Will “GOOD” People Go to Heaven

Introduction

Good morning. If you will open in your Bibles with me to Matthew chapter 19. Matthew chapter 19. As you turn there, consider of this Bible character, this Bible man, this rich young ruler of a man. He had an interesting question for Jesus in verse 16 of Matthew chapter 19. He says, And behold, a man came up to him saying, Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? If you want to put a marker in Matthew chapter 19, we will spend a good deal of time in that this morning. But turn now with me to Mark chapter 10. In Mark chapter 10, because there’s an important note here that Mark includes, and Luke also includes in Luke chapter 18 and verse 18. But in Mark chapter 10, in Mark’s telling of this in verse 17.

The same idea is conveyed, and as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, Good teacher. What must I do to inherit eternal life? So you see, basically the question is, he says, Jesus is a good teacher, and he asks, What do I need to do to inherit eternal life? That’s a million-dollar question, a question we’ve all thought, we’ve all had, and we should all be ready to explain. And of course, the Bible is clear. Matthew chapter 7 and verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but that the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. That is well known. That’s commonly understood, you might say, at least from studying the scripture.

But as you turn back to Matthew chapter 19, and I want to go through this, I want to see an important point about what it means to be good. And of course, in Mark chapter 10 and in Luke chapter 18, the question was posed to Jesus as a good teacher. And in Matthew’s account in verse in chapter 19 and verse 16, he asked, What good deed must I do to have eternal life? Jesus’ answer in verse 17 of Matthew 19 is why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments. He said to him, which ones? And Jesus said, You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness.

Honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him, All these I have kept, what do I still lack? Jesus said to him, If you would be perfect, go.

When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Certainly there’s a great lesson here on how we should not allow things, stuff, riches, anything in this life to take the place of God and its priority. This rich young ruler had kept some commandments. He was definitely considered by at least today’s standards a good person. But would anyone say he was pleasing to the Lord? In fact, he asked the question, What must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus tells him, Here’s what you do. And as Aaron said, it’s a very simple command. It’s a very straightforward idea. Christianity really, as you boil it down, it’s pretty simple. What Jesus has said, do it. Sin, don’t. Righteousness, practice. There it is.

Of course, we know in practice it’s much more difficult to keep. And that’s where the rubber met the road for the rich young ruler. In verse 22, he went away sorrowful because he had a great many possessions. He, at least at this time, was seemingly unwilling to submit to the will of Jesus. In fact, this is kind of like going to a doctor and saying, What’s wrong? What can I do to fix it? He tells you, he gives you medicine, and then you go, nah, I know better. By the way, there’s probably a lot of people here this morning who do that. As you think, though, in Matthew chapter 19, and you think about saying this to Jesus, that is unfathomable. That is unthinkable. And yet we do that all the time.

Anytime we sin, we have transgressed God’s will. Most of our sins are done willingly, knowingly, violating God’s law, violating what Jesus has clearly laid out for us. And so in this world of all kinds of religious confusion, even within quote unquote the Christian umbrella in America alone, let alone all the foreign religions and nations that practice different forms of different religious groups, the million dollar question everyone has is, will good people go to heaven? And I think there’s a very easy answer for that. And the answer is yes. A lot of times we hear this question in people who know Matthew chapter 7 and verse 21, as well as passages like 2 John and 9, where it tells us, if you abide in the teaching, you have both the Father and the Son, but if you do not abide in the teaching of Jesus, you have neither the Father nor the Son, and you say, good people cannot be saved.

1. Good People Are Only Good as Defined by God

But as we look back at Matthew chapter 19, and we look at that first question as recorded in Mark chapter 10 and verse 17, Luke chapter 18 and verse 18, and the follow-through of the dialogue found in Matthew chapter 19, you see good people are only good as defined by God. God gets to define what’s good. We’re going to talk about what society has done with that word and what those implications are for our spiritual lives as we continue. But consider, first of all, when you think about that question, and when when the man comes to Jesus in verse 16, and he calls him good teacher, as we understand from the Mark and Luke account. In verse 17, Jesus answers him, why do you ask me about what is good?

There is only one who is good. This is something we kind of read over in our kind of language, being people who speak primarily English, maybe even Spanish in the assembly this morning. But to the Hebrew, saying good teacher was a really important claim. To the Hebrew, good was associated with only one, and that is God. So to say Jesus was a good teacher is ascribing to him the characteristics of deity to say that he is God. And so Jesus is not denying that in verse 17 when he says there is only one who is good. What he’s doing is cementing his reputation as one who has authority. Jesus says, You recognize me as a good teacher. You recognize me as God who has authority. Do what I say.

Of course, you see that at the end of verse 17. If you would enter life, keep the commandments. Jesus had authority to say that. Certainly, the law of Moses spoke for itself at this time. And in verse 18, you see, of course, in working through this, and he asks, which ones? But as we study the story, we see, first of all, that he called Jesus a good teacher, recognizing his authority, and then we see that he is told to keep the commandments. Those commandments that Jesus listed in verse 18 are do not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Now, those are just a few of the complex and long and very ornate law of Moses.

And yet, really, it encompasses most everything that would go in an everyday life. And if you don’t believe that, look at the last one in verse 19. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Other than recognizing God as who he is, treating him as the one true and living God, this was about what there was to the law. There was loving the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and there was loving your neighbor as yourself. Now the good news for this rich young ruler was, at least according to what he says, is that he kept them. And in verse 20, he says, All these I have kept. What do I still lack? We’ll work past whether or not that that was true or not.

The point is, he looks at Jesus and he says, That’s good. I’ve done those things. I’ve taken care of that. Perhaps we could look at those lists and say, we’ve done that. We have not stolen, we have not murdered, we love our neighbor as ourselves. Maybe we say we have done those things. What more is there, Jesus? And Jesus answers by testing his sincerity. While it’s true that Jesus perhaps knew exactly what his weakness was, perhaps there was more for the rich young ruler to keep, but Jesus identifies it in one verse in verse 21. If you would be perfect, he lays out this one goal. Go, sell what you possess, and give it to the poor. If you will do that, the end of verse 21, you will have treasure in heaven.

And come follow me. This is a pretty simple scenario, a pretty simple case. Jesus says, You want to know what to do to have eternal life? Here I am as God, as the one with the proper authority to tell you the commandments, do this. It’s exactly what the rich young ruler had asked. It’s exactly what we constantly find ourselves as Christians trying to do to please God, say, What is it that I need? What is it that I lack? He provided the answer, and yet in verse 22, this good, sincere person, at least for the time being, was unwilling to follow after Jesus. In verse 22, the young man heard it. He went away sorrowful, for he had a great many possessions. It’s not a sorrowful thing.

It’s never a sad thing to dedicate our lives to Jesus. It is always something worth it. It is always something that we should be willing to do. And so you see, Jesus tests the sincerity, and at least in one sense, at least for the time, the rich young ruler failed. But I want to consider this idea of good because he called Jesus good. And of course, when we ask the question, are all good people going to go to heaven? We don’t mean good as in deity. No one means that. When someone says, well, what about good people? Are they going to go to heaven? They don’t mean God people. They don’t mean people who the Hebrews would find to be of deity status. They mean some kind of third middle ground category.

Society makes good kind of in the middle. It’s not really, it’s not great. You’re definitely not on fire, but you’re not terrible either. You’re not a horrible person. You’re not a great person. You’re kind of just in the middle. And as long as we can hang out in that middle ground, what does Jesus do with those people? Wouldn’t the rich young ruler qualify as somebody who was good? He had kept the commandments. In fact, at least according to the words of Jesus in verse 21, there was the one thing he lacked to go and sell all that he had, all that he possessed, and give it to the poor. This man had done pretty well for himself. If that’s all Jesus had to throw at him.

2. God and God Alone Is Good and Defines Good

And yet, what I want to point out this morning, and this is the main point of the lesson this morning, God and God alone is good and defines good. This is a life changing teaching. It is important that we understand the words that we say. God is good, and God alone defines good. This is going to make this issue a very simple one. Look, for example, in Psalm 119. In Psalm 119 and verse 68. There’s any number of scriptures we could look at to see that God is good. But what I want to see is two ideas that answer the question of who will be saved? Who is pleasing to Jesus? And what does it take to get there? But in Psalm 119 and verse 68, as you’re turning there, consider with me the words in verse 65 beginning.

Psalm 119 and the words beginning in verse 65. You have dwelt well with your servant, O Lord, according to your word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good. Teach me your statutes. The insolence smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts. Their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law. It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your statutes. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. But in verse 68, of course, you see, you are good and do good. Of course, God is the arbiter of justice of law.

Jesus can give and speak law, and we keep it. That’s why we follow what we call the law of Christ. God is our judge. What makes something good and something bad? What makes something right and something wrong? God does. And so if somebody is good, they are with God. I referenced 2 John 9 before. Turn there with me and see it with your own eyes. In 2 John 9. See how this works. It’s pretty simple. It’s a very easily understood concept. And what we see is the beginning of what we’re about to see about Jesus’ teaching. Now, this is John. But consider that Jesus often taught that there are two pathways. And we see those pathways are defined by God, as given in 2 John 9.

3. Jesus Clearly Taught There Are Only Two Paths

In 2 John 9, he writes, Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. So the distinguishing line between right and wrong is what God has said. If you do what God has said, you keep what is right, you reject what is wrong, you have the Father and the Son. If you reject him, you have neither. But this goes with Jesus’ teaching. I want to impress upon this point. We’re going to make some ancillary points at the conclusion of this slide in the lesson this morning. But please, if you learn anything, if you’re going to take notes, please write this slide down. Jesus clearly taught there are only two paths.

I could have listed any number of scriptures, but Matthew chapter 7 has a ton of them. So turn there with me in your Bibles this morning. Look in Matthew chapter 7. What we need to see is Jesus’ teaching is clear, it is complete, and it is not something that we can change. In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus says in verses 13 and 14, enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter in by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those that find it are few. So in Matthew chapter 7 and verses 13 and 14, Jesus says, There are two ways. There is the broad way that leads to destruction.

There is the narrow way that leads to life. Look down in verse 21, a passage we mentioned before. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, verse 21, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. There are two groups, those who will not enter the kingdom of heaven, and those who will enter the kingdom of heaven. Consider with me in verse 24 through 27. Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. This one’s a little bit more tricky, but you see in verse 24, who’s in the first group? Those who hear the words of mine and those who do them. Group number one, those who hear and do. Group number two, in verse 26, everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them, will be like a foolish man. And of course, when the storm comes, the foolish man’s home will be destroyed. Jesus thought there are two paths.

There is the narrow way, there is the broad way, there are those who will enter the kingdom of heaven, those who will not enter the kingdom of heaven. There are those who are wise, those who listen and do, there are those who are foolish, those who listen and do not do. And most startlingly, in Matthew chapter 25, consider with me, as you look towards the end of Matthew chapter 25. You see in verse 31 the great throne scene set up. You see when the Son of Man in verse 31 of Matthew 25 comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne in verse 32. Before him will be gathered all the nations. He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those who are on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Now, of course, as you work through Matthew chapter 25, Jesus defines these two groups as those who saw a need and filled that need, not knowing that it was Jesus. But as he says in verse 40 to the group that did not help, in verse 40, truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these of my brothers, you did it to me. And to the group that did take care of those who were in need.

In verse 44, they had answered the Lord saying, When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? Then he will answer them saying, Truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. The first group had taken care of the needs. The second group did not take care of the needs of the Lord and his brethren. But in verse 46, this is clear. These will go away into eternal punishment. But the righteous into eternal life.

There are only two outcomes. Entering into the narrow gate, the way that leads to eternal life. And entering by that broad path that leads to destruction, where we will not only be away from God, but we will have as what verse 46 calls eternal punishment. Jesus is also clear, by the way, about hell in this issue. Many times people say, Jesus never taught about hell, Jesus never taught that hell was eternal. We have all those types of problems. But yet I do want to point out while we’re here in verse 46, Jesus not only says there is eternal punishment, but that is just as true and just as real as eternal life is. Do you see that in verse 46? If Jesus offers eternal life, he is also must be teaching that there is the possibility of eternal punishment.

If you believe in eternity in heaven, you must believe that there is an eternity in hell, because that is what Jesus clearly taught. We see all this to say that while society makes good a middle ground, God is good and defines that there is no middle ground. Jesus clearly taught that there was no middle ground. Middle implies that there’s something on either side. And yet with Jesus, with God, there are two ways and two alone. So if you are good, you are not on that broad path that leads to destruction. If you are good, you are righteous, and where will the righteous enter? In verse 46, into eternal life. This is a really important idea because when people ask the question, will I be saved? What does this mean for me?

4. What About People with Other Faiths?

What’s this teaching of Jesus that I haven’t kept? We don’t answer that question. Jesus already has. And it’s important to stick with Scripture. Not only is it that God will judge, and God can judge as He sees fit. God is a perfect judge, He will judge justly and righteously. He will punish those who have rejected Him, He’ll reward those who have diligently sought after Him. But as we think about this, we like to create these different groups. But can I give you just one example of how our logic fails? Perhaps the number one issue is what about people who worship with various groups who don’t teach the right things that Jesus taught? Well, first of all, if someone is teaching something contrary to the will of God, Jesus has a name for them also in Matthew chapter 7.

And if you look in verses 15 through 20, they are false teachers. For people who are listening to false teachers, you consider, can we know what the will of God is? Yes. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. If you are diligently seeking the will of God, will you not find it? If you are diligently seeking to know what is God’s will for your life, can you not open the book in the words of life and read them and apply them? If we’re not seeking truth, we won’t find it. And if we’re not seeking truth, we’re not seeking God. There’s a reason that Jesus says in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 13 and 14 that the narrow way is not only small, but it’s hard to find.

And there are few who will enter in by it. Because it’s difficult. And just like the people in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 24 through 27, when it comes to the foolish and the wise, it’s one thing to hear, but we also must do. I think we need to be careful to allow God to speak where he has spoken and allow his words to do the talking. And so then this raises the million dollar question. So what about people with other faiths? Oftentimes people will say, and I’ve had this question before, what about people who grow up in nations where they are primarily, I mean, you name it, Hindu, Buddhist, etc. John chapter 14 and verse 6, Jesus actually addresses this very issue. In John chapter 14 and verse 6, you may know it, but as you turn there, consider with me the idea of silence is not always as silent as we think.

Oftentimes people say the Bible doesn’t answer these questions. Jesus doesn’t talk about this or talk about that. That’s just not true. Jesus actually spoke all things that we need. As 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 and 17 tells us, the scripture is there, not only inspired by God, but is everything that we need to be a complete man thoroughly equipped for what we have to do in this life. In John 14 and verse 6, you see it. Jesus said to them, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Can we see how Jesus has addressed this question? Can someone be saved apart from Jesus and the salvation that he offers? The answer is no. That is not me saying that.

That is not you saying that. That is Jesus revealing that. I am the way, singular. The truth, singular, the life, singular. We must come to God through Jesus. In Romans chapter 6 and verse 23, a passage we know very well for the first part of it, for the wages of sin is death. Know what the free gift of God is. In Romans 6 and verse 23, the free gift of God is our eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So when you say what about people of other faiths, it’s really important to note if they don’t have Jesus, they don’t have the Father. God has made salvation possible to us through Jesus our Lord. Through Jesus, who is the truth, who is the way, who alone offers us life.

5. Those Who Are Religiously Sincere

We must be with him. Consider, secondly, those who are religiously sincere. In Acts chapter 8, beginning in verse 1, you see an example of Saul, who was one of the most religiously zealous people there are. This morning at the 9 o’clock hour, we’ve studied Philippians chapter 3. And as Paul was building his Jewish resume, one of the things he specifically mentioned was, as to zeal, I was a persecutor of the church. That’s how zealous Paul was. Of course, in this text in Acts 8, he’s still by the name of Saul. And in verse 1, speaking of the execution of Stephen, it says, And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles.

Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church. And entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Paul was incredibly religiously sincere. And by the way, the Jewish God is the Christian God. Now they didn’t accept Jesus, and we saw already from John 14 and verse 6 and Romans 6 and verse 23 what it means to reject Jesus. But he was a devout believer in God. And yet no one would say he saved, and we know that because Jesus didn’t view it that way. In Acts chapter 9, as he’s on his way to Damascus, consider the words of Jesus in verse 4, falling to the ground as this light is shown from heaven around him in verse 3.

Jesus speaks to him saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do. Even having this miraculous sighting of Jesus did not mean that Saul had no obligation of submitting to the will of God. As he was told what to do, we know from verse 6 what that means was he was going to go study with Ananias, identified in verse 10. There was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Here I am, Lord. And the Lord said to him, Rise and go to the street called straight, and at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying.

And he has seen a vision, in a vision, a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight. Of course, Ananias is worried, he is troubled, and yet the Lord has a plan for Saul. For Paul in verse 15, go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. And of course, we see in verse 17 that Ananias ended up going to Saul, and in verse 18 he was baptized, in verse 19, taking food, he was strengthened. But even the religiously sincere Paul, religiously sincere Saul, who was so zealous for God that he was persecuting anyone who wasn’t in what he viewed to be the right way to God.

6. Believers Who Do Not Obey

Even he wasn’t saved. What did he have to do? Well, first of all, Jesus shone a light on him. There’s this great light from heaven shining down, and he said, You are persecuting me. This is obviously not somebody who was saved. And of course, Paul would later say that he had lived in good conscience until this day, well into his Christianity. But the fact that he wasn’t consciously plagued did not mean that he was innocent and blameless. He was responsible for what? Submitting to Jesus and answering to the laws and the ordinances of our good and perfect God. Consider a third group. Believers who do not obey. We’ve looked a lot about John chapter 12 and verse 42 and 43 before, where you see believers who would reject Jesus because they would not confess him, because they love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God, as verse 43 reveals.

No one would say that believers who won’t confess Jesus because they love man more than God would be saved. But consider with me back in our text in Matthew chapter 19. As we go back to Matthew chapter 19 this morning, I’d like to consider this rich young ruler one more time as we’ve gone through the lesson this morning.

He comes to Jesus with this simple question. Teacher, what good deed must I do to inherit eternal life? It’s interesting that Jesus could have given him any number of answers. He could have said, Just keep the law. He could have done what he did, which is to name a few. He could have gone straight for the jugular, and he could have said, Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor. Do we think Jesus needed a status report from this rich young ruler? He needed to check in with him to say, Have you kept these? Yes, okay, here’s the next step. Not at all. But what was Jesus focused on? In verse 17, Jesus’ focus, when asked this question, who will inherit eternal life?

What must I do to inherit eternal life? What is Jesus’ focus? Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. When someone asks, What must I do to inherit eternal life? Who will inherit eternal life? What is our answer as Christians? God determines that answer. God will judge. God has given the law by which we will be judged. Our answer is not what we think, what we believe, or how we feel, but what our good God has decreed. Jesus started there. We would do well to emulate his example. But consider he did continue and he explained what does that mean. If you would enter life, keep the commandments. And of course, it’s at this point in verse 18, the rest young ruler says, which ones?

And of course, Jesus was not going to say, all right, you only have to keep these, but he did name them. You shall not murder, commit adultery, steal, fare false witness. Honor your father and mother. And of course, these are components of the Ten Commandments. But if you look at the end of verse 19, as we’ve already highlighted, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. That’s a powerful description. Because when we look at what is the will of God, when we examine and we accept the fact that God and God alone defines what is good, it’s still hard to do exactly what he said. Because it may be that we’re good on murdering. We’re good on stealing. We’re good on not committing adultery. We’re good on false witness.

We honor on father and mother. But I think verse 19, the second part, you shall love your neighbor as yourself, is an incredibly difficult verse to live out. Because it doesn’t say love your neighbor, meaning, as the Jews would try to reason in Luke chapter 10 with the parable of the Good Samaritan, just the people you like, or just some of the people who are your close family and friends, love your neighbor as yourself. Who is your neighbor? As determined in Luke 10 by the Good Samaritan, everyone who has a need who you see or can be made aware of is your neighbor. We have to love everyone as we love ourselves. That’s a difficult commandment to keep. And while it’s simple in ideology to say God is good, God makes good, I’ll do what God says, it’s often hard when what we say the rubber meets the road.

We have to examine ourselves. Are we doing what we know God has commanded? But maybe we have done a lot of these things very well. Maybe the sermon, the Bible class are things that you do well. Maybe you’re great about going out and helping others. Maybe you’re great about helping out in charity. You’re great about giving meals for people who are in need. But consider in verse 20, what did the rich young ruler say? I have kept these. And Jesus said, there’s still one thing you lack. Can I ask this morning, not only of myself, but of everyone here, can we do some self-examination for just a few moments this morning and say, what do I lack? What do you lack? If we knew Jesus was coming today and there was one pattern in our life of things that we shouldn’t be doing that we are, or things that we should be doing that we are not, what would we change?

What would we alter? Because if God alone is good, and God alone defines good, we realize we’re not going to skate into heaven. Because oftentimes the question, and when we go back to the idea of those who do not believe, people of other faith, those who are religiously sincere, what we’re really trying to do is say, what is the minimum standard for getting into heaven? And the problem is it’s not just people who don’t want to follow Jesus who do that. I think people who believe in Jesus have that problem too. Because we don’t see him. And if we’re honest with ourselves, sometimes we don’t truly believe that he can, or more specifically, that he will come at any time. And I know that because if I knew that Jesus was coming today, there would be different things I would have said and done this morning.

I also believe if we knew Jesus was coming today, this auditorium would be more full now, and the people who are here this morning would have been here at the 9 o’clock hour as well. Because we would live differently if we know and believe that Jesus is not only the Savior, not only that He is our Lord and our Judge, but that He is coming, that judgment is real, and that there are only two pathways. I have to consider what is it that I lack. Maybe it’s faith. Maybe I doubt God. Maybe it’s anxiety. Maybe it’s that I haven’t fully read the Word. And the truth of the matter is, is God gracious? Yes. Is God merciful more than any other? But we have to do the will of the Father.

We have to seek it earnestly. We have to read the Word every day. If we believe this is the Word of God, and there are sections in here we haven’t read, what does that mean about our faith? What does that mean for what we believe? Are parts of the scripture hard to understand? Yes. Are there some times that we’ll see people with other faiths and question what about them? Sure. But we don’t need to be people with other faith because we know Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. We don’t need to just be religiously sincere. We need to be religiously righteous as God has decreed us to be. Because God has revealed that to us, just as Saul had to change his life entirely.

Conclusion

And when it comes to believers who do not obey, that is the most scary category because most everyone here this morning counts ourselves as believers. But are we submitting to God? If we’re not, we look no better than in verse 22 when the young man heard this and he went away sorrowful. Because he had a great many possessions. As we close the lesson this morning, I want you to consider verse 21. And yes, he was asking, what do I still lack? And Jesus’ answer was, if you would be perfect, if you would be complete, flawless, in complete and utter submission to my will. Go, sell what you possess and give it to the poor, doing what? You will have treasure in heaven. And come follow me.

Are we laying up treasure in heaven or treasure in this life? You may not consider yourself someone who in verse 22, and Jesus is referencing in verse 21, as someone with a lot of possessions, a lot to go and sell, but there is something that the devil is tempting us with. There is something that’s the will the will and can stand between us and God. Knock it out today. Stop it. Trust in God. Our God is good. And we are to be good like our God. Will good people good people go to heaven? Yes, only because God has offered salvation to those who submit to him. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of eternal life is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Will you accept the free gift today? Will you trust and obey? Will you accept the commandments of our God? Consider this morning, those ways are clear, and the ability to be forgiven of our sin is out there. We can do it in two ways. If you’re not a Christian, you must believe. You need to be willing to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Repent, turn from your life of wrong, choose a life of righteousness, of goodness, as God and God alone has decreed, and be baptized, taking part in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Lord. And if you are a Christian and you’ve had something that you lack that stood in your way, that’s kept you sorrowful and from obeying God’s command, be good.

Trust God. Confess your sins, knowing that our God is faithful and just to forgive us of our unrighteousness. If we can help you in any way to make things right today, don’t delay. Be right with God. Come forward now as we stand and sing the invitation song.