The Rich, Young Ruler

Christ, in the gospels, repeatedly states that eternal life is obtained by believing.  But in the isolated case of the rich, young ruler, Christ points the inquiring man to the commandments.  WHY?

Luke 18:18-23 – “And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.”

To the careful student of the Bible, questions are aroused by the reading of the above passage. The vigilant Bible student notices the following observations:

1. The ruler refers to Christ as, “Good Master,” to which Christ answers, “Why callest thou me good? None is good, save one, that is, God.” This provokes the question, “Isn’t Jesus Christ God?” Why would Christ object to being called “good” if He indeed is God?
2. The ruler’s question is not at all unique to the New Testament, as many have asked the question regarding what they should do to obtain eternal, or everlasting life. The ruler’s question is, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
3. Christ’s answer, however, is extremely unique to both the New Testament and to Christ Himself. “Thou knowest the commandments.” This is the only place in the New Testament where commandments are mentioned with regard to the obtaining of eternal life.
4. The ruler’s response is that he had kept the commandments from the time of his youth until the present time.
5. Christ does not rebuke the ruler’s claim that he had kept the commandments.
6. Christ then adds simply one commandment, a commandment that the rich, young ruler was not willing to keep. After all, if the rich, young ruler had kept the Ten Commandments, one more would not be too hard for him to keep.
7. The rich, young ruler, in spite of any commandments he had kept, went away sorrowful, without salvation.

In examining this passage, the question I would like to address is this – “Why did Christ direct the rich, young ruler to the commandments in answer to his question regarding obtaining eternal life, when the New Testament explicitly and repeatedly states that salvation is not by the works of the law?”

Before we can begin to answer the question before us, it is worthy to note that Christ is the all-wise Saviour. While it is true that Solomon was the wisest man ever to have lived, it is also true that Christ rightfully proclaimed, “A greater than Solomon is here!” The book of Hebrews tells us that the word of God is quick and powerful, and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). It is not only the written word that can discern the thoughts; but the word Incarnate is well able to perform the same. John correctly speaks of Christ, “And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.”

And Christ knew what was within this rich, young ruler. Evidently, Christ knew that the rich, young ruler did not believe that Jesus was God. Hence Christ’s question, “Why callest thou me good? There is none good save one, that is, God.” It is contradictory to call Christ good without calling Him God. It becomes clear at this point, that the rich, young ruler did not have a problem with the commandments; he had a problem with the Christ. You see, you may keep every commandment in the book (theoretically), but if you do not believe that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, God manifested in the flesh, then you are as hell-bound as you can be.

John 8:24 – “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”

Every saved individual believes that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, Saviour of the world, God manifested in the flesh, Son of man without sin, and Son of God with power. When I say that a saved individual believes Christ to be Lord of all, please do not mistake what I am saying. Some adamantly oppose Lordship salvation. I oppose “Lordship salvation,” as long you define “Lordship salvation” correctly. If by “Lordship salvation,” you mean that we must perfectly submit to the Lordship of Christ by keeping every commandment without fail in order to obtain salvation, then yes, I will adamantly oppose that teaching. However, we must understand that no sinner would place his trust in Christ to save him unless he believes that Christ is Lord! If a sinner does not believe that Christ is Lord, and believes that Christ is merely an ordinary man, there is no incentive for that sinner to place his trust in Christ to save him from an eternal hell. The only reason a man would place his trust in Christ who was crucified is if the same man believes that Christ rose from the dead, proving His Lordship over death, hell, and the grave. No man would place his faith in Christ if he did not believe Christ is Lord of all.

The rich, young ruler had a problem calling Christ God, and Christ would therefore not allow him to call Him good. To obtain salvation, you must have the right concept of Christ. Christ dealt with this fallacy of the rich, young ruler first.

Now, let us examine our question. Why did Christ, when asked about obtaining eternal life, point the rich, young ruler to the commandments? This is striking for a number of reasons.

1. Luke’s account of the rich, young ruler is also found in Matthew and Mark, but is not found in the book of John.
2. The account of the rich, young ruler is the only instance in the gospels where Jesus pointed someone to the commandments when asked about obtaining eternal life.
3. Jesus taught explicitly how to obtain eternal life more in the gospel of John than in any other gospel.
4. In the book of John, Jesus never spoke anything of commandments in connection with eternal life.
5. In the book of John, Jesus never spoke anything of repentance in connection with eternal life. As a matter of fact, the words, “repent,” “repentance,” “repenteth,” and “repenting” are not found in the book of John at all.
6. In the book of John, Jesus always connected the act of believing on Christ with receiving eternal or everlasting life (1:12; 3:14-18, 36; 5:24; 6:28-29, 35, 40, 47; 7:38; 8:24; 11:25-26; 12:44-46; 20:31).
7. In the book of Acts, salvation is defined as believing on Christ (8:36-37; 10:43; 13:39; 16:30-31).
8. In the epistles, salvation is by grace, through faith, obtained by believing on Christ (Romans 1:16; Romans 3:21-22, 26; Romans 10:9-13; I Corinthians 1:21; Galatians 3:22; Ephesians 2:8-9; I Timothy 4:10; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 4:3; Hebrews 10:39; Hebrews 11:6; I John 3:23; I John 5:1, 4-5).

Clearly, the instance of the rich, young ruler is the only instance where the obtaining of eternal life is associated with commandments. Apart from this isolated incident, Christ never told anyone to keep commandments to obtain eternal life. The concept of keeping commandments to obtain everlasting life is completely foreign to New Testament teaching. This concept is not only foreign to New Testament teaching, but it is also contradictory to a number of New Testament passages.

The New Testament plainly teaches that salvation is not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5), that salvation is apart from works (Romans 4:5), and that salvation is not by faith initially and then by works (Romans 11:6). The New Testament is clear that no commandment is capable of giving life (Galatians 3:21), and that by the works of the law no flesh is justified in the sight of God (Galatians 2:16; Galatians 3:11).

With these undeniable truths in mind, why then did Christ, when questioned about obtaining eternal life, point the rich, young ruler to the commandments? And why is this the absolute ONLY instance where Christ mentions commandments in association with eternal life?

In answering this question, let us first look at the actual question of the rich, young ruler – “What must I DO to inherit eternal life?” Paul and Silas, in the Philippian jail, were asked precisely the same question by a jailer in Acts 16:30 – “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Their answer did not contain the word “commandments.” Their answer was the same answer that Christ gave repeatedly throughout the gospel of John – “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Now we must ask the question, “Did Paul and Silas give the right answer?” The answer must be a resounding, “Of course they did!” It was the same answer given repeatedly by Christ Himself. The context of Acts 16 shows us that Paul and Silas gave the correct answer – for the whole household of the jailer followed Paul and Silas’ reply, and was saved! So, the rich, young ruler of Luke 18 and the jailer of Acts 16 asked the same question, but got a different response! The jailer was told to believe for salvation (and we are told he received salvation); the rich, young ruler was pointed by Christ to the commandments (but did not receive salvation).

This brings me to an important point. The rich, young ruler, though pointed to the commandments as an answer to his question regarding obtaining eternal life, was NOT SAVED by keeping commandments. He confessed that he had kept the commandments from his youth. Christ did not rebuke his claim. Yet, he went away from Christ unsaved. So, if you point to the rich, young ruler to show that we must keep commandments to be saved, please note that the rich, young ruler was NOT SAVED! Luke 18 does not show that the rich, young ruler kept commandments and was thereby saved. Luke 18, on the other hand, shows that, in spite of any commandments kept, the rich, young ruler went away lost. There is only one reason for this – as Galatians 3:21 plainly teaches, the keeping commandments is unable to save anyone. The endeavor of keeping commandments has never saved anyone, never will save anyone, and did not save the rich, young ruler.

Although the rich, young ruler asked the same question that the jailer of Acts 16 asked, there was something different about the question of the rich, young ruler. When the jailer of Acts 16 asked Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved,” he was asking what condition he must meet in order to be saved. When the rich, young ruler, on the other hand, asked what he must do to inherit eternal life, he was not simply inquiring of what condition he must meet in order to be saved. The rich, young ruler was – a RULER! He was man who had authority. What type of ruler he was, we do not know. He could have been a soldier, a Roman governor, or a Jewish scribe. One thing is certain. He was a ruler, and all rulers in Biblical times were rulers because they had in some way merited it. They had earned their rank. This was indeed at the heart of the rich, young ruler’s question. He had met every requirement to attain his rank of leadership, and now he was ready to earn eternal life the same way. When the rich, young ruler asked the Lord about doing something to inherit eternal life, it was based on the premise that he could do something to earn it. So, the premise of the ruler’s question was a false premise. There was nothing he could DO by way of earning eternal life to inherit eternal life. Christ, then, was answering a fool according to his folly (Proverbs 26:5).

Then, Christ brought commandments into the equation. If you are going to do anything to earn eternal life, the only thing that could possibly earn it is the keeping of the commandments – perfectly and entirely. Is this not what the scriptures teach? The scriptures teach that if you are going to be righteous according to the law, you must then keep ALL the commandments (Leviticus 18:5). If you break one commandment, you have broken them all (James 2:10), and have earned nothing but death!

Upon hearing of the commandments, the rich, young ruler then made a claim that he had kept the commandments from his youth up. Christ did not rebuke him, although He certainly could have! All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). No one can say that they have kept the commandments in the days of their youth, as well as in the present, having never broken a commandment! The man who says thus is a liar! However, the Lord does not rebuke the rich, young ruler. Christ continues to deal with him as though his statements are correct.

Then, the rich, young ruler asks a striking question – “What lack I yet?” Look closely. The rich, young ruler first claims to have kept the commandments from the days of his youth. The Lord does not rebuke him. Then, the rich, young ruler, in spite of claiming to have kept the commandments, admits that something is lacking! “What lack I yet?” It is the testimony out of the ruler’s own mouth that he had kept the commandments, and yet something was still missing. The rich, young ruler has now admitted, that, in spite of keeping commandments, he has not inherited eternal life. Again, this passage does not show that keeping commandments saves from sin. Instead, it teaches us that there was a man who believed he had kept the commandments, and that same man admitted that something was still lacking. This isolated incident where Christ connects commandments with eternal life is the greatest illustrative proof that commandment-keeping does not produce eternal life.

Then the Lord gives the young, rich ruler one final commandment. This ruler, who claimed to have the commandments, then hears a commandment that he will not keep. “Sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come follow me.” Please note that the benevolence of selling all and distributing to the poor is not the plan of salvation. Jesus never told anyone else to sell all and give to the poor to inherit eternal life. So, why did He deal thus with the rich, young ruler? Even at this point in the conversation, the rich, young ruler still was holding to the false premise that eternal life could somehow be earned. I personally believe that, had this ruler simply admitted that there was nothing he could do to earn the inheritance of eternal life, and begged Christ for mercy, the Lord would have certainly showed him mercy and saved him that day.