Who Then Can Be Saved?

The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Mark 10:26-27 NIV

While I hope the kids in chapel got something out of the message this morning, I saw something entirely different from what was taught. Concerning the rich man coming to Jesus and asking what he must do to inherit eternal life, the message I have been taught all of my life was taught this day in chapel. Yes, the message of all of us having something we put before God is a good message and one I think is represented in the bible. This morning, I saw how "off track" we can be when we try to take more from a story than is said. In the last post, I mentioned some of the things one could draw from the story of the rich man and Lazarus and man has taken more from the story than the concept of us not being able to change who we are after this life is over.

This morning, I considered how we also make more of the rich man coming to Jesus and asking about eternal life. The man asks the question we all ask at some time in our lives because we would like what Jesus has to offer. We go to the bible and make it a rule book because we want to have control over our destiny. We/I grew up believing I was responsible for "working out my own salvation."

As I look at Mark 10, I see the same story of "what must I do to be saved" and Jesus gives a simple answer. There is nothing humanly possible for you to do that will save yourself. The rich man in this story had kept all of the commandments and I can see those disciples in the crowd thinking, "man this guy has it down." When Jesus says that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, it absolutely crushes the spirit of all those listening because this man is a gleaming example of all that is RIGHT!

We have worked hard in my faith heritage to be RIGHT. We have worked hard to be like the rich man and I'm not talking about building wealth but rather building upon the correctness of what we do. Jesus has the answer for all of us. You can't be right enough to get there.

Yes, it is impossible to enter the kingdom of heaven from a human position of being RIGHT. The great thing is that with the GRACE of GOD, It's A SNAP!