Redeeming God

Liberating you from bad ideas about God

Learn the MOST ESSENTIAL truths for following Jesus.

Get FREE articles and audio teachings in my discipleship emails!


  • Join Us!
  • Scripture
  • Theology
  • My Books
  • About
  • Discipleship
  • Courses
    • What is Hell?
    • Skeleton Church
    • The Gospel According to Scripture
    • The Gospel Dictionary
    • The Re-Justification of God
    • What is Prayer?
    • Adventures in Fishing for Men
    • What are the Spiritual Gifts?
    • How to Study the Bible
    • Courses FAQ
  • Forum
    • Introduce Yourself
    • Old Testament
    • New Testament
    • Theology Questions
    • Life & Ministry

The Rich Young Ruler and You (Matthew 19:16-24)

By Jeremy Myers
2 Comments

The Rich Young Ruler and You (Matthew 19:16-24)
https://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/983722510-redeeminggod-the-rich-young-ruler-and-you-matthew-1916-24.mp3

Money! Money! Money! It’s the money episode! In this podcast study, I talk about cryptocurrency, a reader email about tithing, and the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-24. We see that Jesus was NOT telling the young man that he had to give up all his money in order to go to heaven. The story is about something else entirely.

Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Dogecoin are in the News!

Have you heard of cryptocurrency? They’re in the news a lot this week, so I decided to talk a a bit about them. I explain what they are, why they’re important and gainin widespread acceptance, and how to get some if you want. Ten years ago, Bitcoin was $1. It hit $48,000 today. Dogecoin is the most entertaining cryptocurrency, which causes many to believe it will be the most successful. It currently sits at $.07, and many believe it will hit $1 this year. Where will it be in ten years?

I personally bought a tiny fraction of one Bitcoin and several hundred Dogecoins this past week.

Best and easiest is Coinbase. Use my link to get $10 of free Bitcoin if you buy at least $100. That’s 10% instant profit though, so you might as well take it.

But Coinbase doesn’t sell Dogecoin. So if you want Dogecoin, use Robinhood. Use that Robinhood link to get a free stock when you sign up.

Reader Email about Tithing

A reader sent me a question about tithing this week. He wanted to know if he is really supposed to tithe 10% to his church or not.

Collection PlateI have written a lot about this before. There’s a whole section on tithing in my book (#AmazonAdLink) Church is More than Bodies, Bucks, & Bricks. Here are some links on my site you can read as well:

  • The Tithing Tax
  • Malachi 3 and Tithing
  • Modern Tithing
  • Tithe for Your Right to Party
  • Tithe 3% to your church
  • What Jesus taught about Tithing
  • Render To Caesar
  • The Widow’s Mite
  • Devouring Widow’s Houses
  • Don’t Tithe to a Decaying Temple

The bottom line truth about tithing is that most of what we have been taught in our churches about tithing is flat-out wrong. In the Bible, tithing is closer to what you and I would think of as income tax. But even then, the tithe went to help local people, rather than to nameless and faceless governmental programs. Most surprisingly of all, that 10% tithe we so often hear about from our pulpits was primarily for the purpose of hosting a large community party for everyone who came. It was to help pay for everybody to come together once a year for a giant music, arts, and food festival.

There’s a lot more to it than that, but there is nothing in Scripture to support the practice we have today of paying 10% of your annual income to cover the costs of an expensive church building and staff salaries. This doesn’t mean you can’t have buildings and church staff. You can. But what you cannot do is defend the practice from the Bible.

Anyway, the bottom line answer to the question is this: “No, the Bible does not command us to give 10% of our income to the local church.” It is smart to use some of your money to support people, ministries, and causes that you believe in, and to help the poor and needy in your community, but also make sure you are using some of your money to make memories with your spouse and children, and to also enjoy life a bit.

Read some of the articles linked to above (or just get the book) to learn more about what the Bible teaches about tithing.

The Rich Young Ruler Matthew 19

The Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-24

I have previously taught about the Rich Young Ruler here and here.

The passages of Matthew 19:16-24, Mark 10:17-31, and Luke 18:18-30 all tell the account of a rich, young ruler coming to Jesus to ask how he can have eternal life. Jesus tells him to give all his wealth away, and then come follow Jesus. The young man went away sorrowful, because he was very rich. After his departure, Jesus and His disciples have a discussion about wealth and the kingdom of heaven.

This is a confusing text for many Christians because many people think that the term “kingdom of heaven” refers to heaven itself. And so many believe that when Jesus taught about how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, He was saying that it is difficult for the rich to receive eternal life and go to heaven when they die.

Thus, it is taught, the rich must give away their wealth in order to have a chance at eternal life.

But this is a works-based message of eternal life and is completely contrary to the free offer of eternal life found everywhere in Scripture.

If eternal life is freely given to anyone and everyone who simply and only believes in Jesus for it, it would be a biblical contradiction for Jesus to also say that the rich must give away their wealth to receive eternal life.

Thankfully, a proper understanding of the concept of the kingdom of heaven helps explain this apparent contradiction. When Jesus teaches about the dangers of wealth, He is not referring to the difficulty the rich will have in receiving eternal life, but to the difficulty they will have in experiencing the rule and reign of God in their life here and now on this earth.

The Kingdom of God is about the Rule and Reign of God in our life NOW

Rich Young RulerThe context of these passages provides numerous lines of evidence to show that Jesus is talking about experiencing eternal life in our present life through the rule and reign of God, rather than about how to receive eternal life and go to heaven when we die.

For example, other than the initial question by the rich, young ruler in Matthew 19:16, the rest of the passage is about inheriting eternal life, following Jesus on the path of discipleship, and entering the kingdom of heaven. So despite how the rich, young ruler phrased his initial question, Jesus answer a more important question for this particular person.

The Gospel authors understood this, and so the parallel versions in Mark 10:17-31 and Luke 18:18-30 have the rich young ruler have the rich, young ruler asking how to “inherit” eternal life. Furthermore, Jesus later clarifies in Matthew 19:29 that He is only talking about inheriting eternal life (which refers to the present age experience of eternal life), Mark and Luke use the word inherit for consistency’s sake when they record the question from the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17; Luke 18:18).

Now which question did the rich, young ruler originally ask? It is difficult to say. Probably he spoke in Hebrew or Aramaic, and so Matthew translated the man’s word one way while Mark and Luke translated it another. But regardless of what was in the mind of the rich, young ruler, however, Jesus answered his question in a way that reached to the heart of the issue, and the heart of the young man.

Wealth in Jewish society

In Jewish society, wealth was a sign of God’s divine blessing. Due to various promises in the Hebrew Scriptures, it was assumed that if a person was observing the law and was wealthy, God had blessed them with their wealth because of how successful they were in observing the law. This belief would obviously not apply to someone like Zacchaeus, who was clearly making no effort to observe the law, but would absolutely apply to someone like this young ruler.

He believed that he had observed the entire law since his youth (Matt 19:20), and everyone else believed it also (cf. Matthew 19:25).

When Jesus instructed the rich, young ruler to give away all his wealth and then come follow Him, Jesus was challenging this entire way of thinking about the connection between God’s law and human wealth. Jesus was showing that there is no true connection between the two. Wealth is not an outward sign of inner righteousness.

Jesus wanted to show this young man, as well as the disciples, how to truly live in righteousness, which comes through following Jesus in discipleship and living in light of the kingdom of God. But Jesus cannot do this as long as a person is looking to their own ability to be righteous, or to their own wealth as a sign of personal righteousness. So he tells the young man to discard all evidence or thought of personal righteousness and then come follow Him to see what righteous living truly looked like. But the young man went away because he was unwilling to do this.

The Kingdom of God is Entered Through Discipleship

So the answer from Jesus is not about how to receive, gain, or have eternal life, but how to inherit or experience God’s will, purpose, and blessings for our life here and now on this earth. As we follow Jesus on the path of discipleship in this life we will experience the life God wants for us now and also gain treasure for our future life in eternity (Mark 10:21: Luke 18:22).

All of this is about entering into the kingdom of God (Mark 10:23-25; Luke 18:24-25), which is shorthand for entering into the experience of the rule and reign of God in our lives here and now on this earth.

But what about the word “saved”?

Note that the disciples use the word “saved” (Mark 10:26; Luke 18:26), which also causes confusion in the minds of some. But when we recognize that the word “saved” also does not refer to receiving eternal life or going to heaven when we die, then the passage retains its message. Jesus is talking about being delivered and rescued from the problems that wealth brings, so that His followers can experience the rule and reign of God in their life now.

The surrounding context makes it clear that Jesus and the disciples are talking about discipleship and eternal reward rather than justification and receiving eternal life (Mark 10:28-30; Luke 18:28-29).

What Jesus Might Say to Us Today

In modern, Western culture, while some people see wealth as a sign of God’s blessing on a person who is fully obedient to Him, this is not a widely held view. If Jesus were physically walking the earth today, I can imagine a scenario in which a well-known, young pastor comes to Jesus and says, “Good teacher, what must I do to experience God’s life?” The young pastor only asks this because he thinks he is already experiencing God’s life, and believes Jesus will praise Him for his great success at such a young age.

Instead, Jesus says, “Well, what is it that you teach from your pulpit and write about in your books?”

The young pastor would respond, “People must attend church regularly, tithe 10% of their income, read the Bible and pray every day, and not be given to alcohol or drugs. They should also be a good witness at their job by wearing Christian t-shirts, a cross-shaped necklace, and never laugh at crude jokes. Instead, they must hand out Gospel tracts and invite people to church.”

Jesus would respond, “Okay. Go do all of that then.”

To which the young man would proudly boast, “I’ve done all this since I was a kid.”

Pastoral power authority“Well done!” Jesus would say. “Only one thing is left. Resign as pastor. Stop selling books. Quit preaching. Throw out all your gospel tracts and Christian clothes. Stop tithing to the church. Put your Bible on a shelf for a while, and go have a beer at the local pub. Then come follow Me and we’ll see what’s next.” But the young pastor would go away, thinking that Jesus was a false teacher, for the young man had it all figured out.

In this text, Jesus is showing that there is no such thing as an outward manifestation of inward righteousness. However, if we want to truly experience the life of God in us, and all the riches and blessings that entails, we can stop following religion and instead follow Jesus into a life of discipleship. While Jesus always leads in surprising directions, but also leads us toward a true life with God.

Matthew 19:16-24 therefore, is not about how to receive eternal life, but about how to get rid of the things in our life that we rely on as evidence that we are “good” Christians, and instead just follow Jesus wherever He leads. What things do you look to for proof that God loves and accepts you? That you are doing a “good job” for Jesus? Get rid of such things, and then come to Jesus empty-handed, saying, “Wherever You lead, I’ll follow.”

When you do this, Jesus will lead you into a full experience of the kingdom of God.

God is Redeeming Church, Redeeming God, Redeeming Life, Redeeming Scripture, z Bible & Theology Topics: eternal life, kingdom of god, kingdom of heaven, Luke 18:18-30, Mark 10:17-31, Matthew 19:16-21, Matthew 19:16-24, Rich Young ruler, salvation, tithing

Advertisement

Does Jesus tell the Rich Young Ruler how to earn eternal life? (Matthew 19:16-21; Luke 18:18-23; Mark 10:17-22)

By Jeremy Myers
3 Comments

Does Jesus tell the Rich Young Ruler how to earn eternal life? (Matthew 19:16-21; Luke 18:18-23; Mark 10:17-22)
http://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/530019786-redeeminggod-135-did-jesus-tell-the-rich-young-ruler-to-earn-eternal-life-matthew-1916-21.mp3

In the account of Matthew 19:16-21 (and the parallel passages of Luke 18:18-23; Mark 10:17-22), a rich, young ruler approaches Jesus and asks Him what he must do to have eternal life. (Luke also contains the account of a lawyer who asks a similar question Luke 10:25-28. I have written about the Rich Young ruler before here.)

Jesus points the young man to the law, and specifically to the Ten Commandments. The man responds that he has kept all of the commandments since he was a boy.

So Jesus says that the man still lacks one thing: he must go out and sell everything he owns, and then give the money to the poor.

At this, the rich young ruler becomes forlorn and goes away, because he was very rich.

What is the Story of the Rich Young Ruler about?

Many pastors and scholars point to this passage as primary evidence that good works and obedience to the commandments are required to receive eternal life.

believe in Jesus for eternal lifeBut there are numerous considerations from the text which reveal that this is not what Jesus is saying, and this is not how we should understand the passage.

1. We must first understand the meaning of “eternal life”

What is eternal life, and how is it gained?

To answer this, let me briefly summarize some of what I teach in my online course, The Gospel Dictionary.

There are three main truths to remember about eternal life.

First, eternal life begins the moment we believe in Jesus for it.

Since eternal life is the life of God given to those who believe in Jesus Christ, it begins the moment we receive Him (John 3:16; 5;24; 6:47; etc).

Eternal life is not some future possession, but is something we receive now, at the moment we are placed in Christ Jesus through faith.

Since eternal life is the life of God, and since this life is in Jesus, then anyone who shares this life with Jesus, also shares this life with God. To put it more succinctly, since Jesus is eternal life (cf. 1 John 1:2), we receive eternal life when we receive Jesus.

Second, eternal life is eternal.

In other words, everlasting life is everlasting.

This means that once you have eternal life in Jesus, you can never lose it.

Earl Radmacher used to say that “If you can lose your everlasting life, it has the wrong name.” Just as you cannot be unborn after you are born, so also, when you are born again into the family of God, you cannot ever go back and become unborn.

Once a person believes in Jesus for eternal life, they receive it permanently, and no matter what they say, think, or do in the future, their new birth into God’s family is a historical fact and cannot be undone.

Every single passage in the Bible which appears to teach that eternal life can be lost is not in fact talking about eternal life, but is instead referring to something else, such as physical life here on earth, inheritance and reward in the future, or to some sort of deliverance (salvation) from temporal catastrophe or disaster.

There is no verse in the Bible which teaches that a person can lose their eternal life.

Finally, since eternal life begins the moment we believe, and since eternal life is forever, this means that we can begin experiencing eternal life now.

Some seem to believe that eternal life does not begin until we die, at which point we will float around on clouds and play harps. When people have such an idea, it is no wonder they are not all that excited or thrilled about experiencing eternal life.

But once we understand that eternal life begins in this life, when we receive the life of God through faith in Jesus, it becomes much more thrilling to think about it.

To experience eternal life with God means that we live up to our full creative, adventurous potential as human beings, so that we begin to experience true life now.

It refers to experiencing “the age to come” here and now in this age. Eternal life is not just a future experience to be longed for, but is a way of life that can be lived here and now.

It is helpful to think of eternal life as a whole new life in a whole new world.

We pass through the doorway into this new this world by faith in Jesus Christ. And the doorway is not a revolving door. It is a one-way door. Once you are through the door and in the new world, you can never go back.

But once we are through the door, there is a whole world to explore. Those who sit at the entrance, bemoaning what they have left behind, have not yet begun to experience all the lies ahead.

Newcomers are encouraged to do more than just sit at the doorway, content that they have entered into a new life with Jesus Christ. Instead, they are encouraged to follow Jesus into all the beauty and adventures that awaits them in this new world. Jesus calls people who have entered into new life with Him to follow Jesus wherever He leads, to go higher up and further in.

In this way, it is not wrong to recognize that while eternal life is a free gift and a present expression, it not only refers to the quantity of life (life that never ends) but also the quality of life (the experience of God’s life that only gets better over time).

This clarification is extremely helpful when trying to understand various tricky texts in the Bible about eternal life, and especially in those texts that seem to imply that eternal life can be earned or inherited. Such texts are not talking about how we can earn or work for the free gift of eternal life, but are instead referring to the ongoing experience of eternal life here and now.

Let me summarize these three truths about eternal life:

Eternal life is God’s life in us so that we can have life with Him that never ends, and it is freely given to all who believe in Jesus, and experienced in greater degrees as we follow Jesus.

While it is an eternal possession that is received by faith alone in Jesus, it can also be a present reality that is experienced when we follow Jesus in discipleship.

Eternal life refers to both an eternal possession we receive by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone and a present experience we can enjoy here in this life as we follow Jesus by faithful obedience to His leading.

This brief study of eternal life helps us understand the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-21 (cf. Luke 18:18-23; Mark 10:17-22)

The Rich Young Ruler Matthew 19:16-21

2. Matthew 19:16-21 is about inheriting eternal life, not earning eternal life

First, the passage is clearly about inheriting eternal life, not receiving it (cf. Matt 19:29; Mark 10:17, 30; Luke 18:18, 30).

Support for this is found in the following context where Jesus says that it is difficult for the rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:23; Mark 10:23; Luke 18:24), and then equates the Kingdom of heaven with inheriting eternal life (cf. Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30).

So the rich young ruler is not technically asking about how to receive eternal life, but how to inherit it, or experience it, in this life. Jesus answers accordingly.

The man felt that he should be experiencing eternal life because of his strict obedience to the law, but he also felt that something was lacking. So he asked Jesus about how to inherit, or experience, eternal life now. Jesus ran a quick diagnostic test on the man, and quickly determined two sources of the man’s problem.

First, the man was proud.

He thought he had perfectly obeyed the law. He said he has obeyed it from his youth.

This, of course, is completely impossible, as Jesus knew. Yet rather than challenge the young man on his perceived moral perfection, Jesus “upped the ante” on the man as a way to show the man that he was not as righteous as he thought.

Jesus told the man to do something which the man could not do. He should sell all his riches and give the money to the poor. Yet even this was not the end, for after he did this, Jesus told the man to “Come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21; Mark 10:21; Luke 18:22).

The point of Jesus was that the young man would never “arrive.” The main thing holding the young man back from experiencing the life of God was his self-righteous spiritual pride. The words of Jesus were intended to begin dismantling this pride.

Rich Young Ruler

Second, Jesus recognized that wealth was the source of the rich young ruler’s problem.

This is why Jesus focused on the riches of this young man, instead of on some other area where the young man was blind to his own sin.

After all, even though Jesus asked about the commandments, there is no commandment or statement in the Mosaic Law to sell everything and give it away. So why does Jesus seem to shift from focusing on the commandments to giving up riches?

The answer is found within the law itself. The law promised wealth and riches to those who completely obeyed the law (cf. Deut 28:1-14). This young man was rich and wealthy at a very young age, which made him believe that he must have obeyed the entire law since his youth.

This is why Jesus told him to sell all his possessions and give away all his wealth. It wasn’t exactly about the money. It was about the false sense of moral perfection that the money created in the man’s heart. When Jesus told the man to give up his wealth, He was saying that the man could not look to his wealth as a sign of God’s blessing.

In fact, it is quite possible that this young man did not keep the law as well as he thought. In the Ancient Mediterranean world, it was thought that wealth was a “zero sum game.” They believed that there was a fixed amount of material wealth in the world, so that the only way people gained more money and riches was if others lost it.

Of course, from a theological perspective, the only way someone would lose their riches and wealth is if they were sinful, and God displayed His displeasure by taking away their wealth and giving it to someone else who pleased Him.

But is this how the world really works? Is it only the righteous who are rich and only the wicked who are poor? No. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The same was true in biblical times as well, which is why some of the prophets wonder why the wicked prosper and the faithless live in ease (cf. Jer 12:1).

The sad reality is that the rich often (but not always) become rich because they murder, steal, and bear false witness, which are exactly the sins Jesus questioned the rich young ruler about (Matt 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 19:20). It is entirely possible that the rich your ruler became rich at such a young age because he, or his family, engaged in various practices which made them rich at the expense of the poor.

But this young man was ignorant or blind to such things, and thought that because he was rich, he was blessed by God, and therefore, obedient to the law. By telling him to sell his riches and give his money to the poor (who, according to this line of thought, were poor because they were sinners), Jesus was challenging this entire way of thinking.

So although eternal life is mentioned in this passage, the rich young ruler is not asking, and Jesus is not explaining, how to gain eternal life.

The rich young ruler isn’t asking about how to go to heaven when he dies. He is asking about the new world that God is going to usher in, the new era of justice, peace, and freedom God has promised his people. And he is asking, in particular, how he can be sure that when God does all this, he will be part of those who inherit the new world, who share in its life.

Jesus and the rich young ruler are talking about how to experience God’s life (eternal life) in this life.

While the commandments are mentioned, the instructions of Jesus are not even about keeping the commandments, but about spiritual pride and arrogance.

What is the Meaning of Matthew 19:16-21 and the Rich Young Ruler?

Therefore, when all the factors are considered, we see that the passage is primarily about how Jesus challenged the status quo theological belief that the rich are loved by God while the poor are under His judgment.

camel through eye of a needleJesus sought to reverse this entire line of thought, as the following contexts make quite clear (Matthew 19:23-30; Mark 10:23-30; Luke 18:24-30). It is difficult for the rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven because they rely on their riches as evidence that they are already living the life God wants for them.

Many of the rich people in the days of Jesus (and even many today) believe that their riches prove that they are under God’s blessing and are part of His family. Jesus is saying, “If you think your riches prove that you have eternal life, give up your riches. They don’t prove anything about eternal life one way or the other.”

Eternal life is received by believing in Jesus for it. And there is no amount of good works you can do to keep, earn, or prove that you have eternal life.

But once you have eternal life through faith in Jesus, you can gain a better experience of eternal life by following Jesus on the path of discipleship. This might require you to make some difficult decisions in life.

Bottom line: You DO NOT need to give away your wealth to receive eternal life … but you might need to be more generous with it if you want to experience the reality of God’s life in you.

Do you want to inherit, or experience, eternal life in this life? You first, of course, need to make sure you have received the free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus.

But after that, to experience eternal life, you must not depend on your riches or worldly success, nor your self-deceived ability to obey all of God’s law (which doesn’t lead into love anyway, see Law), as signs that you are fully experiencing all that God has for you.

Instead, to live within the Kingdom of God and experience the joys and blessings of eternal life, you must humbly follow Jesus wherever He leads, even if it is into poverty and obscurity.

The Gospel DictionaryUnderstanding the Gospel requires us to properly understand the key words and terms of the Gospel. Take my course, "The Gospel Dictionary" to learn about the 52 key words of the Gospel, and hundreds of Bible passages that use these words.

This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

God is Redeeming God, Redeeming Scripture, Redeeming Theology, z Bible & Theology Topics: eternal life, everlasting life, gospel dictionary, Luke 18:18-23, Mark 10:17-22, Matthew 19:16-21, money, Rich Young ruler, riches

Advertisement

Join the discipleship group
Learn about the gospel and how to share it

Take my new course:

The Gospel According to Scripture
Best Books Every Christian Should Read
Study Scripture with me
Subscribe to my Podcast on iTunes
Subscribe to my Podcast on Amazon

Do you like my blog?
Try one of my books:

Click the image below to see what books are available.

Books by Jeremy Myers

Theological Study Archives

  • Theology – General
  • Theology Introduction
  • Theology of the Bible
  • Theology of God
  • Theology of Man
  • Theology of Sin
  • Theology of Jesus
  • Theology of Salvation
  • Theology of the Holy Spirit
  • Theology of the Church
  • Theology of Angels
  • Theology of the End Times
  • Theology Q&A

Bible Study Archives

  • Bible Studies on Genesis
  • Bible Studies on Esther
  • Bible Studies on Psalms
  • Bible Studies on Jonah
  • Bible Studies on Matthew
  • Bible Studies on Luke
  • Bible Studies on Romans
  • Bible Studies on Ephesians
  • Miscellaneous Bible Studies

Advertise or Donate

  • Advertise on RedeemingGod.com
  • Donate to Jeremy Myers

Search (and you Shall Find)

Get Books by Jeremy Myers

Books by Jeremy Myers

Schedule Jeremy for an interview

Click here to Contact Me!

© 2025 Redeeming God · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Knownhost and the Genesis Framework