What Must I Do
17Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what
shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
18So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19You know the
commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’
‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
20And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
21Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have
and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
22But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom
of God!” 24And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how
hard it is £for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of
a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
26And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”
27But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”
The question people have been asking for centuries is what must I do to inherit eternal life? People have searched for
centuries to find the answer, the fountain of youth or maybe some elixir. People have been obsessed for thousands of
years. What must I do was the question they have all asked.
17Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what
shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
So what is it that we need to do to inherit eternal life? This was the question the rich man in our text is asking Jesus.
What must I do to inherit eternal life?
The fact of the matter is that WE can’t DO anything to inherit eternal life. Romans 3:23 tells us that we have all sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. Therefore nothing that we do
is good enough to get us into heaven.
I remember as a child always asking for things that I could not have. When my parents would say no, I would say to
them I will do anything. Then came the part that I always hated. They would tell me what I would have to do in order to
get what I was wanting. As usual I was unable or un willing to do what it would take to get what I wanted.
18So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
Jesus is basically asking in a round about way the same question He asked Peter. Who do you say that I am,
Now the answer to the rich mans question lies in the answer to this one question. Who do you say that Jesus is. Once
you have answered this one question you will have your answer.
and then he gives a list of commandments, 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’
‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’"
Jesus is at this point talking about our relationship with each other. He starts out with the big ones… Don’t commit
adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal… Now most of us have never broken these commandments. Then Jesus goes on to
the other commandments. ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
I don’t know about you but I know at one time or another I have at least inadvertently broken all of these
commandments.
Now the law is like spell checker. I write e-mails quite often at work, and the one thing that always amazes me is that
when I am getting ready to send the e-mail I always run it through spell checker. I think that I have not made any
mistakes. But the second I run spell checker I see the mistakes I had made.
The law is there to let us know that we are sinners.
But you realize what the rich mans response to Jesus is. “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”. He is
not willing to admit he had sinned.
James 2:10 says 10For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
1st John 1:8 says 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1st John 1:10 says 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Now notice how Jesus responds to the rich man. 21Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him. This is the response that we
should have towards those who live in sin. I remember one preacher talking about a poster. The poster depicted a
homeless man with a bottle of booze in his hand. The caption under the photo was one that I think we can all learn
from. It said “You love Jesus only as much as you love me”.
Now just like my parents did when I was little, Jesus tells the rich man what he needed to do. Jesus said, “One thing you
lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take
up the cross, and follow Me.”
You see the rich man had sin in his life. He had other gods with a small g in his life that were more important to him.
Now remember earlier when I said that the answer to the rich mans question lied in who he said that Jesus was? Well
here is the proof in the pudding. Are you willing to give up your gods for the big GOD? Do you confess Jesus as your
Lord and Savior?
This man was not willing to give up his gods to follow Jesus. 22But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful,
for he had great possessions.
23Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom
of God!” 24And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how
hard it is £for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of
a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Now Jesus is not saying here that being rich is a bad thing. Jesus is really trying to point out one very important
question. Where do your priorities lie? Are you fully trusting in the saving power of the blood that was shed on Calvary,
or are you trusting in your gods?
Augustine (A.D. 354-430) said, "God wants to give us something, but cannot, because our hands are full--there's
nowhere for him to put it." When we feel as though God's blessings are missing from our lives, we need to examine our
hands and see if they are open to receive, or clutched around something that we refuse to let go.
* The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis, 1962, p. 96
26And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”
The answer is very simple. Romans 10:9 says; if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart
that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Friends I purposely skipped over 1st john 1:9 earlier for a reason. It says 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Then Jesus answers the disciples question 27But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not
with God; for with God all things are possible.”
You see we can’t DO anything to work our way to heaven. Why? Because the work has already been done. We just
have to make that one decision, will we receive the free gift of eternal life or will we reject it.