Words of Jesus Podcast - More to Completion Than The Sinners Prayer

Episode Date: August 16, 2024

The path to regeneration is to turn from your ways (repent); then, keep the Ten commandments. This act of continuing obedience reveals your belief and opens the door to communication. Communication from the Spirit of God leads to revelation of character flaws and the opportunity to make the changes required for perfection. The guidance we seek is the result of obedience. The move toward salvation is instant; the path to perfection is a progression - repentance, regeneration, endurance, and ultimately, salvation. ***84: Jesus Tells Of The Temptation Of RichesMatthew 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30A MAN came to Jesus and asked:            “Good Master, what shall I do that I may have eternal life?”            Jesus replied:            “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one–that is, God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”            The man asked:            “Which?”            Jesus replied:            “Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”            The man said to Jesus:            “All these things I have kept from my youth up. What lack I yet?”            Jesus, looking upon him, loved him and replied:            “One thing thou lackest. Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow me.”            When the man heard that, he went away sadly; for he had very great possessions. Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said:            “Verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of Heaven.”            The disciples were astonished at these words. Seeing their surprise, Jesus said to them:            “Children, how hard it is for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”            The astonishment of the disciples was great. They said to one another:            “Who then can be saved?”            Jesus answered them saying:            “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”            Thereupon Peter said to Jesus:            “Behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee. What shall we have therefore?”            Jesus replied to him:           ...

Think Red Ink Ministries presents The Words of Jesus Series with Don C. Harris Hello my friends, welcome once again to the Words of Jesus series. I'm Don Harris, your host of Think Red Ink Ministries in Pytown, New Mexico. Glad to have you on board today as we continue with chapter 84. Jesus teaches of the temptation of riches. The Temptation of Riches. This is a whole slew of scriptures, so I'm sure they have collected them in the order of subject. We'll see how they did.

A man came to Jesus and asked, Good Master, what must I do, what shall I do, that I may inherit eternal life? Jesus replied, Why callest thou me good? is none good that but one that is God now before he answers his question he makes a statement about the fact that this fella used the word good you know we've been talking a lot about using words, haven't we? We've been talking about using words correctly and properly and with purpose. There's a reason why there's the word good. There's a reason why there's...

Every word has a reason and a definition behind it. And I think we probably ought to take a little more time and use words correctly. I don't think it's that difficult. As a matter of fact, you'll be kind of proud of yourself if you'll stop the talking that has, that you have to follow everything with, you know what I mean. Why don't we say what we mean?

Well, this, Jesus is assuming that this fellow meant what he said. And he said, good master. Now, Jesus didn't really appreciate that. As a matter of fact, this scripture is misused by many people when they talk about what they consider to be the divinity of Christ. And the reason I say it's what they consider to be the divinity of Christ is because they feel like Christ is only divine if he was indeed God when he was on the earth. We don't really care that Jesus never claimed to be God.

He wouldn't dare. We don't care that he said that I am the Son of God, separating himself as a separate entity from the Father, Yehovah, Jehovah. We don't really care that Jesus referred to himself as the son of man. We insist that he be God. There's a lot of theological problems with Jesus being God on the earth. The most obvious of which is the one the atheists bring up a lot. If Jesus was God, how did you kill this guy?

Which is a really great question. Did we kill God on a cross? No, we did not. We killed a man on the cross that had come into the world by way of a divine intervention between God and mankind, namely his mother Mary. Jesus never claimed to be God, and there are people who take this scripture, you talk about taking scripture and twisting and wringing every drop of doctrine out of it that

they can this is one of the prime examples Jesus says why callest thou me good there is none good but God they add to this the idea that, yes, indeed, I am good because I am God. Or they say, you're referring to me as good because you know me to be God. They take this as a claim that Jesus is claiming to be God because this man called him good. You can't get more convoluted than that. If you're going to insist that Jesus was God on the earth, there's better arguments than this. This is pitiful. And I'm amazed at how, you know, I respect certain theologians and men of renown in this area and men

of higher education and, and well frankly they should just know better than this but they don't see it doesn't seem to bother them that they're making an idiot's argument when they do these kinds of things they also prove to me that they do not believe that the bible is the word of god because they wouldn't dare change it or add to it or try to say that Jesus is saying something that he didn't say. Jesus is trying to explain to him friend, we're all in this together, alright? And when you talk about good, you need to know

that that refers to one being in the universe. That's my father, God. And that's really all he was saying here. There's no reason to believe he was saying anything else. It was a parenthetical addition to, actually a prefix for, his answer to the question. And that thought is totally unrelated to what the man said. The man asked him a question, what do I need to do to inherit eternal life? Jesus answered his question. And he said something that no preacher that I know of, I'll be glad for you to tell me their names, send me a list, if you will, research this if you want to, knock on any door, any church door, any pastor studies door, check in any commentary, check anywhere you want, and you will never find, at least it's been my experience,

you will never find anyone answering the question, what must I do to inherit eternal life, with the answer that Jesus, the namesake of our faith, the namesake of Christian in general, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the one who came into the earth to save the world, the one we say we all believe in. Wow, I'm running out of preambles here. The truth is, is that Jesus Christ answered this question the way I have never, ever heard any man on the face of the earth ever answer the question the way Jesus answered it. I have a serious problem with that, preachers.

What is it about what Jesus said that we don't want any part of? Well, I'll show you exactly what is the problem. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Well, I'll show you exactly what is the problem. What must I do to inherit eternal life? All right, what we're going to do is we're going to eliminate the interrupter of why do you call me good, okay? I think we've established, or at least we should have established by now, that that particular statement that jesus was making pertained to the way he was addressed only has nothing to do with eternal life has nothing to do with his answer to his question he said that first and then he answered his question he says what must i do to inherit eternal life jesus answered him if thou will enter into

life keep the commandments what am i supposed to do with that just take my sharpie and just mark it out because the answer to the question we all know the answer to the question what must i do to inherit eternal life you need to believe on me believe in me believe in god have faith in god and and if you want to just get down into the crass, ridiculous, you know, religious rhetoric, go to church, get baptized, get filled with the Holy Spirit, you know, speak in tongues. I mean, you know, because there is a big list

in a lot of churches' ideas and in their articles of faith. Jesus answered this question in one sentence you want to enter into life keep the commandments i think it's interesting that this situation uh was iterated four different times in three different gospels three different gospel writers three three different witnesses. Well, of course, we know Luke wasn't a witness, but we do know that the gospels record essentially the same answer to essentially the same question. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Keep the commandments. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Well, you've read the commandments. are they i mean every time somebody asked about eternal life jesus referred to the commandments does paul have a problem with that no paul doesn't have a

problem with that if you don't if you're not keeping the commandments then i'm afraid you're you're not inside the kingdom of god how are you going to be inside the kingdom of a king who makes commands and demands upon you that you don't obey? Does Peter have a problem with that? No, you're a liar if you're not keeping the commandments and say that you're a child of God. Now, I mean, does any of the apostles, any of the writers of the epistles have any problem with what Jesus said? No. But every preacher I know has a problem with this statement and will not answer that question in that way. People say, well, Jesus was ministering under the Old Testament. Are you a dispensationalist or something? Do you believe that they were saved differently in the Old Testament than they're saved in the New Testament? Frankly, friend, if you have to invent things like

dispensationalism to explain your doctrine, perhaps you need to give it another look. There's no need for this. The commandments continue right on into the new testament some people well we all know what the commandment is that nobody likes we all know what it is you know people wonder sometimes why do you talk so much about the sabbath day it's the one people have trouble with now in jesus's day people didn't have any trouble with keeping the the Sabbath. It was not really a problem in those days. Why? Well, they were reestablishing Israel. Israel had recently, relatively recently, come out of captivity because God said, you didn't keep

the Sabbath day for 490 years? You owe me 70. That's what he said. That's what he, I mean, that was the reason they went into captivity. Well, you can bet that the Pharisees and the councils and the religious leaders of that day knew that without a doubt. So what did they do? They made sure, by golly, everybody kept the Sabbath day day we're not going back into captivity folks we're not doing that we're going to keep the sabbath day this is why there was set up what i call the sabbath police in those days they watched it very carefully they paid close attention to this that's why they were concerned about jesus healing on the sabbath day can he do that is he

violating the sabbath day there was some accusatory um uh motivations behind what they were doing yes they were trying to find something wrong with jesus so they don't have to believe him you know like we do today um and um and i and i'm not discounting that, but I'll tell you, there was a deep-set fear within the Jews. It says if he's violating the Sabbath day as a part of Israel, he is what? What was their concern? If this man continues doing what he's doing, they're going to come and take away our place and our nation and our temple. We're all going to lose. We're all going to lose everything we have, and our nation will be turned over to the Romans. They were sitting in the

middle of a prime situation for captivity. This was a big problem and it was a historical problem. And yeah, they were concerned. Jesus was trying to explain to them, the Sabbath is a day to do good. That's what it's for. You know, the Lord didn't make you for the Sabbath.ath he made the sabbath for you they saw it as a punishment uh and they don't understand that no the punishment is not keeping the sabbath day but you know they you know they in their way they came up with ways of violating the sabbath day and they did it all the time jesus says you do it all the time why why is it that you uh and he gave the the agricultural examples of taking care of your flocks there's nothing wrong with taking care of your flocks on the sabbath day they need to eat and and drink just like anybody else does

every day there was no violation there but they tried tried to invent a rule that says, if your ox is in the ditch or there's some kind of problem, then you can work on the Sabbath day. They made all kinds of rules that allowed them to work on the Sabbath day. And Jesus is saying, all these rules you're making are for your own gain. Is it really that you don't want to do good on the Sabbath day? You don't want to heal on the Sabbath day? Do you see what the Sabbath is all about? It's the commandment, capital T, the commandment

that everyone seems to stumble over. I don't know anybody that says they need to erase thou shalt do no murder. I don't know anybody that feels that way about any other commandment. But the Sabbath day, holy mackerel, people won't leave it alone. So he says, if you will enter into life, keep the commandments. The man said, which? Now there's an odd question. There's an odd question. I can't help but believe that he was in the same quandary I was when I realized the power and the necessity and the idea of the Old Testament really not passing away.

Jesus saying the commandments are never going to pass away. Not one jot or one tittle will ever pass from the law. And so naturally, because I was thinking in that way, I started wondering, I wonder how many laws there are? Well, if you refer to or defer to the Jews' study on this, they say there's 613. Well, that's hogwash. I'm sorry to tell you. I mean, you can look into it if you want to, but they were more concerned about the number, the numerology of 613 than they were about keeping the commandments of God. Because how they decided they were commandments

and numbered among the 613 is really convoluted thinking. Some commandments are in there four or five times. Some commandments aren't in there at all. So is there 613 commandments? No, there's 10. There's always been 10. There are many commandments that pertain to the Levites. There are commandments that pertain to the Levites. There are commandments that pertain

to only women. There are a lot of what we call commandments, but when Jesus says, keep the commandments, when he said, which, I want to believe that he had the same concern I did. Are you talking about all the commandments that the jews sit around and make up are you talking about the ones they've listed the 613 laws are you talking about the 10 at sinai well jesus he went on to tell him exactly what it was he says do you know thou shalt do no murder thou shalt not commit adultery thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself. In doing so, you'll love your neighbor as yourself. You'll love God with all your heart,

soul, mind, and strength. You see, he was saying, no, no, no, no, no. We're not talking about the Pharisees' commandments. We're talking about the ones I gave Moses in the wilderness. I wrote them in the rock. Now, friend, he was perfectly capable of writing 11 commandments if he wanted to. Or 12. Or 613. Or 9. Or 6.

Or 2. He could have done anything he wanted to do. It wasn't that his finger got tired or worn out by digging out letters in a rock. Why did he stop at 10? Because there's only 10. That's why the other commandments are explanations and applications of these laws. And that's all they are.

This is really a lot simpler than we've been told it is. You can't keep the law. Tell me which commandment you can't keep, buddy. Tell me which commandment can't you keep? You can keep any and all of the Ten Commandments. Jesus says if you do so, don't get mad at me. Jesus said if you do so, you'll enter into life. Why? Are you saying that that's the way a person is saved well see the problem is what does that mean saved are you talking about being salvaged are you talking about avoiding hell are you talking

about regeneration you see jesus came to bring us regeneration he came to make us new people not just commandment keepers and he didn't come to give us the power to keep the Ten Commandments. We've had that all along. They're not that difficult. So when you say, are you saying you're being saved by the commandments? No, I'm not, because I don't think you understand what salvation really is. Salvation in its fullest is you living a life that is not violating the law and experiencing in some degree or another, depending on where you are in Christ,

regeneration of your own soul. If you endure to the end you'll be saved so will the ten commandments save you no they won't but according to jesus if you want eternal life that's what you need to do i didn't write it i'm just a reading it. Well, that sounds like I'm separating myself from what Jesus said, and I am not. There's nothing in the world better for you than to decide to keep God's commandments. As a matter of fact, that's the way you answer the call on your life. That is how you answer it. Ezekiel said in a couple of places in his prophecies the lord is telling him if you'll

not go your way and decide to go my way i'll never remember anything you ever did wrong sure sounds like entering eternal life to me you see i the old testament is not a threat to the New Testament. It's not the opposite. It's, you know, I know they say that in the Old Testament, it's Christ concealed. And in the New Testament, it's Christ revealed. Well, that's a cute little saying there.

That's really sweet. And I'm sure it looks good on your refrigerator but the truth is i mean doctrinally theologically christ is all over the old testament he's not concealed there at all he's all over it and uh nothing has really i preach a sermon uh recently on on our radio show red letter edition um i preached on uh the uninspired page in your bible and it's the one that says new testament on it the the arbitrary separation between god's plan for our life in those days and our plan for his life for our life in these days is hardly different except for the huge bonus that the rich young ruler could have experienced had he decided that his riches were worth less

than his regeneration. And that is the gift of regeneration. Jesus can make you into a new person. He can make you into the person that you were created to be. The Old Testament can't do that. The law can't do that. It's impossible. And you know, they say, well, you can't get saved by the Old Testament. Where'd you read that? Where'd you get that idea? Scriptures don't say that that they say no man's justified by the law oh you thought justified and salvation of the same thing justification sanctification redemption regeneration salvation they're all the same no they're not they're absolutely not and if you

need to make it that simple in sunday school for a six-year-old to understand, I'm with you. I get it. But grow up. Goodness sakes. You know, one of our biggest problems is we've got a bunch of 40-, 50-, and 60-year-old children out there. They're just babes in Christ. Are they desiring the sincere milk of the word?

They don't even know what the word is. Not yet. Hopefully, they'll get it. Jesus says, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, bear false witness, honor your father and mother. Now, there are people who say, now he only gave certain commandments. These are all the ones we, this is all the ones we have to obey. Really?

Is that so? So we can take the name of God in vain now? Really? We can worship idols now? We can carve idols and call them God now? Really? We can worship idols now? We can carve idols and call them God now? Really? They say that in the New Testament, the Sabbath day is, the Sabbath commandment is the only commandment that's not reiterated. That's not true. That's not true at all. I mean, where do you see in Jesus ever saying that you're not supposed to worship idols? Where do you hear him ever say that?

You don't. So if he doesn't mention it, we don't have to do it. Understanding the time that he's living in, these people had no trouble at all honoring the sabbath day it was hardly worth mentioning um if we lived in a society that hadn't had a murder in the last 100 years he probably wouldn't have said thou shall do no murder if we had a society where there nobody had committed adultery in 300 years, he might have left that one out. But the fact that he didn't reiterate all 10, that has nothing to do with the fact that the law of God will never pass away.

Not one jot or tittle, not one period or a cross T will by any means, any means, that means your denominational means, not by any means is it going to pass away. The man said to Jesus, you know, I've kept all these commandments from my youth. Now, there are people who say that when this man said this he just lied because no man can keep the commandments nobody can do that he did he says i've kept these commandments since i was a child oh did he fool jesus or is jesus shy about telling people that perhaps they're not keeping the commandments? Or, I mean, was he afraid to answer him? You haven't kept the commandments.

Nobody can keep the commandments. Do you think Jesus said that? No, he didn't. He knows better for one thing. And he said, one thing. One thing? Really? One thing? I'm lacking one thing? Out of all the things that could stand in the way of my perfection, I'm lacking...

How many did you say, Jesus? I expected you to say 1,525 things. But Jesus said, you lack one thing. Friend, this is a great day. This is a great day when the Lord looks at you and says, you know, you've done really well. You only lack one thing. You want to fix that? Well, he asked him, do you want to be made perfect?

I can help you. What's he going to show him? Regeneration. We're going to talk about it next time hey I'd like to know who you are and how you're listening to the broadcast most of all I'd just like to see your email come by the desk and if you have a question or comment

about the show I'll be glad to answer it and I'll write you back by return email just write to Don at thinkredink.com. Till then, think red ink, my friend. Bye-bye. You've been listening to Don C. Harris of Think Red Ink Ministries.

Email don at thinkredink.com. That's thinkredink.com. Join us again for the next episode in the Words of Jesus series. you