Who then can be Saved?
Heemskerck series - Wretchedness of Wealth by. Phillips Galle
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says to his disciples, “18 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV). These words are some of the most well recognized among Christians. It is the Great Commission after all. Here, the message of Jesus is simple: i. It is the mission of the Church to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people. This includes our neighbors down the street, our co-workers, and also individuals from every tribe, tongue, and nation. According to joshuaproject.net, there are 17,423 people groups in all the world and as of the writing of this blog, 7,402 are unreached people groups (i.e they have never heard about Jesus). As you can see from these numbers, missionaries and Bible translators have been making a huge impact in bringing the word of God and the Gospel to many people all over the world. However, in the places where Christ is already known, there are those who still reject our message. Why may this be? I believe Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler may reveal why.
Most Christians are familiar with the story of the rich young ruler. The account can be found in Mark 10, Matthew 19, and Luke 18. All three accounts are very similar and tell us about a young ruler who asks Jesus what he must do to enter eternal life. Jesus replies in Luke 18:20 “You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, Do not Murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.”. The rich young ruler was Jewish so he would have been familiar with the Ten Commandments. His reply to Jesus is that he has kept all these commandments from his youth. We are all familiar with what happens next. Jesus continues, “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.” (Luke 18:22). The young ruler departs from Jesus saddened because he had great wealth. Jesus then utters one of the most well-known phrases in the Bible. “24 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” (Luke 18:24, 25). The meaning of the text is pretty straightforward. The more love we have for this world and the physical possessions we own, the harder it will be for us to forsake all and truly follow Jesus.
At this point, you may be asking, “What does this have to do with those who reject the message of Christ?”. The answer is in the verses that follow.
(Luke 18:26, 27) “26 Those who heard it said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 27 But he said, ‘What is impossible with man is possible with God.’”
See how similarly Jesus answers their question in Mark 10 and Matthew 19,
(Mark 10:27) “27 Jesus looked at them and said ‘With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.’”
(Matthew 19:26) “26 But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”
The question “Then who can be saved?” seems to indicate that the disciples were astonished at the statement Jesus made to the rich young ruler. To be clear, Jesus is not asking us to sell everything and force our families to live on the street. In asking the young ruler to sell all of his possessions, He was essentially telling him that if he wanted to enter the kingdom of God on his own merit, he would have to fulfill the law perfectly. We see from Romans 8 that it is impossible for anyone except Christ to perfectly fulfill the law: “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3). The disciples seemed to think that what Jesus is asking is impossible for anyone, much less a rich man, hence “Then who can be saved?”. As we see from the rich young ruler, he rejected the offer that Jesus gave to him. The same is true for all those who reject Christ. The cares, comfort, and worries of this world seem more appealing at face value than Jesus Christ our Lord who should be our greatest treasure. Consider the following verse.
(John 3:19) “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and the people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”
In light (no pun intended) of this truth about Jesus Christ who is the light of the world, the reason so many reject Him is because of their love for the darkness. All men since Adam’s fall have been under the dominion of darkness “1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1, 2). One of the most beautiful phrases in the whole Bible is “But God...”, and here is what Paul wrote continuing in verse 4: “4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6). The reason it is impossible for man to enter the kingdom of God is because of our love of the darkness. It’s what we desire. We are blinded to the light of Christ. However, with God, nothing is impossible. It is worth noting in Luke 19 that Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, who likely became very rich by greedy extortion, saw that Jesus was the light of the world. If it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of God, then a true miracle that only God can work needs to take place. He sends us the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin and point us to the light, Jesus Christ, who is the most beautiful being in all the universe.
What then should we do as the church of Christ? The most important action we must take is pray. Pray for those who are bringing the word of God to the most far and unreached places in the world where people have never heard of the name of Jesus. Pray for all those who are working hard to make sure the Bible is translated into every language and dialect so that every individual in the world will be able to read and study the word of God for themselves. Pray and ask God to give you a heart for the lost and to give you the courage to preach the Gospel to those around you. And finally, pray for those who are far from Christ that they will see the truth and find their ultimate joy in God through the person of Jesus; the Son of God. We can have the most advanced theological training and be masters of apologetics, but it will be to no avail if God does not act in their heart. Our ability to speak the truth is not what converts people, it is the Holy Spirit of God who works through our willingness to spread the Gospel “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6). If it is not up to us, who then can be saved? No one, in and of themselves. But don’t worry, because even though with man this is impossible, with God all things are possible.
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