This from Andrew Womack's devotional for today is a very good take on the rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking how to be saved!
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?"
On the surface, it appears that this rich young ruler was "right on" in the way he approached Jesus and sought salvation. He ran, kneeled down to Jesus, and openly professed Him as a Good Master. What could be wrong with that?
First, he acknowledged Jesus as good but not as God. This is a pivotal point.
Every major religion of the world acknowledges that Jesus lived and will even admit that He definitely was a good man, but they won't recognize Him as God. If Jesus was only a good man, He couldn't save anybody. Jesus didn't just come to show us the way to God. He was the way, the only way unto the Father.
No man could come unto the Father, but by Him (John 14:6). Jesus had made this point publicly many times before. This is the reason that Jesus responded to this young man's question the way He did. Jesus was saying, "God is the only one who is good. You must accept me as God or not at all." Jesus was either who He claimed to be or He was the biggest fraud that ever lived. He has to be one or the other. He cannot be both.
Second, he asked what he could do to produce salvation. He trusted in himself and believed he could accomplish whatever good work Jesus might request. This is completely opposed to the plan of salvation that Jesus came to bring.
Jesus obtained salvation for us through His substitution and He offers it to us as a free gift. All we must do is believe and receive. This rich young ruler wasn't looking for a Savior. He was trying to be his own savior. This is the reason Jesus referred him back to the commandments. He either needed to keep all of the law perfectly or he needed a Savior. Jesus desired to turn this man from trusting in himself by showing him God's perfect standard, which no one could keep, so that then he would trust in a Savior.
So many times we center on the idea that the young man was too attached to his riches. This account shows that there was something deeper that kept him from making the right choice! He was trusting in whatever WORKS he could do to gain salvation when what he really needed was to recognize the SAVIOR, and that the Savior did not need his help! I have encountered people with similar attitudes! They try so hard to DO the 'right thing', when the REAL 'right thing' is to recognize that there is NOTHING that we can do in our own strength! There IS only ONE WAY! His Name is JESUS! Here is Hillsong with another older song called "One Way":Shalom in Him!
