Who Then Can Be Saved?

MK 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

In previous posts I have talked about verses in the bible that are misunderstood, misquoted, taken out of context, and used incorrectly to make it say something that it does not say... this is one more to add to the list of those quotes.

Now, I am sure that many of the times this verse is quoted incorrectly, it is still pretty harmless in its application, since we know that God is Omnipotent, meaning all powerful, and that NOTHING IS impossible with God. I am not sure however, that most people will not contradict that very statement if what they are presented with is the facts layed out with the context of the passage of Scripture from which the verse is taken. What is the context of the passage? Before you read on.... ask yourself to see if you know.

I will quote the passage in it's entirety to keep you from having to look it up elsewhere so we can check the context. This passage is taken from the Gospel of Mark:

10:15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
10:16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.
10:19 You know the commandments: `Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.' "
10:20 "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
10:22 At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
10:23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
10:24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it isn to enter the kingdom of God!
10:25 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."
10:26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"
10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

As you can see in verse 15, Jesus was talking about receiving the kingdom of God like a child, and not just a child, but a little child. He said I tell you the truth! Unless you receive the kingdom of God like a little child you will never enter it. First let me stop here at least to prevent anyone from thinking that Jesus is talking about "going to heaven"! He did NOT say that you would not go to heaven, He said you would not enter the Kingdom of God! Okay, so what is the Kingdom of God then if it is not heaven?  Romans 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."  Ah, see why context is important? The Kingdom of God is not a place, but a type of life! You cannot enter into that type of living full of peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit unless you become as trusting, and reliant on God to supply all of your needs as a little child would to a parent.

Okay, that being said, lets go on to see what's next, because the next verses are connected since Jesus often will teach something, and then provide the experience to drive home His point! As He went on His way, a man ran up to Him, fell on his knees, called Him good teacher, and asked what he needed to do to inherit eternal life? Notice first that the man did not ask what he needed to do to get to heaven! And yet Jesus answers strangely by asking why is the man calling Him good since God is only good.

Now some have used this verse to try to say that it proves Jesus was not Divine, however this is not the case simply because Jesus was questioning the motives of the person calling him good if he did not believe Jesus was the Messiah! In other words, Jesus was saying, why are YOU calling me good?

Next Jesus replied that the man knew the Commandments and He named some of them. And let me pause here again to say that Jesus did not tell him that by obeying the Commandments that he would inherit eternal life! We all know that eternal life is NOT gained by obeying the Law! Not then. Not now. But Jesus was about to show him the futility of his efforts!

Next, the man says that he has obeyed all of these since he was a boy; no doubt hoping that it was enough to qualify him for salvation, and there is no reason to doubt his sincerity since we read that "Jesus looked at him and loved him."  I think the greatest gems in Scripture are found in verses like this one that are inserted almost without notice by the reader; instead we skip past it to find out what Jesus told him;  that the man lacked ONE thing. Do you know what the one thing is that the man lacked? The answer is hidden in what Jesus told him to do next, and the reason why the man did not.

It is not until this point that we are told that the man was very rich. Jesus told him to sell everything he had and to give away the money to the poor and then follow Him, but the man walked away sad because he had great wealth, but what did he lack? The fact is that the man could have been poor and still lacked the same thing. The man could have been wealthy and not lacked anything. The difference being that his wealth is what highlighted what he lacked.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I intended in my youth to become a professional magician. I also said that I had to earn a living before I could make a living doing magic, since I left home at an early age. It was when I was around 18 that I became a Christian, and shortly after that I learned about the church's disapproval of my doing magic! It was almost as if God had removed the desire within me so that I would be willing to give up doing magic, in order to follow Him! I sold most of the magic that I had, and just kept what I could not sell. It was not until some time later that I realized I did not have to give up magic after all to be a Christian! But what it did mean for me was that I had to be willing to give it up in order to follow Jesus. Once I was willing to give it up, it was not neccessary any longer to do so.

The fact is that the rich man did not have to sell all of his possessions to follow Jesus.... he just had to be willing to do so. Don't you see that it is the motives of our heart that is more important rather than the outward actions. The outward actions of the rich man was that he tried to obey the Commandments from a heart motivated by selfishness. Do you remember what Jesus said the two greatest commandments were? They both were fulfilled by love. The second was to love your neighbor as yourself. This man could not. This is what he lacked. It is not riches that held him back, it was selfishness. I am convinced that if the man was willing to do as Jesus asked, then he would not have had to give away anything. Just get your heart right.

Compare this story with the story of Zacchaeus from Luke 19:1-10. He also was rich, but immediately was willing to give up it all to make things right. Money is not the root of all evil as some suppose. The LOVE of money is.

Now, the amazement of the disciples came from the fact that their thinking is not much different than ours even now, which is that we consider material blessings as a sign of approval from God. Oh how we look on the outside, but God judges the heart. It is because of this that the disciples asked "Who then can be saved?" It is then that Jesus said that with man this is impossible! Man cannot save himself! No man can save himself. But with God, all things are possible! This is the verse that is so often quoted to apply to everything but to what Jesus was saying.

Jesus was answering the disciples question, Who then can be saved?! With God, all things are possible! There is NO limit as to who can be saved. Even though the rich man walked away that day, God was not finished with him. He may have walked away that day sad because his riches meant more to him than following Jesus, but one thing is for sure he did not end up in a firey torment for eternity as some suppose, but is included in the ALL of the verse from I Cor. 15:22 "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." The same all in Adam that die is the same all in Christ that are made alive! The very next verse explains it further.. "But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."

Perhaps next time when you hear the verse quoted that nothing is impossible with God, then you will also consider that answer in response to the question... Who Then Can Be Saved?