“And behold, one came and said
unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal
life?”—Matthew 19:16
The rich young ruler seemed to
approach Jesus to seek salvation, in Matthew 19:16-22. He ran kneeled down to Him, and openly
professed Him as a Good Master. What
could be wrong with that? First, he
acknowledged Jesus as good, but not God.
Every major religion of the world acknowledges Jesus existed and that He
was a good man, but they would not recognized Him as God. If Jesus was only a good man, He could not
save anybody.
Jesus did not come just to show us
the way to God; He was the way—the only way—to the Father, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way the truth and the live. No one comes to the Father except through Me’”
(John 14:6). Jesus had made this
point publicly many times, and so He responded to the rich, young ruler
accordingly. He said, “God is the only
one who is good. You must accept me as
God or not at all.” Jesus was either who
He claimed to be or He was the biggest fraud that ever lived. He has to be one or the other, He cannot be
both.
Second, the young man asked what he
could do to produce his salvation. He trusted in himself and believed he could
accomplish whatever good work Jesus might request. This is completely opposite God’s plan of
salvation. Jesus obtained salvation for
us by substituting for us on the Cross, and He offers salvation to us as a free
gift. All we must do is believe and
receive.
This rich, young ruler was not
looking for the Savior; he was trying to be his own savior. Sometimes we get saved by grace through faith
in Jesus, and then we try to live our Christian lives saving ourselves. It doe not work that way! His is the salvation that just keeps on
giving. Are you trying to save yourself
today? All you have to do is look to Him
for everything you need.
Prayer—Father
I repent for not trusting You, and trying to be my own Savior. Lord, I turn over all selfishness and Self ambition in Jesus Name. Amen.
