Kingdom Principle: What must I “do” to inherit eternal life? This is the question from the Rich Young ruler. Jesus reminds us that eternal life is not a product we purchase by our obedience but a quality that we possess to produce good works. We work from eternal life, not towards it. When we believe in Jesus, we have eternal life, and this wells up in us like a spring of life.
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What does it mean to be truly _______________________?
Luke 18:18 (ESV) — 18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
The ruler asks the question because he is looking to do more in order to inherit eternal life because he thinks eternal life is gained by doing something more.
The goodness of God can be conceived in terms of God in himself (ad intra) and God’s work in creation (ad extra). A thing is good to the extent that it is all that it can and should be—namely, perfect. God alone is all that he can and should be. Thus, since God is wholly perfect, lacking nothing, he is the supreme and absolute good. Moreover, since he is already himself fully perfect according to his nature, there is no end—no good—toward which he strives. That is to say, God is immutably incapable of becoming more good or less good. To refer to God’s goodness is simply to refer to God himself. That is to say, God’s essence is identical with goodness, and goodness is an essential and necessary attribute of the divine nature.
God’s goodness is not static and isolated within himself but is diffusive and overflowing as demonstrated by God’s free decision to create. As creator, his goodness overflows in both creation and providence. Creation is good because God, who is good, is its source and cause, its ground and standard (Gen 1:25; 1 Tim 4:4).
Genesis 1:31 (ESV) — 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Jesus uses the law as a tool in order to point the Rich Young Ruler to his need for salvation. The law can be used as a mirror for us to see how far short we fall from God’s goodness.
Eternal life is not gained by our good works, it is given by a good God.
How does a man or woman enter eternal life? They are transformed by the work of God the Holy Spirit. This causes them to value heaven more than any earthly prospect.
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What does it mean to be truly _________________?
Luke 18:28–30 (ESV) — 28 And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
The reason the disciples have left house and home is because they are convinced that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and being convinced of this they understand that following him brings the greatest reward, not because they earn it, but because it is found in him. They didn’t give in order to receive, they gave in light of what they had received.
John 17:3 (ESV) — 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Eternal life is less like a gas tank and more like an underground spring.
John 4:13–14 (ESV) — 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Questions to Consider
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Why has God given us his Word, prayer, service, sacrifice? How might we use it to tap into the Spirit that lives within us?
