Why Can't We Earn Our way to Heaven? | Matthew 19:16-22

[00:00:00] We'll Truth Daily. This is Daily Truths with Dave Ahlman. This synagogue, he was very well off also the Bible tells us that he was young. He comes to Jesus and he kind of wants to test him. But he wants to make sure he's on the

[00:00:40] right track because he believes he's going to get to Heaven by what he does. And so he says this in verse 19 and be old, a man came up to him saying, teacher, what good

[00:00:50] must I do to have eternal life? And Jesus said to him, 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

[00:01:04] him, which ones? And Jesus said, you should not murder, you should not commit adultery, you should not steal, you should 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

[00:01:18] kept. What do I still lack? Jesus said to him, if you would be perfect, go and sell what you possess and give to the poor and you will have treasures in Heaven and then come

[00:01:29] and follow me. When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, free at great possessions. Okay, what's going on here? First of all, this young man thinks that he can get to Heaven

[00:01:40] by what he does. And so he says, you know, how do I inherit eternal life? And Jesus said, keep the commandments and he said very arrogantly and self-sufficiently and self-righteously, I have kept him. Now, Jesus is demanding the Old Testament law, the moral law demands perfection

[00:02:01] and so this young man somehow thinks, well, I probably haven't been perfect but I pretty much kept these and so as a result of that, I should go to Heaven. And so Jesus says, here's the ones

[00:02:11] you need to keep and he basically quotes the second table of the moral of the Ten Commandments. He says, on your mother and father, don't steal, don't murder, live a pure life, don't bear false witness in the life. All these different things love your neighbor as yourself.

[00:02:26] So this is what this arrogant self-sufficient young man says. I've kept them and then Jesus says, okay, you think you're self-sufficient. You think yourself righteous. Here's one more thing that you need to do. If you really think you're perfect, sell everything you have, give it to the poor,

[00:02:43] come and follow me, then you'll have a treasure in Heaven. Now Jesus was nailing this guy because this guy was thinking I can get to Heaven by what I do and Jesus knew he couldn't because

[00:02:53] he's not perfect and so what's Jesus saying, if you really think you're perfect, here's one thing you're probably not perfect at giving away your riches and so he says, give away your riches,

[00:03:04] give it to the poor, come and follow me. And what happens? The young man finally gets it. He's not perfect. He can't inherit eternal life by what he does. He's a sinner through and through.

[00:03:17] He can't keep the law to save himself. Now here's the thing, if people think that they can get to Heaven by keeping the law, they have to keep it perfectly. They have to obey the law

[00:03:33] perfectly and nobody can. Why? Because the moral law, the 10 commandments become a mirror to us, showing us our need for a Savior, showing us our need for salvation and salvation comes to us

[00:03:49] you faith in Jesus. I got to tell you a good illustration I think of this. Okay? So we got, we're here in an HOA in our community and I got a note saying take down your Christmas lights. Okay?

[00:04:01] So so the graces like, they're way up high. My son put him up there. Now if I tried to take down my Christmas lights because they're way up high, they're up on the roof. I can't climb a

[00:04:11] ladder anymore. I'm not steady on my feet. I surely couldn't get on the second floor of our house. Up on the roof to put the lights up. I knew I couldn't take them down and so either I was going

[00:04:23] to do it which I would fail at and fall off the roof and kill myself or someone else would do it for me and guess who that's someone else was. My son and not only did he climb up on the roof,

[00:04:33] two stories above the ground, he did it so fast so sufficiently. He did it like in five minutes. Sure on his feet, not afraid of heights. He did the work but then I had a neighbor who looked at

[00:04:45] and said, wow you got the lights down. Why didn't take him down? But somebody else did for me, but I got the credit. Here's the point. We love the Lord. We want to keep the commandments as a

[00:04:56] matter of fact because what Christ has done for us are natural response elicited by the Holy Spirit is to obey the law. We want to do what's right but the problem is we can't do it perfectly.

[00:05:08] This young man in the text thought that he could keep the law. Yeah, he probably knew he couldn't keep it perfectly. But he probably thought, hey God, graves on a curve. I'm going to be saved

[00:05:18] because I'm better than most. This is the way most Americans think. I'm better than most. I compare myself to other people and hey, I do better than most. And so God grays on a curve

[00:05:29] and I'm going to happen because of what I do. No. Somebody had to keep the law for us and somebody had to do it perfectly and that somebody is Jesus Christ. Galatians chapter four says this,

[00:05:42] when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law so that he might redeem those who were under the law, namely us. And so that we might be adopted

[00:05:56] as people of God. Christ Jesus kept the law satisfying the demands of God the Father. He kept the law for us. What this young man needed to realize in this text is you can't save yourself

[00:06:11] by your works because your works are tainted by sin. My friends, we can't save ourselves by our works because our works are tainted by sin. Someone A had to keep the law for us and someone B had

[00:06:25] to go to across to die for our sins and that somebody is Jesus Christ. Thanks, B to God. We have salvation through faith in Jesus who live for us, who die for us and who rose again for us and

[00:06:40] all those who repent of their sin and put their trust in Jesus have eternal life, eternal life, is a free gift for by grace are we saved through faith and this not of ourselves,

[00:06:54] it is the gift of God, not of our works so that no one can boast. What good news that is, salvation is a free gift wrapped up through Jesus Christ, we take it by faith and we live forever.

[00:07:10] Who it doesn't get any better than that and that is today's daily truth have a great day in Jesus Christ. Thank you for tuning in to daily truths with Dave Olman. Pastor Dave Olman is the

[00:07:23] pastor of Mount Hoorch, and Boulder Colorado. If you feel led, would you consider giving to this ministry your text deductible donation helps us continue sharing the gospel with as many people as

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