Bible Verse of the Day Monday January 23rd, 2023

 Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

The kind and benevolent words that flowed so graciously from Christ Jesus bewilder many today. The ones that listened to Jesus when He was on the earth were also perplexed by His teachings. Shortly after Jesus had the meeting with the wealthy young man that discovered that his vast wealth was an obstacle in him entering heaven, His followers asked: "who then can attain salvation?" Jesus had told the rich young man to sell all that he possessed, give it to the less fortunate and come and follow Him. His great wealth was not what kept him out of heaven; it was his love for his massive fortune (1 Timothy 6:10).

This rejection created great sadness in the heart of the wealthy young man, who went away from Jesus, sadly downtrodden. Jesus replied to the question from His disciples of who could gain salvation, He told them that through humankind, it was impossible, but through God, all things are possible. Jesus taught His disciples that no gold or silver or good deeds could save anyone from an eternity separated from God in an awful place called hell. Salvation is a gift from God given freely to any remorseful sinner through accepting Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior. 

Jesus patiently listened to the wealthy young man who desired salvation. The prosperous and affluent young person had hoped that all his wealth and good works would reserve a place for him in God's kingdom. Although this young man was passionate and intense in keeping the Law, he told Jesus that he kept all the commandments of the Law. He kept all the laws except one: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." He loved his gold more than he loved the Lord, and this profound and principal commandment kept him from being a part of God's Kingdom. No one would know salvation and enter heaven if our salvation depended on worldly riches. God is the definitive source and means by which anyone can be saved, including this rich young man. Anyone can attain salvation through God's supernatural intervention, even a wealthy person (Revelation 3:17).

This principle seems unfair that he kept all but one of the commandments. James tells us in his writings that if we keep the whole Law and stumble at one point, we are guilty of breaking the entire Law (James 2:10). In the first place, we would never be able to keep the whole Law except for one point, we could not even come close to that objective. God knows that people could never keep even a part of the Law, which is why He became flesh and lived among us (John 1:14) in the person of Christ Jesus. Furthermore, that is why Jesus, went to the Cross and took on the punishment for our sins that we could never pay. Finally, that is why His resurrection is proof positive that because Jesus defeated sin, Satan, and death, we know that we will be with God in His kingdom for eternity.