When a rich young ruler asks Jesus, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”, Jesus answers very simply: “Keep the commandments.” (Mt 19:16-17) Is this unexpected? Why would Jesus answer this way if salvation is by faith alone, not by works? (Ro 3:28)
Since the young man seems to imply he can earn his way to heaven (“What shall I do?”), perhaps Jesus is merely answering his question directly; if he can keep the commandments perfectly then he will be fine. But the fact the young man is seeking eternal life implies he suspects there might be a problem, that he has not been perfect, guilty of either a sin of commission or one of omission. (Ja 4:17)
In any case, the young man remains unsatisfied and asks Jesus to clarify which commands he needs to keep, evidently thinking there might be laws he’s free to break and still make it in. (Mt 19:18a) So, Jesus picks out a few key commands, including the all-encompassing, Love Your Neighbor as Yourself (18b-19) — enough to awaken in this earnest, young soul his need for a new heart (Ga 6:15) if he has been earnestly seeking to obey and paying attention. (Ja 2:22-23)
Yet the young man persists, evidently ignorant of his true need, thinking he’s kept the high standard of God‘s law even while finding no certainty of his destiny. (Mt 19:20) This condition is inevitable when we trust in legalism — trying to earn our way in. Deep down, we instinctively know that we can never measure up.
So, Jesus offers a final revelation; to have eternal life we must surrender completely to Jesus Christ and rely entirely upon Him in faith. (21) Willingness to obey Torah is necessary for salvation, but insufficient because our breaking of God’s commands must be addressed by receiving Jesus Christ as Savior as well as Lord and Master.
Ultimately, to obtain eternal life, we truly must give up everything, including ourselves; we must be willing to forsake all and follow Him. (Lk 14:26) In doing so we find He is willing to give Himself to redeem us, to rescue us from ourselves, from both the penalty we deserve for our sin and also from our tendency to continue in sin. (Ro 6:14) Salvation, then, is deliverance from both the penalty and the power of sin.
Evidently, this final observation is entirely consistent with Christ’s initial reply; it is not contradictory but provides additional insight. Willingness to obey God is evidently essential because the alternative is open rebellion against the King — the opposite of trusting submission and faith. While it is true no child of God can keep Torah perfectly or earn their way into the Kingdom, it is also true that those who intend to continue breaking Torah willfully as a pattern of life are not God’s children. (1Jn 3:9)
At this final step, the young man finally understands, and so is very sorrowful; he wants eternal life as an added bonus while living his best life now on his own terms; he is unwilling to give up the pleasures of his temporal life to gain an eternal one.
And Jesus observes that such love of this world (1Jn 2:15) is what prevents any soul from entering His kingdom (Mt 19:23); no one who enters Heaven chooses it as an afterthought (Lk 14:33), only those few who seek His kingdom as our first, primary, and overriding objective will eventually find it (Mt 13:45-46) This is indeed what saving faith looks like (He 11:6): receiving Jesus Christ on His terms with our whole heart. (Je 29:13)
The rich young ruler walked away sorrowful; may we each have grace to seek God until we find Him (Mt 7:7-8), and then serve Him acceptably, with reverence and godly fear. (He 12:28)
