2. A good man obtaineth favour of the LORD: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
The description good man immediately caught my eye and I was reminded of Jesus’ interaction with the Rich Young Ruler.
“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 wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” (Matthew 19:16-17)I have heard more than one sermon on this text as an argument that we should call no one good. Also, I have been corrected by others (who have used this as a proof text) when I have called someone good. Has anyone else had this experience? But what do we do with this proverb? Is the good man commended here an impossibility? Does this contradict what Jesus was saying? I don’t think so. Look carefully at what Jesus is being asked, “what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” It becomes obvious that this young man is asking a question about merit. How can I earn eternal life? Jesus’ response sort of goes like this (paraphrasing):
“Since you framed your question in the context of merit, the answer is: everyone fails! You see, in terms of merit, only God qualifies. Now why was it that you called me good? By the way, since you think eternal life can be earned, how are you doing at keeping the commandments?”The Rich Young Ruler was trying to establish his own righteousness apart from faith. This was a common problem of the Jews.
“For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” (Romans 10:3-4)The Rich Young Ruler claims to have kept all the commandments from his youth, but he suspects that more is required. Jesus agrees that more is required and gives him one more commandment.
“The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 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.” (Matthew 19:20-21)This commandment directed the young man to faith in Jesus – the one thing he lacked – and was very similar to this commandment.
“And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” (1 John 3:23)Now this directive from Jesus was not unique to this Rich Young Ruler. Jesus had made the same request of another (probably) rich man and he obeyed without question.
“And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.” (Matthew 9:9)Matthew was a tax collector, like Zacchaeus, and most likely was also rich.
“And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.” (Luke 19:2)Matthew left everything and followed Jesus immediately and it looks like all the other disciples did the same thing.
So, when the topic is merit, goodness is impossible among us fallen creatures. But in another context, the context of grace, goodness is possible.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:22-25)What we are seeking to cultivate in a Family Legacy is the goodness that comes from grace, not from merit.
No comments:
Post a Comment