her. And it is here that Jesus begins to dig and expose the hardened hearts of the Pharisees. Jesus corrects them in their answer, that this was given not as a means for divorce, but because of divorce within the culture and their hardened hearts. Jesus makes clear where he stands on the grounds of marriage.

Marriage Design

For he turns his attention to God’s design for marriage. A design that as Biblical Christians are still called to affirm today. And this view is as seen here in verses 6-9 which says…

In Jesus’s response, he hits on several things that we should not take for granted. Jesus hits on God’s creational design for gender in that of male and female. He hits on how a male is to leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife. In The Meaning of Marriage, Tim Keller writes, “marriage, next to our relationship to God, is the most profound relationship there is.” In other words, if you are married, then your spouse is being called to be the deepest and most important relationship you have with anyone on this earth outside of your relationship with the LORD.

And yet, we live in a culture that undermines marriage and is full of divorce. Instead of seeing a marriage covenant as lasting and a call to endure, many today are like the Pharisees and see Deuteronomy 24 as a freedom to divorce and that is not the case. Provisions for divorce were made in the hearts of the Israelites, along with ours becoming hardened in sin. The provisional laws were given to protect the innocent from being treated wrongly. The provision for divorce was not given to put away a husband or wife just because they no longer find favor in our eyes. Or that we feel as if we have fallen out of love. Marriage is a binding covenant that is intended to last and endure. It is not to be broken with the exception of adultery and the exception of sinful situations such as abuse.

Notice what Jesus adds as the disciples even ask for clarification on his teachings there in verses 10-12, to put away a husband or a wife causes adultery to take place if she goes and marries another. Marriage is to be a lasting covenant, friends.

Gospel Marriage

For the covenant of Marriage is an image of the New Covenant we have in Christ. It shows the union between the one man Jesus and his bride, the church. And as the two are united and become one flesh, that is one body with Jesus being the cornerstone in which it all is built on, they aren’t to be separated either. This means that to be in Christ, to be united to him by faith, then we are secure in our salvation. But imagine just a moment that God treated his marriage covenant with us the way we in society treat the marriage covenant, with fickleness? What would happen? God could put us away if we no longer found favor in his eyes. Imagine the shakiness of that marriage covenant? Our salvation would not be secure, we would constantly have to be trying to earn God’s favor.

Thankfully that is not the reality. In the New Covenant, everyone who comes to Jesus and places their faith in him shall be saved. And in trusting in Jesus, their salvation is secure for all eternity, because the covenant will not be broken. That which has been joined together will not be separated. That means our union to Christ is secure, and all that is his is ours. You see, marriage in itself is a beautiful gift given to us as mankind, but it is more than a gift, it is a picture of the message of the gospel. And it is in this picture we have hope.

Therefore, Christian, we need to marvel at how marriage is a picture of the gospel, as well as labor to keep marriage as a lasting covenant between one man and one woman. Yes, this speaks against homosexual marriages, but more importantly it is to speak against the divorce culture within our soceity, especially to the divorce culture in the church. Marriage covenants are to be something that lasts. And therefore, marriage is to be something that we cherish and continue to work at. Here are a few ways Christian that we need to work at our marriages:

Working at Marriage

Understanding the need to choose to love (Gritty Work)

Learning to cherish one another

Continually learning about one another (further education)

Likes & Dislikes

How better can serve & love

Regular heart checks

Pursue one another with a fierce tenacity (Fierce Marriage ref)

Regular date nights

Intimacy (Spiritual, Emotional, & Physical)

Inheriting Eternal Life

Now, moving from marriage to inheritance, let's look at our second point this morning, inheriting eternal life. While in most of your Bibles you will see two different section headings that divide verses 13-16 as one section and 17-31 as another section, we need to see the strong comparison here between these two sections and how they work together to show us what is required for inheriting eternal life and the kingdom of God.

Following the testing of Jesus regarding marriage from the Pharisees, children began being brought to Jesus, so that he might touch them. But as this happens, the disciples rebuked them. Now, the them here is probably their parents. And the disciples rebuke the parents for this as they see the children as a distraction from Jesus’ Messianic mission to conquer as King. But notice how Jesus responds in verse 14 (READ). Jesus gets indignant, he gets mad at his disciples and tells them to not hinder the children.

But notice what Jesus says next, that to such belongs the kingdom of God. Then he gives further clarification there in verse 15 (READ). In saying to such belongs the kingdom of God and whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it, Jesus is teaching that it is not in childish ways we receive the kingdom. He is teaching that it is by child-like trust and dependence we enter the kingdom. A child has a trust and dependence in their parents and those other influential figures around them. They must trust and depend upon others instead of themselves. And this is the kind of trust and dependence that is going to be necessary to receive the kingdom of God.

But notice the strong contrast between this call to receive the kingdom of God like a child and what happens in verse 17 (READ). The man comes asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. Eternal life though is not something that one can do to inherit. Yet, there is nothing we can do to inherit eternal life. No amount of good we can do or no matter the number of religious activities we are involved in will help us inherit eternal life. Not even the law can save us as Jesus shows in what follows with his response. For he tells the man there in verse 18 & 19 (READ).

The man responds, saying that he had kept all these since childhood, or so he assumed. When we look at the law of God, too often we think that we are pretty good at keeping it. Part of the problem is that instead of measuring ourselves against the law, we measure ourselves against others. When we do this, we think we really aren’t that bad of sinners, that we have done pretty good in keeping these matters. However, it is not against others that we are to be measured, but God’s holy and just and perfect law that is to be kept to the dot of the i and the crossing of the t.

The other issue is that the purpose of the law isn’t to be a checklist, but to expose our hearts. And that is exactly what Jesus does in his follow up to the man saying all of these commands he has kept. Look at his response there in verse 21 (READ). Jesus looks at this man and loved him, but tells him that he lacks one thing to inherit eternal life, he needs to go and sell all his possessions and give them to the poor. And yet, the man walks away as we see there in verse 22 disappointed because he had many possessions. The man can’t sell all his possessions and follow Jesus because his trust, his dependence isn’t on Jesus, but on his wealth. The law is given to expose the loves of our heart and show us our need to trust in God alone.

Both the account of the children being brought to Jesus and the story of the rich young ruler are placed where they are in the gospel of Mark to help show us the only way to enter the kingdom of God and inherit eternal life is a childlike faith and dependence and trust in Jesus. For salvation and all its promises are had in faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone. And this Christian faith is to come with a childlike trust and dependence on Jesus for salvation. Because we see here in the story of the rich man that with man it is impossible to inherit eternal life on our own.

As the rich young man leaves, Jesus notices the disciples' faces and tells them how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom there in verse 23. Then Jesus echoes saying how difficult it is to enter the Kingdom of God without any clarification. If the disciples weren’t already struggling to grasp this, the second statement made it even harder to grasp. Then, Jesus takes it another step in saying that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

There are some who argue that there is a gate in Jerusalem called the eye of the needle. In this gate it is said that camels would have to get down on their knees and crawl through. However, there is little historical fact to this claim. Not to mention, Jesus down in verse 26 with man it is impossible to the disciples asking then who can be saved. Jesus is using hyperbole, that is an extreme example to show how impossible it is for man alone to enter the kingdom of God. Eternal life is not something that we as man can grasp on our own efforts. This is the whole point that Jesus is making to his disciples, it is impossible for man to be saved on their own. It is only possible through God. And God has given salvation to all who would come and place their childlike trust and dependence in the person and work of Jesus. For salvation is possible because Jesus came and lived the sinless life. Salvation is possible because Jesus was the spotless sacrifice offered up on behalf of our sins. Salvation is possible because Jesus not only died, but rose again and defeated death.

The question for all here this morning, Christian or non-Christian, is what must we do to inherit eternal life? Simple, child-like faith in Jesus! For salvation comes to those who will place their complete trust and dependence in Jesus for salvation. So friend, if you are here this morning and you have yet to believe, come and place your childlike faith in Jesus this morning. Trust and depend upon him, because you cannot inherit salvation of your own accord. Likewise, brothers and sisters, is it this childlike faith of trust and dependence on Jesus that you are still trusting in today for your salvation?

Or are you beginning to trust in other things for the assurance of your salvation? Your assurance for salvation is not found in how many people come to this church. Your assurance of salvation is not found in all your religious activities. Your assurance is not found in whether your children come to believe the gospel themselves. Your assurance for your salvation is found by that ongoing childlike faith in Jesus that endures until the end. Christian, keep trusting in Jesus, leaning upon him with complete dependence for your salvation. For it is by faith we have been and are continuing to be saved. For even as we continue in our discipleship journey, as our faith is tested and the waves of unbelief pound against us, we must hold to Jesus.

And as we hold to Jesus, as we keep pressing onward, we strive to strengthen our faith. And we do this as we set our eyes more and more on Christ and off ourselves. We deepen our faith as we continue to learn of the depth of God’s love for us both as we learn of his character and continue to grasp the depth of our own brokenness of sin. We deepen our faith as we learn of the trustworthiness of God and his promises, seeing how time and time again he has proven himself faithful. We deepen our faith as we continually remind one another through the message of the gospel that it is Christ who has purchased us and holds us secure. Oh Christian, let the anchor of our faith go deeper and deeper still! For it is by this faith in Jesus that we have eternal life!

Leaving it All

Furthermore, we must continue to deepen our faith along the way to help us endure. For our third and final point this morning is, leaving it all. For notice there in verse 28 in what Peter says (READ). While the rich man left and did not follow Jesus, Peter knew he and the disciples had left their livelihoods and family to follow Jesus. And Jesus encourages them by his response in verse 29-31.

Indeed those who are following Jesus left much to follow Jesus, and as they have forsaken the treasures and joys of this world, they have exchanged them for a greater treasure. For what they have left, they will receive a hundredfold, that is a hundred times more of houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands. But he makes clear, these will not come without persecutions, without suffering in this world. He even once more tells the disciples that many who are first will be last, and the last first. To be a disciple of Jesus is a call to forsake all in this life, and often as we are identified with Jesus to be hated by the world. And yet, in the age to come eternal life is promised. In the age to come as we enter the kingdom of God, we will come to take part in receiving the inheritance, the kingdom, and joining in with thousands more as we gather around the throne and worship the Lamb who was slain for us! And we behold the glory of God in his fullness.