Luke 18;18-30 The Young Ruler

OUTLINE

Salvation is impossible with man
Salvation is possible for God

INTRODUCTION

I want you to picture the best human being alive on earth right now. Think of a person who is virtuous, successful, lauded, and loved. Some of you may have pictured a Nobel Prize winner like the late Desmond Tutu who has just died at the age of 90, some may have thought of a family member. No matter who you thought of that person is not truly good, and not good enough to get themselves into heaven. This is the lesson of the next section we are looking at in Luke 18:18-30. We come to the familiar story of the rich young ruler. The context helps us to see why this is here. You will remember that Jesus is dealing with the issue of who can and cannot get into the kingdom of God, who is welcome and who is not, who will be received and who will not. We have seen a Pharisee rejected and a tax collector accepted; we have been told about how we have to come us unentitled, defenseless and needy children. Christ has been turning our world upside down showing us that those who we thought were good and deserved salvation were rejected, and those who we thought rejected are accepted. Christ continues on this note showing how the rich are poor and the poor are rich.

The main point of this section is to show us that the best of men are men at best and it takes a gracious and powerful God to save us because we cannot save ourselves. Our portion divides into two section, v18-23 deals with Jesus interaction with the Rich Young Ruler, we will call this point salvation is impossible with man; then in v24-30 we see Jesus and the disciples discussing the rich young ruler, we will call this point salvation is possible for God.