Jesus Speaking to a Troubled Young Man and the Crowdby CBPepper
19:25Matthew 19:25
When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
The disciples were stunned by the warning that a rich man will find it very hard to enter heaven, and they cried out in wonder how anyone at all could be saved. They asked this after a wealthy young ruler who claimed to seek eternal life refused to give up his possessions and follow when told to sell, give to the poor, and come after his Teacher. Their question lays bare the human impossibility of salvation by personal power or effort, which becomes possible only through God. No one who clings to riches and loves them more than God and neighbor can gain eternal life, for wealth ruling the heart blocks the way. Yet a rich person can enter when love for God drives out love for riches, turning him into a faithful steward who uses all he has for the needy and for God's work and so keeps the law of love to God and man.
Setting and Astonishment
The verse records the disciples being exceedingly amazed at the sayings that a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven and that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, and asking who then can be saved. The question belongs to the account of the young man with great possessions who came asking what good thing to do to have eternal life, who was told to sell what he had, give to the poor, have treasure in heaven, and follow, and who went away sorrowful after turning away from following. The meeting involved the young ruler running to Christ, kneeling, and addressing Him merely as an honored rabbi without discerning Him as the Son of God, while Christ answered that God alone is good and must be received in Christ as His Son and representative. Entering life means keeping the commandments because God's character is expressed in His law and harmony with God requires its principles to be the spring of every action.
The disciples had expected the ruler to follow as Matthew had, and his refusal left them sorrowful and dejected. Their amazement showed they were still not wholly free from a grasping, mercenary spirit that God's favor must be earned by works and the reward of the righteous gained by their own works. The warning about how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter God's kingdom exposed the disciples' own desire for power and wealth and made them fear for themselves.
The event came just before the parable of the laborers, which was given to present the right principles of God's free grace that had been almost lost sight of. The young man's condition pictures the condition of many Sabbath-keepers.
Impossible With Men, Possible With God
The question expresses how difficult salvation appears when people cling to earthly wealth and when wealth rules the heart. It reflected the disciples' belief that the ruler's standing made him a likely candidate for salvation, for they had expected him to follow and his refusal left them sorrowful and dejected. It shows how impossible salvation can appear to human beings, with the disciples thinking salvation appeared impossible.
The answer that follows is that salvation is impossible for people by themselves and by their own power and human effort, but all things are possible with God. What is impossible with people is possible with God. Salvation is impossible through human effort but possible with God.
It was made possible because Christ gave His life to the work of soul-saving to make it possible for human beings to return to loyalty and take their stand under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel. Rich and poor alike enter God's kingdom only through Christ's unmerited grace.
Riches, Stewardship, and Application
The question brings out how wealth hinders salvation when earthly advantages are used to exalt self. It is especially pointed when professed followers withhold what Christ calls for and spend His entrusted goods on self-gratification, pride, and display. No rich man can be saved while he clings to his riches. God will never permit rich men to keep their riches and yet enter the kingdom, for they cannot have their riches and a treasure in heaven too.
It is God's plan that riches be used properly and distributed to bless the needy and to advance His work. If men love their riches better than their fellow men, better than God or the truth of His word, and their hearts are on their riches, they cannot have eternal life. They venture to risk eternal life for worldly possession. Truth set home to the heart by the Spirit will crowd out the love of riches, for the love of Jesus and riches cannot dwell in the same heart.
The love of God so far surpasses the love of riches that the possessor breaks away from his riches and transfers his affections to God. He finds highest pleasure in making a right disposition of his Lord's goods, administers to the wants of God's cause, holds all he has as not his own, and faithfully discharges his duty as God's steward. Then he can keep the first four commandments and the last six, loving the Lord his God with all heart, soul, and mind and loving his neighbor as himself. In this way it is possible for a rich man to enter the kingdom, and everyone who has forsaken houses, family, or lands for Christ's sake shall receive a hundredfold and inherit everlasting life.
Wealth and self-directed choices cannot secure salvation, so those who trust their own ideas and do as they please while expecting eternal life will be disappointed. The question is answered by the need to use one's means in God's service rather than insist on one's own way. It is also the anguished question of who can be saved when sin is exposed before a pure and holy God. Applied to professed believers whose recorded sins are laid open, it raises who can stand justified, whose robes are spotless, and who is faultless in God's sight.
The disciples were stunned by the warning that a rich man will find it very hard to enter heaven, and they cried out in wonder how anyone at all could be saved. They asked this after a wealthy young ruler who claimed to seek eternal life refused to give up his possessions and follow when told to sell, give to the poor, and come after his Teacher. Their question lays bare the human impossibility of salvation by personal power or effort, which becomes possible only through God. No one who clings to riches and loves them more than God and neighbor can gain eternal life, for wealth ruling the heart blocks the way. Yet a rich person can enter when love for God drives out love for riches, turning him into a faithful steward who uses all he has for the needy and for God's work and so keeps the law of love to God and man.
Setting and Astonishment
The verse records the disciples being exceedingly amazed at the sayings that a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven and that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, and asking who then can be saved. The question belongs to the account of the young man with great possessions who came asking what good thing to do to have eternal life, who was told to sell what he had, give to the poor, have treasure in heaven, and follow, and who went away sorrowful after turning away from following. The meeting involved the young ruler running to Christ, kneeling, and addressing Him merely as an honored rabbi without discerning Him as the Son of God, while Christ answered that God alone is good and must be received in Christ as His Son and representative. Entering life means keeping the commandments because God's character is expressed in His law and harmony with God requires its principles to be the spring of every action.
The disciples had expected the ruler to follow as Matthew had, and his refusal left them sorrowful and dejected. Their amazement showed they were still not wholly free from a grasping, mercenary spirit that God's favor must be earned by works and the reward of the righteous gained by their own works. The warning about how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter God's kingdom exposed the disciples' own desire for power and wealth and made them fear for themselves.
The event came just before the parable of the laborers, which was given to present the right principles of God's free grace that had been almost lost sight of. The young man's condition pictures the condition of many Sabbath-keepers.
Impossible With Men, Possible With God
The question expresses how difficult salvation appears when people cling to earthly wealth and when wealth rules the heart. It reflected the disciples' belief that the ruler's standing made him a likely candidate for salvation, for they had expected him to follow and his refusal left them sorrowful and dejected. It shows how impossible salvation can appear to human beings, with the disciples thinking salvation appeared impossible.
The answer that follows is that salvation is impossible for people by themselves and by their own power and human effort, but all things are possible with God. What is impossible with people is possible with God. Salvation is impossible through human effort but possible with God.
It was made possible because Christ gave His life to the work of soul-saving to make it possible for human beings to return to loyalty and take their stand under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel. Rich and poor alike enter God's kingdom only through Christ's unmerited grace.
Riches, Stewardship, and Application
The question brings out how wealth hinders salvation when earthly advantages are used to exalt self. It is especially pointed when professed followers withhold what Christ calls for and spend His entrusted goods on self-gratification, pride, and display. No rich man can be saved while he clings to his riches. God will never permit rich men to keep their riches and yet enter the kingdom, for they cannot have their riches and a treasure in heaven too.
It is God's plan that riches be used properly and distributed to bless the needy and to advance His work. If men love their riches better than their fellow men, better than God or the truth of His word, and their hearts are on their riches, they cannot have eternal life. They venture to risk eternal life for worldly possession. Truth set home to the heart by the Spirit will crowd out the love of riches, for the love of Jesus and riches cannot dwell in the same heart.
The love of God so far surpasses the love of riches that the possessor breaks away from his riches and transfers his affections to God. He finds highest pleasure in making a right disposition of his Lord's goods, administers to the wants of God's cause, holds all he has as not his own, and faithfully discharges his duty as God's steward. Then he can keep the first four commandments and the last six, loving the Lord his God with all heart, soul, and mind and loving his neighbor as himself. In this way it is possible for a rich man to enter the kingdom, and everyone who has forsaken houses, family, or lands for Christ's sake shall receive a hundredfold and inherit everlasting life.
Wealth and self-directed choices cannot secure salvation, so those who trust their own ideas and do as they please while expecting eternal life will be disappointed. The question is answered by the need to use one's means in God's service rather than insist on one's own way. It is also the anguished question of who can be saved when sin is exposed before a pure and holy God. Applied to professed believers whose recorded sins are laid open, it raises who can stand justified, whose robes are spotless, and who is faultless in God's sight.