The Good Master

Q: What does the Bible say about good works and eternal life?

The Bible teaches that no one can do good works sufficient to earn eternal life; only God is truly good. In Matthew 19, a rich young ruler asks Jesus what good thing he must do to have eternal life. Jesus responds by countering the assumption that good deeds can earn salvation, stating that only God is good. This underscores the Reformed understanding that man is inherently sinful and cannot attain righteousness through personal effort. As Paul wrote, 'there is none who does good, no, not one' (Romans 3:12). True good works can only stem from a regenerated heart that has been transformed by God's grace, not from human effort or merit.

Q: How do we know Scripture's teachings on salvation are true?

Scripture confirms that salvation is by grace through faith, not by works, affirming God's sovereignty and the necessity of Christ. The truth of Scripture regarding salvation hinges on the doctrine of grace, as articulated in Ephesians 2:8-9, which states that we are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves. This aligns with the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, where He emphasizes the need for belief in Him as the Son of God for eternal life. The Reformers stressed that salvation is a gift from God and that it is He who empowers us to believe and trust in Christ for our righteousness, affirming the sovereignty of God in salvation. Ultimately, the transformative power of the Gospel and historical testimonies of changed lives serve as further evidence of its truth.

Q: Why is understanding sin important for Christians?

Understanding sin is crucial for Christians as it reveals our need for a Savior and the grace of God in our lives. The acknowledgment of sin is fundamental to the Christian faith. Jesus, in His dialogue with the rich young ruler, reveals that understanding our own sinfulness is essential for recognizing the need for salvation. As Romans 3:23 clearly states, 'for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' This reality pushes us to see our utter dependency on God's grace and the work of Christ, who bore our sins to offer us eternal life. Without a proper understanding of sin as a barrier between humanity and a holy God, one cannot fully appreciate the beauty and necessity of grace. The law serves as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, illuminating our need to rely solely upon Him for justification and salvation.

Q: Why did Jesus confront the rich young ruler with the law?

Jesus confronted the ruler with the law to demonstrate the impossibility of attaining eternal life through personal merit. In the encounter with the rich young ruler, Jesus emphasizes the law to illustrate the futility of seeking eternal life through individual merit. By stating that 'if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments' (Matthew 19:17), He reveals the standard of righteousness required to enter heaven—perfect obedience. Ultimately, this interaction demonstrates that no one can keep the law perfectly, thereby leading to the conclusion that individuals must turn to Christ for salvation. The law serves to expose our guilt and highlight our need for grace, guiding us towards an understanding of our dependence on Christ's perfect righteousness rather than our inadequate attempts to achieve salvation through works.

Matthew 19, 16, And behold, one came and said unto him, Good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. But if thou will enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? And Jesus said, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And the young man saith unto him, all these things have I kept from my youth up, what lack I yet? And Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come and follow me.'

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Let's pray. Father, thank you for bringing us together again. Thank you for the privilege it is to not only be free to worship you, Lord, but to be enabled and caused by you to worship, to be given a hunger and thirst after your righteousness, to be given a desire to hear of you and to Be sustained on the living bread and the water of life that is our Savior. Bless us this morning, Lord, to do just that. Feed us. Teach us. Increase our faith, Lord. Teach us to pray. Teach us to serve. Teach us to love. Teach us to be like you. And give us the grace, Lord, do the work in our hearts.

To honor you with all. In Christ's precious name, we ask these things, amen. So this is a story that has. A lot that we need to look at, and so we'll spend this day, Lord willing. this morning and this evening, looking at this passage of scripture. Let's look at verse 16 again, and behold, one came and said unto him, the Lord Jesus, of course, good master.

What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And right away you see If you have been taught the gospel by the Lord, you see that this man has the wrong idea. He's speaking of doing something good enough to merit eternal life. And the Lord's answer is one that you would never imagine that he would give. He asked him a question, really, in answer to his. And he said unto him, why callest thou me good?

There is none good but one, that is God. And nobody of all the possible answers that the Lord could give and did give to questions like this. But the Lord always met sinners on the ground that they came to him on. And he comes speaking of goodness, of righteousness, of merit.

And the Lord answered him in the, well, we know his answer was perfect. The question he asks is perfect. And that's why we're studying that and not trying to, you know, use human reasoning to come up with a message. We're looking at what our Lord said in learning because he dealt with this man in a perfect way. This is how a sinner is to be dealt with when they come asking about heavenly things, about spiritual things, about eternal things. And nobody could have predicted that the Lord would answer him this way, and yet it's the perfect answer. When I say that, I'm not judging it perfect based on my understanding of what perfect is. Because I see the merit of it. It's perfect because of who he is. And by his grace, I see this.

The Lord just taught this young man the first two things he needed to know before entering into a conversation about measuring up to the standard of God, which again is the ground that he approached the Lord on. What good thing must I do that I may have eternal life, that I might be rewarded for my good with eternal glory? How do I earn that? Just name it. Name it and I'll do it is the implication. So he taught him the first two things that he needed to know, having asked the question, how can I be good enough to deserve eternal life? Well, here's what he needed to know.

First of all, you're not good. You can't do good. There is none good but one, and that's God. you're not going to be good you've never been good you're not good now you're not going to be able to do anything good and this is the teaching of all of scripture there's none that doeth good no not one paul said in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing so he confronts him right away with the error of even asking the question what good thing can i do to inherit eternal life. Unless you're God, you're not good. And you're not going to do good.

And notice that he said that he wanted to do something. If you're going to enter into the kingdom of God based on merit, doing something, then you must be good. He came talking about doing. The Lord answered him talking about being. There's none good. You've got to be good, and you're not, because you'd be God if you were. So if you're going to do something good, you have to be good. You can't get clean water out of a dirty fountain, the Lord taught. that in the book of Job. An evil tree can't bear good fruit. Adam before the fall was good. He was perfect. But no man since the fall has been good, and therefore there's nothing that you can do to deserve or inherit eternal life. Nothing.

With men, the Lord said later in the context, it's impossible. And that's what he's bringing this man around to. He didn't just say it to the disciples, he says it to everybody, to every sinner. It's impossible. You're not gonna do it. He proved to him that he wouldn't do it. He proved to that man right on the spot that he couldn't do what was necessary to have eternal life.

The more you do as a sinner, and this is defining of what a sinner is, what you do is sin. Because you're a sinner, not the other way around. You're not a sinner because you do sin. You do sin because you're a sinner. And especially our religious attempts at good, our religious attempts at pleasing God, because God hates religious self-righteousness. Seems in scripture just about more than anything else. A proud look, a self-righteous. He scathed the religious Jews regarding that very thing. You clean the outside of the cup, but on the inside, you're full of corruption and death. You hypocrites.

The second thing that our Lord taught this man is that God is good, and only God is good, and this man just called him good master. That's why he said, why are you calling me good? If I'm good, then I'm God. And here's the implication. If he is God, if as this man called him good, that he was right about that, and He's God, then you'd be insane not to sell all you have and follow Him.

Because He gave you all you have, He made all you have. He determines who gets all that we have. If He's God, then this is the question, who is this? Who is he dealing with? And he just told him. There's just one good. If you can see Christ and you know him for who he is, then you're going to come out of this just fine. But that was the problem.

Moses chose the reproach of Christ over all the treasures of Egypt because he knew who Christ was. because he had recompense unto the reward, which is the Lord himself. He's our exceeding great reward. And Moses understood that, and so he, the treasures of Egypt, got no use for him. This man would have done the same, but he never saw who he was dealing with. But the Lord told him right here, if I'm good, then I'm God.

I'm not concerned about you making a decision. I'm not trying to get you to decide to lose your life for Christ's sake. I'm trying to, by God's grace, preach Him so that He'll reveal Himself to you, and then you'll choose Him. You'll choose Him. If all of our energy is put into making you decide, then you're never going to know Him, because it's all about you. But once you know Him, you decide.

There's no decision to make. He's God. He's all. He is the riches. He is the one thing needful. So I'm not worried about what you decide. Well, can I give up, you know, can I give up what I have to give? No, I'm just worried about us seeing who he is, him revealing himself to us. If we find out who he is, we'll make all the right decisions.

But not until, and that's by his grace, of course. The Lord asked the blind man, In John chapter nine, the whole chapter was about, you know, this man is a sinner, he's a sinner. You know, they cast this blind man out of the synagogue and all that based on him not meriting their approval. And the Lord asked him the simple, eternal, vital question at the end of the chapter, do you believe on the Son of God? Do you remember what his next answer was, his next question? Who is he? Who is he? That's what you need to know.

When the preacher from the scriptures, in context of preaching the gospel, says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, he better have told you who he is, or he better be about to, because you can't believe on him of whom you've not heard. You're not gonna believe on him that you don't know The Lord said, thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.

And the clear message there is, just a little while ago, you weren't seeing anybody. Now you're looking at the Son of God that gave you sight. And what a beautiful thing to see that man's earthly eyes not only opened, but the eye of faith in his heart that the Lord revealed himself to him. He didn't just mitigate the symptom, that he cured his soul.

And you remember the next thing the man said? After the Lord said, you've seen him and you're talking to him right now. He said, Lord, I believe. And he worshiped him. He found out who he was. That's the goal. That's salvation. No man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. He reveals himself.

And then your earthly goods aren't going to seem quite so valuable anymore. When you discover the pearl of great price, And this is what our Lord dealt with in our text. Who is he? What is good? And having begun that way, look what he said in the last part of verse 17. But if thou will enter into life, keep the commandments. Again, not what you would expect him to say to this man. Why didn't he talk to him about grace yet? Why didn't he talk to him about believing? Why didn't he talk to him yet? The first thing he confronts him with is the law. Well, the first thing was, who's who? Who are you and who am I? If you're going to do something good, you better be God. And if I'm good, like you say I am, then I'm God.

But listen, next, if thou will enter into life, keep the commandments, not one of them, not most of them, not all of them most of the way. Keep all of the commandments, all good things. If you're gonna do, he said, what good, one good thing must I do? No, no, no, you gotta do all the good things all the time in every possible way, thought, word, and deed, all of them. What good thing must I do? No, no, let's back up. The Lord's beginning at the beginning here, isn't he? No, you gotta do all of them, and you gotta do them perfectly. In thought, word, and deed.

If you're gonna get in based on goodness, as Paul said in Galatians 5.3, you're a debtor to do the whole law. If you're gonna come before God's Son on the basis of goodness and law, You're a debtor to do the whole law. If you've offended in one, then you've offended in all.

But this man was ready for that. He was ready for that. He came there thinking he was righteous. He came there thinking that he was good. So this didn't really intimidate him in the least, did it? It should have caused him to despair of goodness and fell upon Christ as his only hope. if he had spiritual understanding, but as sinners we have no spiritual understanding. We don't know up from down. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. It's foolishness to him, neither can he know them, because they're spiritually discerned. He didn't hear the law.

Paul asks in Galatians 4.21, tell me ye that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? Do you not understand the law? And the obvious question is no, by nature we do not. And that's what our Lord's gonna teach this man. He's gonna teach him concerning the law and how that it absolutely prohibits him from doing what he wanted to do, which was enter into eternal life. You can't do it. You can't do it. And then he told his disciples later, you can't do it. You can't do it.

Now, the Lord had preached the Sermon on the Mount. And was this man there? I don't know. It doesn't seem like he's there because the Lord showed how in that Sermon on the Mount, how that it's what's in our hearts that makes us guilty of breaking the law.

If you've committed adultery in your heart, You're guilty. If you've hated someone without a cause, murderer. If you don't love the Lord your God with all your heart, you're guilty of deicide. It's our heart. We're not sinners because we sin. We sin because we're sinners.

And maybe he was there. Doesn't matter if he was there or wasn't there. He didn't have ears to hear if he was there because he didn't hear what the Lord was saying. Don't you hear the law? It condemns you. By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. And if you're able by God's grace to hear the law with spiritual understanding, that's You're going to know that. You're going to see that. You're going to believe that. But why would the Lord confront this man with the law, rather than saying, believe on me?

Believe on me, rather than saying, You know, if you want eternal life, you've got to trust me. I've got to be your only righteousness before God." Well, the Lord did ultimately say, in effect, believe on me. He said, if you're going to give up everything you have, literally, I mean, you're casting yourself on Him. You're going to have to believe that He's who He says He is. You're gonna believe.

So he did ultimately say, in effect, believe on me, trust me, follow me, to the abandonment of everything and everybody else. But not right now. This man was trusting again in his good works. What good thing. And so our Lord confronted him with the law. His sinfulness before God had to be exposed. before our Lord went any further with him. You remember that happening before in Scripture?

The woman at the well? Where's your husband? Who's your husband? Go get your husband. Her sin was dealt with. And all those experiences that sinners had with the Savior teach us concerning the salvation of sinners. the gospel, how a sinner can be saved.

That's why we're so careful not to preach about Christ, not to preach just doctrine, but to answer the question, what must I do to be saved? And the Lord says, or His servant says, believe. It's not about doing, it's about faith. It's about knowing and trusting and casting your soul upon God's Son.

So why confront with the law? Because the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. If you're not a sinner, and what is it to be a sinner? It's to be in defiance of and guilty before God's law. If you're not a sinner, why would you look for a Savior?

That's why religion all around us is rejoicing in entertainment, in emotions, in everything else but a person, Son of God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. You can watch their services and see that Christ is on the back burner. They might mention His name a couple of times, but it's all about rejoicing in the flesh.

It's all about trusting the flesh. Here's what you need to do. And by the way, it's all up to you. I know I say that a lot, but that's the deal breaker right there. Who it's up to is the savior, whoever it is. If you're your own savior, then you're lost. You have no savior.

But why confront him with the law? Because the law will bring you straight to the Lord Jesus. Listen to Paul in Galatians 3, 2. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. The law, when you realize that you can't be justified by the law, then you'll look to Christ. and you will be justified by faith which looks to him. Justified by faith without the deeds of the law. But you're confronted with that law and you see yourself guilty. The law was given in Romans chapter three, it's pretty clearly revealed that the law was not given as a rule of life. The law was given that you might shut up and become guilty before God. Then you're going to look for the lifeline. Then you're going to look for the Savior. You're going to look for hope somewhere else besides yourself for once. And you're going to find it in the Son of God himself. that we might be justified by faith in Him, by looking to Him, by trusting Him, by loving Him, by casting our soul upon Him.

The Good Master

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about good works and eternal life?

How do we know Scripture's teachings on salvation are true?

Why is understanding sin important for Christians?

Why did Jesus confront the rich young ruler with the law?

Sermon Transcript

About Chris Cunningham

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The Good Master

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about good works and eternal life?

How do we know Scripture's teachings on salvation are true?

Why is understanding sin important for Christians?

Why did Jesus confront the rich young ruler with the law?

Sermon Transcript

About Chris Cunningham

Comments

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