The Heart And Soul of Goodness
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Learning that only those wrapped in God's perfect goodness through Christ will inherit eternal life.
Text: Luke 18:18-19
Date: 12/01/2024, the Combined service.
Series: "Luke: Thy Kingdom Come" Part 172
Description:
In our previous study, Luke described how Jesus called little children to Himself, and surprisingly declared: "to such belongs the kingdom of God". He continued that in order to gain entry to the Kingdom, one must accept it as a child. In sharp comparison, our text for this study is a "living parable" of a "rich young ruler", who addresses Jesus as "Good Teacher" and then asks Him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus answers him with a question of His own that not only acts as a prelude to the rest of the story but highlights the man's misunderstanding of "goodness". In essence, Jesus asks the man why he has referred to Him in language traditionally reserved for God and God alone. After carefully defining all the terms, we will discuss why the shallowness of the man's religion was transparent to Jesus and the great disparity between our understanding of "goodness" and His. Ultimately we will realize that true goodness and therefore "eternal life" can only come from God and therefore depends on what is in the heart and not just on what one does. And in this, Jesus will reveal God's ontological goodness and thereby express to us the heart and soul of goodness.
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I. Introduction
II. Exposition of the text, Luke 18:18-19.
A. Context
1. The complexities of the Kingdom of God.
2. Entry into the Kingdom of God.
a. The difficulty of self-entry, Matt. 5:20, 7:21; John 3:5; Luke 18:17.
b. The gift of grace.
i. The persistent widow.
ii. The repentant publican.
iii. The helpless child, Luke 18:17.
B. Face-to-face with the goodness of God.
1. The "parable" of the "rich young ruler", vs. 18.
a. A "living parable".
b. Describing the ruler.
i. Exploring the title of "rich young ruler".
1) Why he was called "young", Matt. 19:22.
2) Why he was called "rich", Matt. 19:22; Mark 10:22; Luke 18:23.
3) Why he is called a "ruler".
a) Luke's use of the word, Luke 8:41, 12:11, 13:14, 14:1.
b) Some assumptions.
c) Why so vague? Luke 1:3.
ii. Noticing his spiritual quest.
c. The approach.
i. Noticing the body language.
1) Looking at the other Gospels, Matt. 19:16; Mark 10:17.
2) Comparing him to the Pharisee, Luke 13:28.
ii. The perfect "seeker".
d. The address.
i. Looking at the words.
1) The meaning of "good".
2) The meaning of "teacher".
ii. The implication of the address.
1) An inappropriate address.
2) A revealing address, Matt. 15:8.
e. The eschatological question.
i. Looking at the words.
1) The meaning of "do".
2) The meaning of "inherit", Luke 12:3, 15:12.
3) The meaning of "eternal life", Matt. 25:41; John 3:15.
ii. Probing the meaning.
1) The tone of the question.
2) Noticing the contrast.
3) Following the teaching of Judaism, John 6:27-29.
4) The question of justification, Luke 10:25-28.
5) A subtle test of justification, Mark 10:21.
2. Jesus' ontological answer, vs. 19.
a. Looking at the heart, John 2:24-25.
b. A question to answer a question.
i. What it does not mean, Luke 1:35, 2:11, 8:25, 24:5-6, 51.
ii. What it does mean.
c. The ontological goodness of God.
i. The wrong perspective of "good".
1) Defining "good" negatively.
2) Defining "good" comparatively.
ii. The right perspective of "good".
1) God's ontological goodness.
2) The simplicity of God's goodness, 1John 1:5.
3) An unfathomable goodness.
iii. Answering his own question, Matt. 5:48.
d. Driving to the heart of Jesus' response.
III. Application, Luke 6:46.
A. The error of external religion.
1. The error of the rich young ruler.
2. The error of external religion in all ages.
a. An intellectual knowledge of Jesus only.
b. A dangerous error.
c. An error of "fabricated" goodness.
B. How to inherit eternal life.
1. The importance of "goodness".
a. Your own goodness is not enough.
b. The "available" goodness of Christ.
2. The acid test, Luke 6:46; John 14:15.
IV. Conclusion
