The Bible passages upon which this lesson is built is Matthew 20:1-16, Luke 18:18-30, and Matthew 19:16-22. The premise of this lesson was that God has called you away from sin, or out of sin, depending on your circumstances. This rich young ruler expressed an interest to follow Jesus, but he was unwilling to follow through when Jesus asked him to actually take the first steps. Are you only sincere about your faith or do you desire to become serious about your faith? Knowing God does not mean that you pay Him lip service while you continue in the same behavior - knowing God, truly knowing Him, will make an unbelievable impact on how you approach life.
When I first left the shadow of the Christian community in which I had grown for the past eighteen years, a place where all speak of “being saved” and “going to heaven” with complete ease and no need of explanation, I was at first shocked at how trivially people regarded eternity and their fate after life here on earth. I wondered why so many take such a cavalier approach to their eternal salvation. But I soon realized that they simply don’t know the stakes. Of course, if everyone knew there was a God, then very few would have the courage (and sheer stupidity) to turn their back on their powerful Creator. But through talking to these young men and women, I have discovered that, in differing degrees, they truly cannot see beyond the cloak of the physical. Some turn and run the opposite way when the name of Jesus enters the conversation, some will politely describe an acquaintance called God (with no further explanation or true feeling in their statement), and there are some who are truly seeking. However, they all have one thing in common; none of them truly understands what it means to have a relationship with Christ.
A Christian, to these young people, is something that only their parents and grandparents are (or may be something they have never seen). Maybe they’ll be interested in giving God a chance one day, but right now they just want to drink, party, do drugs, and have sex with their girl/boyfriend. Deep down inside they know that a relationship, a true relationship with God, would certainly jeopardize their “me behavior.” If a serial killer and rapist can acknowledge Christ and gain eternal salvation in his cell before he is given a lethal injection, why can’t I just do what I want for a few years and then get serious about my salvation? If the only thing you have to do to go to heaven is just accept who God is, then doesn’t even the Bible in some way support this sort of mentality?
The parable of the workers from Matthew 20 describes a landowner who sets out early in the morning to find men to work in his vineyard. He immediately finds a couple of hardworking men, and he hires them for the day with the promise of a denarius for their heavy labor. As the day wears on, he hires more and more men, a few more each hour, and the time soon comes to pay the men for their work. The landowner pays each of the men a denarius and sends them on their way. When the men who had worked all day saw that they were paid the same wage as even the men who were hired to work only the last hour, they said, “These men who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.” But the owner answered them, “Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
Without a doubt, the most fundamentally important part of the Christian life is acknowledging that Jesus Christ is the only route to salvation, but this is only the first step of many in pursuing all that God has to offer those who accept his sacrifice. By telling this parable about the workers in the vineyard thousands of years ago, Jesus was making the point that it is never too late to accept his sacrifice on the cross for our sins. However, he was not encouraging us to ignore His calling in our lives. So did the serial killer and rapist who accepted Christ minutes before he died live the best life anyone could have? This man did whatever felt good and still went to heaven. But just like the teenager who turns his back on God so he or she does not “miss out” on whatever feels good, this criminal, who only narrowly escaped eternity in hell, missed out on the most completely satisfying experience a human can encounter here on earth: knowing God.
God has called you away from sin, or out of sin, depending on your circumstances. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for every sin ever committed. Becoming a Christian isn't about following a bunch of rules - our own sanctification is the result of Christ's sacrifice on the cross and could never result from our "good" works (no matter what Oprah tries to tell you). Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Unfettered by our sin nature and evil desires, this grace of God will shape and transform you into a man or woman that acts, thinks, and believes like God himself. But even in spite of our human nature, God still works a transformation that is too amazing to describe with words. As a result, God does not desire that we continue in the same behavior once we know Him (this behavior was a result of our spiritual ignorance - we thought that sin was the best thing going).
Luke 18:18-30 and Matthew 19:16-22 paint an awesome picture of this concept: A rich young ruler approached Jesus describing himself as one who had kept the religious laws "since his youth" (Matthew 19:20). The Greek word used here for ruler is one that describes a leader or official, while the word young, in this case, implies that he was between 24 and 40 years old. Such a social status for one so young testifies to the man's abilities and standing in the community; he clearly considered himself beyond reproach. Nevertheless, he still realizes that he is incomplete, and he realizes that Jesus can fill that void. But an interesting thing happens in verses 21 and 22. Jesus tells the young man, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." The rich young ruler walked away sad because he was not willing to part with his wealth. Jesus has identified the one thing that this young man has placed before God (known as an idol). What have you placed before God? Have you realized that following God could make a positive impact in you life, "but...I don't want to give up (insert idol here)." Let me say it once again - God desires that we change. This young man who claimed to be so devoted to God was afforded the opportunity to walk with Jesus himself, but he had to take the first step (move away from the things that were separating him from God). Each one of us has the same invitation, but it is impossible to become a new creature through Christ if we do not leave our idols behind (which is very hard on our own, but a joyful experience with God).I leave you with one of the most beautiful descriptions of this transformation through the faithfulness and mercy of Christ:
Ephesians 2:1-10 (the NIV is a little easier to understand):
"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
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