Mark 10:17-22 gives us a clear and complete answer to the “What must I do to inherit eternal life” question. Anyone who is seeking oneness with the Master must not only ASK the question, but must BELIEVE the answer found only in the Holy Scriptures and OBEY that answer. In the following postings the reader will learn that “only believe” is not the answer. Neither is undergoing “the salvation experience,” or being “active in the church,” or being involved in the “social gospel.” As we will now learn, the journey to salvation is life-long and extremely restrictive in that it involves the death of one’s previous, sin-saturated life and the creation of a new life characterized by holiness, the end of which is eternal life in the Kingdom of God (Rom. 6:22/ Mat. 10:22). God holds the keys to the kingdom. Now let us listen to the Messiah Himself as he explains to a rich man, as well as all who would ask THE question, exactly what a person must do to receive the key.

In the focal passage we find that Jesus, having prayed for some children, has left the scene and is walking down a road toward His next destination. Suddenly a man comes running toward Him followed by his entourage. In those days there were only two methods of travel: by foot or by boat. No rich person traveled alone. One’s social status was known by the type of clothing and jewelry he wore. Because of these “signs” the rich were always accompanied by body guards. In the so-called “Christmas story” the three wise men are always pictured as traveling alone with their treasures. But there were probably a dozen or more body guards with them. Bandits lay in wait along the roads to rob anyone who appeared to have anything worth stealing. No rich person traveled alone by choice. The man the good Samaritan helped had been traveling alone. It did not end well for him.

So here came this gloriously-clad, jewelry-bedecked man running toward Jesus with his people trying to keep up with him. Rich people did not run, at least not in public. The rich were believed to be divinely blessed and to have a special place in the heart of God. This is why the disciples were astonished when Jesus said that it was almost impossible for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. “Everyone knew” that the fix was in for those whom God had blessed with wealth. Wealth was the sign that one was right with God. Poverty, on the other hand, was believed to be a curse from God. This “truth” that “everyone knew” would become an important factor in the decision the running man would make a few minutes later.

Being rich, the man had undoubtedly bought his way into the presence of various priests, including the nation’s High Priest. He had undoubtedly asked them THE question. By his reaction to seeing Jesus we can assume that none of them had been able to relieve the spiritual turmoil that had afflicted him. Someone had undoubtedly told him about an itinerant preacher Who could perform miracles and Who spoke like no other man. He spoke with authority, not like the religious leaders. The rich man had been searching for the Man from Nazareth throughout Judea and Galilee. Now that he had finally found Him he would not waste time with formalities.

Seeing Jesus in the distance, the wealthy man had begun to run toward him. Upon reaching Him he fell to his knees and asked THE question: “Good Master (Teacher), what must I do to inherit eternal life?” As is always the case when searching for Scriptural Truth, one must examine each Word carefully. Jesus’ initial response is very important for anyone seeking oneness with the Almighty: “Why do you call Me good? There is only one good, that is God.” This is the God who originated the Law, and Who had sent the Word (Jn. 1:1-4,14) to earth in order to magnify the Law and make it honorable again. So what does that say about that Law?

The God Jesus was referring to is the Creator and sustainer of the universe. He is the Almighty, the One Who has promised eternal life for those who obey His commands. HIS COMMANDS MUST BE OBEYED IN ORDER TO RECEIVE WHAT HE HAS PROMISED. Question: If the Law is so important to God, why do people say that He “nailed it to the cross?”

Jesus knew that the man was a Jew. This meant that he knew the Law and the Ten Commandments that summarize the Law. His next words revealed as much: “You know the commandments.” Every Jew knew that salvation was possible ONLY through obedience to the Ten Commandments. The Jews had wandered far away from God. Nevertheless they had retained knowledge of the Law that had been handed down from generation to generation since their ancestors’ gathering below Mt. Sinai.  For this reason Jesus tells us that “Salvation is of the Jews” (Jn. 4:22), meaning that the Jews had the key to eternal life–the Law. But like everyone else then and now, they had to obey it.

Having reminded the man of what he already knew, that obedience to the Ten Commandments was necessary for salvation, Jesus began to voice them. The man soon interrupted Him, stating that he had obeyed all ten of the commandments since his childhood. What happened next is ULTIMATELY important: “THEN (after learning that the man obeyed the Law) JESUS LOVED HIM.” What does this statement tell us about divine love? Did not Jesus already love him? Do not Jesus and God love everyone? Do They not love everyone the same? Does one have to earn Their love? Are there conditions that have to be met in order to be loved by Jesus and His Father? Can one be saved without their love? DOES ONE HAVE TO DO WORKS IN ORDER BE LOVED BY THEM AND TO RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE?

We must understand that there are two kinds of godly love. There is the love God has for human beings because He created them. Then there is AGAPE, which is a special love He has for His special people–His saints, His Very Elect, His remnant, His “little flock.” The English word “loved” used in verse 21 equates to the Greek word “agape,” which is defined in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible as “the active love of God for His people and his people’s love for Him.” The word “active” means that agape (God-level love) must be demonstrated through action. Let this be known: GOD WILL AGAPE ONLY THOSE WHO PROVE THEIR AGAPE FOR HIM BY ACTION. Let us now study the Scriptures that tell us what action is required. What we are about to learn about God would shock the Institutional Church if she would learn it and believe it. As I have said before, everything comes back to the Word of God–our only source of spiritual Truth.

By the time Jesus was walking the earth the Jews had replaced God’s Law  with the Talmud–a perverted collection of thoughts and teachings pinned by the Jewish fathers. It was the Talmud that the Apostle Paul was referring to when he said he had been zealous of “the traditions of the fathers” (Gal. 1:14). By the time of Jesus, the Jews had abandoned God’s Law as their source of moral truth. In that Law it is written that the Messiah would come to earth to “magnify the Law and make it honorable” (again)–Isaiah 42:21. Paul wrote that he did not know what sin was “until the Law came, and I died” (Rom. 7:9). Only upon his conversion did he come to know the Law and to learn to his amazement that, having broken it, he was a sinner (Rom. 7:7). First John 3:4 tells us that “To transgress the Law is sin, for sin is the transgression of the Law.” Righteousness is the opposite of sin–righteousness, the end result of obeying the Law, qualifies one for salvation (Rom. 6:20,22). In 1 Peter 4:18 the apostle tells us that only the righteous will be saved, and they just barely. Jesus confirmed this fact in Matthew 7:13,14 where He said that few would enter God’s strait gate and walk His narrow way to His Kingdom.

This brings up the ultimate question asked by the rich man, and later by Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:6).  What must one do to be saved? Other questions must be answered. What constitutes righteousness? How does one become righteous? How does one enter God’s strait gate and walk His narrow way? He answers these questions in His Word, which Jesus called Truth (Jn. 17:17). Let us approach God’s Truth with reverence and an open heart. The Truth will come only to those who do so. L.J.