Having Eternal Life, Matthew 19:13-16
This text is frequently misunderstood and misidentified. It is, I believe, one of those passages that use terms that are commonly used in what I would call every-day evangelical idiom that are not always used in the way the Bible uses those terms. That is one of the reasons we have to dig down and really study the text and examine these things because often we have errors taught in Scripture simply because people take certain terms—terms like eternal life, saved, inheriting—often thought of automatically as referring to justification.
We have studied many times that there are three stages or phases to salvation and the word saved is often used of the entire three-stage plan but more often it is used of each individual stage within it. Phase one is justification. It takes place in an instant of time: we believe in Jesus Christ as savior and are instantly justified by faith alone; we are saved from the penalty of sin, which is eternity in the lake of fire. After that we have another decision to make: what are we going to do now that we have new life in Christ? That is the issue of sanctification—the theological term that means growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, living a life that is set apart to His service.
This is something that begins at the instant we are born again. The birth process even in natural human life is distinct from the growth process and that is the same in the spiritual life: the birth process, regeneration, is distinct from the growth process. We grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and there are certain principles that are inherent to spiritual growth. We need to walk by the Spirit, we are to pray; there are all kinds of mandates in Scripture that a part of and characterize the life of the believer. But they are not part of getting justified; they are not part of becoming a believer. They are part of what should characterize a believer and we refer to this as phase two spiritual life, experiential sanctification. And during that time the Bible says we are saved as we grow from the power of sin. So in phase one we are saved from the penalty of sin, in phase two we are saved from the power of sin, and in phase three we are saved from the presence of sin: absent from the body and face-to-face with the Lord.
Since saved can be used to describe each of those categories of our overall so great salvation we always have to be careful when we study Scripture to make sure we are properly understanding what is going on.
Often we find things that are misunderstood, especially in this second section here where we have the one who is referred to as the rich young ruler come to Jesus. We have to understand that what happens, starting in verse 16, with the rich young ruler coming to Jesus with his question, “What shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” cannot be disconnected from the previous section, Matthew 19:13-15. Both of these are related to what is taught in this section, and that is how to have eternal life. As soon as I say “how to have eternal life” where we default to be how to get justified. But how to have eternal life we are going to see is not synonymous with getting justified: being saved from the penalty of sin so that when we die physically we are face-to-face with the Lord and we spend eternity with Him.
Having eternal life is something that is much more robust than just that sort of beginning phase of the spiritual life. It has to do with experiencing the richness, the fulness of everything that God has for us, and we are going to see that as we proceed.
The next episode that occurs that Matthew records following Jesus' discussion on marriage, His emphasis on Genesis 1 & 2 standard for marriage in Matthew 19:1-12, is when he tells us:
Matthew 19:13 NASB “Then {some} children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. [14] But Jesus said, 'Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.' [15] After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.”
If we look back to verse 1 we learn that geographically Jesus had gone from the area of Galilee and moved south, and He is down in the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. I'm making that geographical note because a number of things are going to happen in chapter 19 and 20, and it is in 21 that Jesus goes to Jericho and He is going to be moving to Jerusalem. So that is a reminder that there is a transition taking place from His ministry in the north to His final days in Jerusalem. We are probably within three months at this time of His crucifixion.
It is very helpful for us as we look at what Matthew says about this little episode and to compare it with what Mark and Luke say. The synoptic Gospels are parallel, like synonyms; parallel but not identical, and each author brings out another facet, something else about what is going on.
Matthew uses this term “of such”, i.e. like these children. There is a comparison that goes on between little children in their culture and how disciples are to be in their thinking and in their attitudes.
Mark 10:13 NASB “And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them ...” This was not uncommon in second temple Judaism at that time. It was customary for people to bring their children to rabbis for blessing, for prayer. Matthew is the only one who mentions prayer; that was the idea that He would touch them and bless them. “... but the disciples rebuked them.” They hadn't learned the lesson from the beginning of Matthew chapter eighteen yet.
“But Jesus said, 'Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these'” – same phraseology that Matthew uses. Then He says, [15] “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it {at} {all.}” Luke says the same thing: Luke 18:17. What he is talking about is making some analogy between the ways little children are viewed in their culture and entering into the kingdom.
Now as soon as you hear that your mind defaults to thinking about getting into heaven. As soon as you do that you are walking down the wrong road in understanding this passage. What does He mean by entering into the kingdom? Is Jesus talking about phase one salvation, or is He talking about phase two—spiritual life and spiritual growth?
Remember, in Matthew 18:3, 4 we had the first reference to children. The question the disciples were arguing about among themselves was who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So Jesus has a little object lesson. He calls the little child over to Himself and says, “Assuredly I say to you, unless you are converted ...” Who is He talking to? He is talking to His twelve disciples, eleven of whom are saved. He is not talking to them about going from spiritual death to spiritual life, about being justified; He is telling to them that if they don't turn (quit your arrogant self-absorption) and become like a little child, then you are not going to inherit anything in the kingdom.
Entering the kingdom there doesn't mean getting justified. He is telling them that entering the kingdom is something more than just going to heaven when we die, that it is experiencing all of the riches and fulness of that eternal life that God is going to give us is predicated upon becoming like the little child.
Notice that chapter eighteen begins with the same kind of event as chapter nineteen ends. A child in that culture had no position, power or privilege. And what was the context? The disciples were arguing: Who has status among us? Who is going to be the greatest among us? And Jesus was saying they had to quit thinking about being great in this life, they had to stop thinking about status and start thinking about service; it is not about you, it is about Me. That is the issue. It is not just about humility in general; it is about giving up the claims to position, privilege, rights and things of that nature.
This is the problem. As human beings we latch on to all kinds of things that make us fell like we are somebody. We want to have wealth, power, privilege, certain kinds of homes, we want certain kinds of designer clothes, we want to be identified as a certain kind of image related to status, and that is what gives us significance. Jesus says that attitude negates whatever it is that you have done; it is not about status, it is about service. The issue, when we look at the comparison at the end of both these verses, Jesus uses the phrase “enter the kingdom of heaven” in contrast to or in conjunction “greatest in the kingdom of heaven”.
Matthew 18:5 NASB “And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me”. And in Luke 9:48 NASB “and said to them, 'Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great'.” But when we look at the end of Matthew chapter nineteen, in verse 30: “But many {who are} first will be last; and {the} last, first.”
Jesus is reminding the disciples again that experiencing the fulness of our salvation in the kingdom is related to this childlike reality, not focusing on status or privilege or anything like that. What we are reminded of is that the issue for the unbeliever is faith alone in Christ alone; it is the gift of God, not of works (Ephesians 2:8, 9). A gift is something that is freely given; a reward is something that is earned. Rewards are given to believers on the basis of performance, not as a free gift.
The next person that comes along is this rich young ruler. We shift from focusing on a child who has no position, power, privilege or status to talking about someone who has it all. Everybody wants to be like the rich young ruler. They want money, youth, energy and vitality, and they want to be a ruler: they want power; they want to be able to impact things.
Mark 10:17 NASB “As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, 'Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' ” This rich young ruler comes running. Mark is the one who is always in a hurry. Luke introduces him by saying: “A certain ruler asked Him, saying ...” Each Gospel gives a little different portrayal of this one that is coming. Matthew 19:16 NASB “And someone came to Him and said, 'Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?' ” That is his basic question.
When we look at this as an overall structure it is really important to see that this whole section all the way to verse 30 is structured according to a chiasm. There are a lot of different ways in which literature focuses attention on certain specifics in the text. Remember they were writing in an age before they even separated words in a sentence, so there is just one long run-on of letters. There is no space between words in the original. In the uncial text every letter is upper case and it just looks like a string of letters. So what the writers used was structure in order to bring out certain points.
A chiasm is an X, and they would structure things where the ideas in the first line are repeated in the last, the second is repeated in the second to last, and then whatever is in the middle is the focal point of what is being said. If you were to draw two lines it would form the left side of an X. That is why it is called a chiasm [xi is the Greek CHI]. Like an arrow it draws attention to that middle line.
So the text starts off in Matthew 19:13-15, that the kingdom belongs to the children. Then in 19:16 we have the terms “receiving a kingdom” and “inheriting eternal life”. This is what the rich young ruler is asking: “What shall I do that I may obtain eternal life”. In the parallel passages it is talking about inheriting the kingdom or receiving the kingdom.
In Matthew 19:17-29, which is the centrepiece, the focus is on inheriting eternal life and obtaining treasure in heaven. That is critical to understand, as we will see. That is the focal point. Obtaining treasure has to do with rewards. That is one of several things we will see that really tell us that we are not talking about phase one salvation, getting into heaven when we die; we are talking about phase two, growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ so that when we are face-to-face with the Lord we hear the praise, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”, and we have rewards at the judgment seat of Christ. So this is our first hint that this is not about what most people think it is about.
As we get into this we have to recognize that there are a number of interesting questions that come up. Who is this young man? We don't know who he is. Is he a believer in Christ or is he an unbeliever? What do we learn about that from the text? And what does he mean by getting or obtaining or having eternal life? Is he coming to ask Jesus how to go to heaven when he dies, or is he asking something else?
There are a number of positions I want to show how cluttered the interpretations are on this passage. In the Dallas Seminary Bible Knowledge Commentary we are told that what is really going on here is that the young man is asking about assurance of salvation—how can I be sure of salvation? A lot of commentators just ignore the whole thing and don't answer the question.
The second position is one that I have heard most of my life, and probably the position that was held by most of those I heard teach at Dallas Seminary when I was a student there, and that is the idea that Jesus is really showing him that he can't obey the Law—that He is taking his assumption that he can obey the Law and get eternal life—and Jesus points out something that is impossible for him to do in order to teach him that he can't do anything on his own in order to get saved.
Another view is that Jesus is using this example to show the rich young ruler that his basic problem was his love of money. Another is that Jesus is saying that the only way to heaven is through discipleship, and this is half right; this is a discipleship passage, but Jesus is not talking about how to get to heaven. He is talking about discipleship though.
In a view that is called neo-nomism, which is a sort of hyper-Calvinist view that has become very popular, they say that in order to be eligible for final justification the believer has to perform many non-meritorious works or they will not be justified. This is similar to Lordship salvation except it is Lordship on steroids: if you don't have the right kind of works you are not really saved. So according to this view, Jesus is telling this rich young ruler that you have to have all these works, not just cherry pick which commandments you are going to apply.
Another view is that Jesus is not trying to teach salvation by works but was testing the sincerity of the young man's desire for eternal life. In other words, you have to sell everything you have and the man says, oh man, I don't want to do that. So he really doesn't want eternal life, he is not sincere enough.
Some Lordship people teach that if a person could actually fulfil the law of love to perfection then they would obtain eternal life, that it is possible to earn eternal life.
The view I take is none of the above. It is that the rich young ruler is really asking a question that grows out of the Old Testament. He doesn't feel that he is experiencing what the Law promises right now, as well as life eternal. But the focus in the Old Testament, as we will see, is right now and he is asking how to receive the fulness of life right now, which ultimately impacts, as Jesus is going to bring in, eternal rewards.
If you look at most of the views that are wrong what happens is that Jesus never answers the question and He leaves the guy hanging with the false impression that he has to be obedient in order to get what he is looking for, in terms of justification. Most of those views interpret that as a question about how to get to heaven when you die, and when we get done with this we are going to see that that is not the question at all.
An overview here. It is interesting to look at the phrases that are used just in Matthew that are synonymous.
In 19:14 Jesus refers to the children and says: “... and such is the kingdom of God”. That idea is seen as parallel to what the rich young ruler is asking: “... That I may have eternal life”.
In 19:17 having eternal life is also stated as entering into life. When we think of entering into life and having eternal life our default position is that this is a question of how do I get to heaven when I die? But Jesus says in 19:21, “If you want to be perfect ...” Getting into heaven isn't about being perfect, and the word there for perfect is the Greek word TELEIOS, which is always a word for maturity. It doesn't mean flawlessness in terms of perfect; it means maturity, growing to maturity. So in Jesus' response to the question, what must I do to have eternal life? He says, “If you want to be mature.” He is answering a maturity question, not a getting born question.
Another phrase that we have is, “you will have treasure in heaven”. It is not about getting into heaven, it is about having treasure in heaven. In 1 Corinthians chapter three where it talks about the judgment seat of Christ, those who are obedient to Christ and grow spiritually are going to have rewards. Those who are disobedient believers still end up in heaven but they enter as with nothing. So to have treasure in heaven we have to walk in obedience, but that is not how we get to heaven.
In 19:25 the disciples' response to this is: “This is pretty rugged, how can we be saved?” People look at “Saved” and think it is all about getting justified, but that is because we misinterpret these phrases. They don't mean in the Bible the way we have come to use them in evangelicalism.
In 19:17 he talks about keeping the commandments. Jesus says, “You also need to sell what you have and give to the poor. Why would Jesus say that? Jesus isn't a Marxist! He isn't espousing liberation theology. Liberation theology is a works distortion like every other religious position. This is not Marxism or socialism, both of those are enemies of Christianity, and anybody who approves of socialism or Marxism or redistribution of wealth is an anti-Christian; they have bought into an anti-Christ philosophy. They have bought into the Devil's lie. People have a right to personal property. What is the simplest defence of that? “Thou shalt not steal”. The assumption is that people have a right to have and nobody has a right to your property. Not even the government!
What does Jesus say that the rich young ruler needs to do? You need to come to me: 19:14, the little children are to come to Him. In 19:21 to the rich young ruler: “If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have, give to the poor … come follow me.” How do you get to heaven? “Believe on me”. Is that follow me? Follow and believe are not the same thing. The fact that Jesus says “Follow me” tells us right away that He is not talking about phase one, He is talking about phase two. Follow me is a sanctification, discipleship term; Believe on me is a justification term.
The disciples clearly understand Him, and when we look at verse
27: Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You
...” That is a discipleship issue, not a justification issue. “... what then
will there be for us? [28] And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the
regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” What is
that—reward or gift? It is reward. So He is not talking about the gift of
justification, He is talking about the rewards that come from spiritual growth.
It is very clear that it is talking about phase two, but then because these terms are all used synonymously the terms we often think of as being phase one justification—that I may have eternal life, enter into life, enter the kingdom of heaven, being saved—in this context these are all talking about what relates to rewards, not what relates to justification.
So let's look at this first question. Matthew 19:16 NASB “And someone came to Him and said, 'Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain/have eternal life?' ” Luke: “inherit”; Mark “inherit”.
Parallel Phrases!
• Have (obtain) eternal life, Matt. 19:16
• Inherit eternal life, Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18
So having eternal life and inheriting eternal life have to be the same thing.
Jesus, then, in His answer says this has to do with having treasure in heaven—mentioned in all three Gospels.
• Have treasure in heaven, Matt. 19:21; Mk. 10:21; Luke 18:22
Jesus also says that this is being perfect. Being perfect isn't justification, being perfect is being mature.
• Be perfect, Matt. 19:21;
Not only do you have to be perfect but you have to take up your cross and follow me. That is clearly a discipleship mandate. Taking up your cross means to submit to the authority of God.
• And take up your cross, Mark 10:21
• Enter the kingdom of heaven (God), Matt. 19:23, 24; Mark 10:23–25;
• Be saved, Matt. 19:25; Mark 10:26
Again we are forced into the conclusion that for all these phrases to be synonymous we are not talking about how to go to heaven when you die, we are talking about to be a mature believer so that you have eternal rewards in heaven when you die.
“Follow Me” used 6× in Matthew!
Matt. 4:19, “Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ ”
So following Him is a post-salvation issue. The challenge to us as believers is, are we going to truly follow Jesus? Are we just happy to end up in heaven? “I don't care what happens when I get there, just as long as I get there”. That is a silly, superficial answer.
Matt. 8:22, “But Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.’ ” That is the issue. Cf. 19:29. Again, that is not a condition for salvation; it is a condition for spiritual growth and discipleship.
Matt. 9:9, “As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And
He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ So he arose and followed Him.” Matthew was already a believer.
Matt. 10:38, “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”
Matt. 16:24, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’ ”
In Matthew chapter 19 we have these three statements:
Matt. 19:21, “Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’ ”
Matt. 19:27, “Then Peter answered and said to Him, ‘See, we have left all and followed You.
Therefore what shall we have?’ ”
Matt. 19:28, “So Jesus said to them, ‘Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’ ”
The reason Jesus says you need to sell all you have isn't because He is trying to humble them, tell them you need to be poor; you need to give up everything. That is not the issue. The issue is that the rich young ruler has the same problem the disciples had. What was the disciples' problem? To be somebody. They wanted to have status. The rich young ruler has status; he has it all. But Jesus said that the real issue you have is you are emphasizing what you have, your possessions your status, as being spiritually significant, and you have to give that up if you are going to follow me.
It is not that people have to give up money, they have to be willing to give up whatever they are holding on to to give them status in this world. They have to be willing to lose that for Christ's sake so that they can have real life. It doesn't mean you have to give it all up, but he is not willing to because his mind is still focused on what he has in this life and that it is significant. Jesus is saying quit thinking about this life, it's about the next life. We are living today in light of eternity. If you are living today in light of personal pleasure, security, and significance today, then you are going to be giving up eternal rewards.
So he asks: “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” He uses the word ECHO, which doesn't mean just to have or to hold, it also has the idea of possessing something. It is a broad, general word. We could easily translate that, “What must I do to possess or to own eternal life?”
The parallel way this is expressed, and he probably said this as well, is, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He probably asked the same question two or three different times to make it clear.
What does he mean by life? What dispensation is this? The age of the Law. What does the Law say about life? In the Old Testament dispensation, which is the one he is in, he is still thinking in terms of the Mosaic Law because that is this whole issue, and the Mosaic Law promised life. Ezekiel 20:11 NASB “I gave them My statutes and informed them of My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live.” Is that talking about after death or the fulness of life right here and now? We see this in other passages, like Deuteronomy 4:1, 40.
Deuteronomy 4:1 NASB “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Deuteronomy 4:40 NASB “So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”
Deuteronomy 5:33 NASB “You shall walk in all the way which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong {your} days in the land which you will possess.”
So his question is in the context of the Mosaic Law: I'm fulfilling all of the commandments but I want to make sure I have this rich life.
Deuteronomy 30:15 and 30:19 is Moses' parting shot at and challenge to Israel: Deuteronomy 30:15 NASB “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity … I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live ...” How do you have life? By obeying the Mosaic Law. That is not how you got saved but that is how you experienced the fulness of life that God wanted for you.
How did the person in the Old Testament get justified? Pattern of Abraham: “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness”.
Leviticus 18:5 NASB “So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the LORD.”
So the issue in terms of this question is the issue of not how a man gets justified but how a justified person experiences the fulness of life. Jesus said: “I came not like a thief to steal and destroy, but to give life and to give it abundantly.” It is one thing to have a never-ending life once we die and go to heaven; it is another thing to have the fulness and richness of that.
There is a condition for that. There is no condition for getting justified other than faith alone in Christ alone. To experience the richness of what that life can be like we have to walk by the Spirit, we have to be obedient to the Lord, we have to submit to God, we have to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the key.