Please help me, I am going crazy. Why does the parable of the Rich Young Ruler appear to teach works based salvation? When the Rich Young Ruler asked Jesus what he must do for eternal life, WHY DOES JESUS GIVE HIM A WORK TO DO (sell all his possessions and follow Jesus)? Why didn't Jesus give him the correct answer, which is "believe in me"? If this passage is teaching works salvation then the Rich Ruler and I are both going to hell because I am guilty of the same thing. God asked me to give something up and I refused, my attitude was like, "no, salvation is free". I've learned salvation is NOT free. I even remember God warning me that I would go to hell if I didn't give this thing up. Very scary. I have gone to countless pastors and others in leadership and NO ONE CAN EXPLAIN THE PARABLE OF THE RICH RULER!! WHY?! I haven't felt God's presence or heard His voice in 12 years so I wouldn't be surprised if I was damned.
The Rich Young Ruler
- Thread starter Kim R
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Coleton Bryce Ritmanich
John 3:16
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I have reread the parable you speak of, it also goes on to say in that same conversation to the disciples that "With God all things are possible." He said that in response to his disciples asking "who then can be saved" so to seriously answer your question, Salvation is freely given, but that's only assumming you give something up in return, like say, all of your sins...fair enough right? If God wants you to stop, and you don't trust that it's him, then test and see if it's the Holy Spirit telling you or a Demonic Spirit, if it's Godly, then that's what God really wants you to do, and you should give up whatever it is because God said so, and he always has your best interests in mind. If it is a demonic spirit, rebuke it back out of your life from there. And go on about your business.
You can test the spirits by asking them this, "Did Jesus Come in the Flesh, In Jesus Name I command you to answer me." If it says yes, then it is God. If not, get it out of your way by rebuking it in Jesus' Name.
Peace be unto you sister, Peace and Blessings.
You can test the spirits by asking them this, "Did Jesus Come in the Flesh, In Jesus Name I command you to answer me." If it says yes, then it is God. If not, get it out of your way by rebuking it in Jesus' Name.
Peace be unto you sister, Peace and Blessings.
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Messerve
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Salvation is work, as far as you make a decision to make Jesus your Lord. But that's it, and that's not at all what a works-based salvation is. Works-based salvation is a constant fight to maintain your salvation by doing good things your whole life and confessing every little sin. There is no real peace for those under a works-based salvation doctrine, and many of them have yet to give their lives to Jesus which will actually save them.
Asking the rich, young man to give up his belongings and then follow wasn't to say that the rich young man couldn't be a follower while still owning those things, but it was to make a point. Because, guess what? He wasn't willing to give up what Jesus asked. So his heart wasn't fully dedicated. That's why Jesus says it's so hard for a rich person to go to heaven.
In response to the comment above, testing the spirits is definitely something the Bible encourages. However, I'm not sure it's beneficial to actually converse with them...? If you know the Word, then it should be obvious to you whether or not what you hear is Biblical.
If God did ask you to give up something ans you refused, it is possible you've grieved the Holy Spirit by your outright refusal... When God asks something of us, it isn't to prove our salvation but usually because He wants to teach us a valuable lesson or to make us more dependent on Him. Yes, salvation is free, but God also asks us to take up our own crosses daily. We are one with Christ, and Christ most certainly gave up things for God - His life not least of all!
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Question: "Why did Jesus tell the rich young ruler he could be saved by obeying the commandments?"
Answer: To understand Jesus’ response to the rich young ruler’s question—“What must I do to be saved?”—we must consider three things: the background of the rich young ruler, the purpose of his question, and the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The young man had asked Jesus, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16). Jesus responded, “If you want to enter life, keep the commandments” (verse 19). At first glance, it appears that Jesus is saying that the young man and, by extension, all people must obey the commandments in order to be saved. But is that really what He was saying? Since the essence of the salvation message is that we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8–9), why would Jesus offer the rich young ruler an “alternative plan”?
The story of the rich young ruler is found in all three of the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew 19:16–23, Mark 10:17–22, and Luke 18:18–23. The man is described as a “ruler,” which means he was a prince or magistrate of some sort. Since no Roman ruler would address Jesus as “teacher” or “master,” it is assumed that this man was a Jewish ruler in the local synagogue. This man also had “great wealth” (Matthew 19:22), and Jesus later used His conversation with this man to teach the detrimental effect money can have on one’s desire for eternal life (verses 23–24). The lesson Jesus draws from this incident concerns money, not salvation by works.
The first thing Jesus says to the man’s greeting, “Good teacher,” is to remind him that no one is good except God (Matthew 19:17). Jesus was not denying His own divinity. Rather, Jesus was immediately getting the man to think about what “good” really means—since only God is good, then what we normally call human goodness might be something else entirely This truth comes into play later in the conversation. When the man asked Jesus to specify which commandments he should keep, Jesus recited six of the commandments, including “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:19). The man replies, “All these I have kept. . . . What do I still lack?” (verse 20), and that is a key statement. The young man was obviously religious and sincere in his pursuit of righteousness. His problem was that he considered himself to be faultless concerning the Law. And this is the point that Jesus challenges.
Jesus tells the man, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21). The young man decided that Jesus was asking too much. “He went away sad, because he had great wealth” (verse 22). Rather than obey Jesus’ instructions, he turned his back on the Lord and walked away. The man’s choice undoubtedly saddened Jesus as well, because Jesus loved him (Mark 10:21).
In telling the young man to keep the commandments, Jesus was not saying that he could be saved by obeying the commandments; rather, Jesus was emphasizing the Law as God’s perfect standard. If you can keep the Law perfectly, then you can escape sin’s penalty—but that’s a big if. When the man responded that he met the Law’s standard, Jesus simply touched on one issue that proved the man did not measure up to God’s holiness. The man was not willing to follow the Lord, if that meant he must give up his wealth. Thus, the man was breaking the two greatest commands; he did not love his neighbor as himself, and he did not love the Lord with all his heart. He loved himself (and his money) more. Far from keeping “all” the commandments, as he had claimed, the man was a sinner like everyone else. The Law proved it.
If the man had loved God and other people more than he did his property, he would have been willing to give up his wealth to the service of God and man. But that was not the case. He had made an idol of his wealth, and he loved it more than God. With surgical precision, Jesus exposes the greed in the man’s heart—greed the man did not even suspect he had. Jesus’ statement that only God is good (Matthew 19:18) is proved in the young man’s response to Jesus’ command.
In His conversation with the rich young ruler, Christ did not teach that we are saved by the works of the Law. The Bible’s message is that salvation is by grace through faith (Romans 3:20, 28; 4:6; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:9; 2 Timothy 1:9). Rather, Jesus used the man’s love of money to show how the man fell short of God’s holy standard—as do we all. The rich young ruler needed the Savior, and so do we.
www.gotquestions.org/rich-young-ruler.html
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Hieronymus
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Don't go crazy.
Jesus gives him a choice.
Follow Him or hold on to the idolatry of worshipping money.
Can't serve 2 lords.
I think most of us have things we'd better give up, things we worship.
I have a thing for stuff, and it determines a part of my life and what i do and don't do.
In all, we worship our wellbeing too, and we do and don't do things to (try to) ensure our wellbeing, trying to satisfy our worldly / physical / psychological desires.
Lusts can be a problem too.
I have an internet full of beautiful nude women....
May i ask what God asked you to give up?
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Pethesedzao
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The rich young ruler appears when Jesus was alive on the Earth, before the Cross. Salvation is by grace and through faith now because of the Cross @ Calvary.
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Please, don't go by feelings. I never feel anything, but I know what I was promised, and that's all it takes. There are those that try to indicate we must "feel" something, but I don't buy it at all, and often think they have a wild imagination. It's what we do for or against Gods clear wishes that define where we are. I mean how clear is "I feel saved, so I must be? I wouldn't depend on that over good common sense, ever.
You aren't helping defend your belief there at all. lol
It was the same then as now, only difference is Christ took the place of animal sacrifice. We still need to live right/not live in wilful sin, and ask for forgiveness. Here you go, I use this a lot here lately
John 5:28-29 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.
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