How Do We Become Righteous

The Rich Young Ruler

Introduction: Last weeks message was titled Who Among us is righteous.

Do you remember the answer? Everyone in Christ Jesus.

We looked at the following verse

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

In todays passage we are going to explore righteousness from another vantage point.

How do we become righteous?

Lk 18:18–30.18 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.” 28 And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

The Ruler

Who is the Rich Young ruler… Lets start by considering who the major player in the passage is. The Rich Young Ruler

Ruler… Luke identifies the man a a ruler. He has some level of authority.

The two other accounts… This passage is also recorded in Matthew 19:16-20 and Mark 10:17-31

Young man… In Matthew 19:20 Matthew describes the ruler as a “young man”

Extremely Rich… Luke describes the man as extremely rich. Not just rich. He uses an adverb to intensify how rich the ruler is. Extremely Rich. If your reading this out of the King James it would say very rich. He wanted the reader to understand that the ruler was very wealthy.

Young, Extremely Rich, Ruler.… He is a young, extremely rich, ruler.

The standards of the world… By worldly standards this man has it all right? He has power, money, he is still young enough to do whatever he wants with both. This is the cultural idea of what success looks like today.

Influence… What else does that level of success get you? Influence. Access to other successful people. He would have been comfortable around people like Elon Musk, Johnny Morris, Jeff Bezos.

He has it all… By all accounts this man has it all.

A message behind all that the man has… I look at this story and consider all that the man has. That he is still seeking something more is says something to me.

Those things don’t satisfy… All the money in the world, all the power in the world, perfect health and youth, even having the most influence isn’t enough to satisfy.

He ends up at Jesus… Despite having all those things the rich young ruler realizes there is something else missing from life.

And that realization, that something is missing is what brings him to Jesus.

Not a coincidence… That is not an accident. The heart of mankind longs for something much deeper than what this physical world has to offer. It longs for satisfaction that cannot be found in material things.

He ends up seeking Jesus… This mans longing drew him to Jesus. He had another motive that brought him but don’t miss the fact that he was not satisfied with everything he had in life. He ended up at Jesus’s door step, seeking God.

“The grass is greener on the other side”… I want to point out how easy it can bee to look into another persons life and come to the conclusion everything must be better for them. That if you had what they had everything would be better.

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side… I want you to see that in spite of all that this man had he knew he needed more. I also want you to see not having the one thing he truly needed was enough to leave him discontent. When he left Jesus’s presence he was sorrowful.

You can have every single thing you heart desires on this Earth but without God it isn’t enough. Your relationship to God is what you need most.

His Question

His question… His question to Jesus is “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

What is Eternal life… What is the rich young ruler actually asking for? We don't know what his idea of eternal life is. Is it living on earth forever? Is it a life after this life?

The Jews fight… The Jewish people didn’t agree on weather or not there was an afterlife. The Sadducees and the Pharisee’s fight over the answer to the question “is the an afterlife” inside the bible more than once.

His view of God… The Rich young rulers question reveals several things. One thing it reveals is what he believes about God. He asks for the “inheritance” of eternal life.

Inheritance… An inheritance is a legal term. It is part of a procedure in which a living relative receives goods and assets from a family member after they have passed away. In Jewish culture most often it would be between Father .

What you received… The living family member would receive the remainder of the Fathers earthly goods after he passed away. The things he worked for would become anothers.

Activation of the legal action… The legal requirement for an inheritance to occur was the death of the owner. Someone had to die for ownership to transfer.

Possessor… In order to receive something from another the other must first possess it. He clearly believes God posse's eternal life.

Family member… To be eligible to receive from the inheritance you have to be a family member. The rich young ruler sees himself as a member of the family and household of God. Which is right to believe. More than once God calls the Israelites His people.

Exodus 6:7 “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.”

He took God at his word… The rich young ruler has lived a life taking God at His word. God chose the Israelites and he believes it. He also believed Gods promise of eternal life in Daniel.

What about you?.. The ruler knew Gods word enough to believe its truths. Do you know Gods word enough to make its truths your own?

Ephesians 3:4–8 “When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,”

Hid this truth in your heart… Hide this truth in your heart. You are a partaker of the promise in Jesus Christ through the gospel. The grace of God is yours because as Paul put it in Romans you have been grafted into the family of God. Your a son or daughter of the most high God.

Daniel 12:2 “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

Trusts the word of God… The rich young ruler has lived a life trusting the word of God.

Not just believing, but doing also… Not only has He believed Gods word but He has put Gods word into practice. He tells Jesus he has been keeping the commandments since he was a little boy. 21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” He has been living as a doer of the word.

Luke 11:28 “But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!””

Jesus’s answer

Jesus’s answer… Jesus’s answer is interesting. First of all He points out the rich young ruler calling Him Good Teacher. “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

Jesus is dropping a hint… Jesus is dropping a hint to the Rich Young ruler if He will catch it. If the word of God teaches that God alone is Good, and the rich young ruler recognizes that Jesus Christ is Good, what must that mean about Jesus?

That He is God.

Question to God… The rich young ruler was doing more than asking a God question, He was asking a question too God.

The rest of Jesus’s answer… Jesus continues His answer with part of the 10 Commandments.

‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’

Half the Commandments... The commandments Jesus cite are only half of them.

Here are the other half in

Exodus 20:1–8

1 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.

2. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image ...for I the Lord your God am a jealous God...

3. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain..

4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

The Question He should have asked… The Rich young ruler should have asked a question to himself, Jesus or both. Can anyone guess it?

What about the other four commandments? Why were they missing?

The clue Jesus left… That the first four commandments were missing from Jesus’s response would have been obvious. If you were an Israelite you know the 10 commandments by heart. Jesus left it out as a clue. It was a way to communicate something deeper for the thinker.

Philippians 2:12 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,”

We are meant to participate with God… The believer is supposed to be an active participant in discovering the truth of God.

Luke 8:9–10 “And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’”

The reason for Jesus’s riddles… Jesus spoke with Parables, half answered questions and often asked His own questions to make the listener think. To engage the brain and even the heart. We are not meant to stumble across the truth of God. We are meant to pursue it. Make it ours as we wrestle with what God want to reveal.

10 Commandments divided… The 10 commandments can be divided in to two sections. Those that govern our relationship to God, 1-4, and those that govern our relationship to others, 5-10.

The missing commandments in Jesus’s reply are about Mans relationship to God. Tuck that in your belt as we move forward.

Jesus’s follow up... Jesus’s follow up to to the Rich young ruler keeping commandments 5-10 was this ““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.”

The low hanging fruit… It is easy to focus on Rich Young Rulers wealth in this passage. His wealth is very forefront to the message.

Jewish practice or Remez… Jewish Rabbis often taught in a method called Remez means a hint or sign of something else. A meaning underneath a meaning. Jesus often taught in this style, He was after all a Jewish Rabbis.

“One thing you still lack”… I want to direct you back to a specific part of Jesus’s response in verse 22

Luke 18:22 “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.””

One thing not named … Have you ever noticed in this parable Jesus never expressly names the one thing that the Rich young ruler lacks? I have noticed it and it has bothered me.

In your belt… Do you remember what I told you to tuck in your belt? What we were going to come back to?

The missing commandments in Jesus’s response to the Pharisee was about Mans relationship to God. Jesus said the man lacked one thing. There was something missing in the mans life. Something he lacked.

The thing the man was missing in the mans life was the focus of commandments 1-4. It was his relationship to God.

What does that have to do with the rich young rulers wealth?… Lets examine it further. What did Jesus ask the man to do?

“Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Is wealth bad? ...No. I can do all kinds of wonderful things with wealth. Feed the hungry. House the homeless. Care for the sick the list goes on and on. I can also do all kinds of bad things with wealth. Funding terrorism. Creating and selling drugs. The list of bad goes on and on as well.

Will selling his possessions, helping the poor or becoming poor himself somehow earn himself a place in heaven?... No. You show me the place in Gods word that says that selling all your belongings and helping the poor makes you righteous. There isn't one.

What is the mans real problem… So if the mans wealth isn't the problem then what is? Why is Jesus directing him to get rid of His possessions? The answer lies in the rich young rulers original question.

“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

I do… Somehow the rich young rulers view of his righteousness, his right standing with God, became a result of his works.

Works based righteousness… This is what we would call works based righteousness. I can do enough good things, or the right good things, and then God will except me, because now I’m good.

The message of the bible is Christ… That’s not the message of the bible. The message of the bible is righteousness through Christ and Christ alone.

Ephesians 2:8–10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

The mans wealth… The wealth the rich young ruler had was a hinderance to him not because he had it, but because it had taken the place of the one thing he lacked.

1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

Love, priority, reliance, pursuit of wealth… The rich young ruler had grown to love his wealth. He prioritized his wealth in his life. He relied on the wealth in his life. He pursued the wealth in his life.

Love, priority, reliance, pursuit of God… When it came time for him to love God, to prioritize God, to rely on God, to pursue God, he was too in love with his wealth.

The thing he lacked… Because he loved his wealth so much he lacked this one thing: The first and greatest commandment

Matthew 22:37–38 “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

The love of God, His relationship to Him. The righteousness that God provides, not man. That’s the one thing he lacked.

What did Timothy say ?… “It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

Its not just wealth.... Let me be clear It isn’t just wealth. It is anything that gets put in the special place of life only God is supposed to occupy.

How to identify it… If you ask yourself, is there anything in my life that I have allowed in the place that nothing else is supposed to occupy, the place that only God is supposed to, but you don’t know how to tell, here is how you do it. You look for that one thing. The one thing you wont give up or trade for anything else. The one thing you always choose to do above everything else and ask yourself, would I give that up to follow Jesus if he asked me too. If the answer is no, that thing has taken the place God is supposed to be.

Hyperbole… Jesus follows up with a hyperbole to make his point. Remember a hyperbole is an exaggeration.

“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.”

Who can be saved… So the disciples ask the question who can be saved? Well how many camels will fit through the eye of the needle? None. Not even one.

But… “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Not one single rich person can save themselves. But the truth is neither can one single poor person. Because no one is saved apart from Christ.

Closing

Last weeks message… Last weeks message was about us being the righteousness of God. This weeks message is about Christ giving us that righteousness.

“Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

We become the righteousness of God when we set our attempts to be righteous aside. When we stop trying and just focus on being in relationship with Him. He said Come and Follow Him. That is a personal and intimate call to be close to Jesus.

Mark 8:34 “And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

It should be no wonder that prioritizing the rich young rulers relationship to God is the answer to having eternal life.

John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Do you want eternal life today. Not some distant day in the future when this life is over. Today.

Will you set aside the things between you and Him. Will you give up the attempts to do life right on your own and trust Him. He said follow me. To follow him you have to be willing to surrender to where he is leading you.