Luke 18:9

The Bible says in Luke 18:9-14, “And he spoke this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.” Jesus told us about two types of people and their apparent worship of God. One of these people went away justified, but the other did not. Therefore, this is a very important lesson that Jesus taught us. If someone is not justified, then they are condemned.

It is very important to become justified before God. To be justified speaks of a judicial process. God is judge, and every person will be judged by God. There is a way to come out of that process justified. But there is also a problem that every person has that might keep them from being justified: the sin problem. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” What is the solution to the sin problem? How can a human being who is a sinner become justified? Jesus created the solution by dying on the cross for the sins of the world, and Jesus told us very clearly here in the story of the Pharisee and the publican how a person can find the forgiveness of sins.

The publican found the forgiveness of sins. He did so by admitting his sins and asking God for mercy. The Pharisee did not find the forgiveness of sins, because he did not admit that he was a sinner. There is a very big difference between these two men. Both believed in God and both were involved in religion. They were both in the temple praying. But only one of them was justified before God. True Christianity must always involve a sinner who has repented of sins and thereby found forgiveness. Christians are not good people who serve God because of how good they are. Christians are sinners who have been forgiven of their sins and who serve God out of appreciation for what Christ has done for them.

Whenever religion becomes anything but sinners who are forgiven of their sins, then religion becomes false religion, and its members become like this self-righteous Pharisee. The truth is that in the most essential things we are all equal. We are certainly all equally sinners. When Jesus delivered the woman who was taken in adultery, He said, “Let him who is who is without sin cast the first stone.” One of the problems with the Pharisee’s self-righteousness was the fact that the Pharisee thought that he was better than others from a moral and spiritual perspective. In fact he was worse.

Anyone who truly understands himself, understands that he is a great sinner. The prophet Isaiah understood his own sinfulness. He said, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” The apostle Paul said, “I am the chief of sinners.” The writer of Amazing Grace said, “Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.” “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” You also can be justified and can be given a home in heaven, if you will do as this man did and bow your heart before God and say, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”

In Luke 18:15-17 the Bible says, “And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Permit little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.” We can see how Jesus emphasized the importance of salvation by the fact that He kept giving parables and illustrations that revealed the meaning of salvation and that revealed how a person finds salvation. After the teaching about the Pharisee and the publican, we have this incident where the disciples tried to stop people from bringing little children to Jesus.

It’s always good to bring children to Jesus. The devil is out there, seeking whom he may devour. Faith in Jesus is the only safe shelter from having a wasted or vain life. The earlier in life that people come to Jesus, the better off they will be. Why do so many young people do wild and crazy things? Why are the public schools infected by violent and immoral behavior? One reason is because not enough young people have been brought to Jesus Christ.

Of course, Jesus wanted the little children to be brought to Him. Jesus loves the little children of the world. He always treated children with gentleness and kindness. Jesus valued the lives of children. He saw their good qualities and Jesus said that there are things we can all learn about children. One of the most important things for an adult to learn about a child is the natural ability of a child to trust in someone who is older and wiser and stronger than he is. In order for a person to be saved, that person must trust in God with an attitude that is like that of a child. Jesus said, “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”

Jesus also said about children, “For of such is the kingdom of God.” Heaven is filled with children. If you want to know what heaven is like, think of vast numbers of innocent, happy, laughing children. God loves children. Undoubtedly all children go to heaven when they die as children. If a parent has lost a child, it has been very painful for them; but they have every reason to believe that their child is in heaven, because Jesus loves children and receives children. The parent who believes in Christ will see his children again one day because Jesus receives little children to Himself and Jesus said of children, “For of such is the kingdom of God.”

In Luke 18:18-25 the Bible says, “And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why do you call me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” In Luke chapter 18 Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem to die for the sins of the world. God loves everyone, and God wants everyone to be saved. God did His part by sending Jesus to die for us. These teachings in Luke chapter 18 emphasize for us how a human being can enter into the great salvation that is available because of Christ.

This ruler who came to Christ asked perhaps the most important question of all questions that can enter into the mind of man. The ruler asked Jesus, “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Notice that instead of answering the question directly, Jesus asked a question. Jesus used the Socratic method for many of His teachings. No one learns until they learn to think for themselves. Truth is everywhere to be acquired. Information is everywhere. It’s simply a matter of correctly processing that information. If all that we do is give information to people, but they still have not learned how to process the information, then they have learned nothing. Also, if we are too forceful in presenting the information, they may resist just for the sake of resisting our forcefulness. Jesus was not forceful, because He is meek and gentle of spirit. The servant of the Lord does not strive with man.

The question that Jesus asked this man was designed to show him that he had a problem in the way that he was thinking. “Jesus said unto him, Why do you call me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.” Compared to the holiness, righteousness, and goodness of God, human beings are not good. They are sinners. This man was not a believer. He did not know that Jesus was the Son of God. Only God is good in the most exact sense of the word. If Jesus was only a man, He should not be called “good.” One of the problems with this young ruler was that he incorrectly believed that human beings could be good based upon their own behavior. He thought that he was good. He thought that he had achieved goodness by the good things that he did. There are religious people today who make the same mistake. There is none good but God, and Jesus, the Son of God.

The original question of this man who came to Jesus was, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The problem with the way this question was asked was due to the fact that this man asked, “What shall I do?” He made the common mistake and the fatal mistake of thinking that eternal life could be gained or acquired by one’s actions. “We are saved by grace through faith: not of works lest any one should boast.” In order to emphasize this man’s mistake in relying upon good works, Jesus first listed a few of the Ten Commandments. Of course, obeying part of the law is not enough to gain eternal life. One must obey all the law or else one will be condemned by the law. I must not boast about the part of the law that I have obeyed. Instead, I must be ashamed about the part of the law that I have broken.

Of the commandments that Jesus listed the ruler said that he had obeyed them all from his youth. But what about the commandments that Jesus did not list? What about the first commandment that says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me?” This is the foundation for the commandment to love God with all the heart and all the mind and all the soul and all the strength. Who has kept this commandment from the youth up? Who has loved God every moment of every day and never placed anything or anyone before their love for God?

Most of us have broken this commandment many times, and most of us have broken other commandments also. The ruler who came to Jesus had broken at least one other commandment: the commandment that says, “Thou shalt not covet.” Jesus said to the ruler, “Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.”

The only way to become a genuine believer in Jesus is to be willing to follow Him wherever He leads and be willing to do whatever He wishes. The selfish and stubborn human will is what keeps many people from discovering Jesus as Savior. Jesus may not ask you to give up all of your possessions, but then again, He may. In either case you must be willing. You must not covet. You must not love anything more than Him. Jesus did ask this man to sell all that He had and to give to the poor. But the man could not do it. He claimed that he wanted to follow Jesus until it cost him something.

It turned out this man loved his money more than he loved God. If you give your heart to God, then you must give up something in order to follow Christ. If you become willing to give your heart and life to Christ, your priorities change. God is first and everything and everyone else is second. “If any one be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold all things are new.” If this has not been your experience, then you have not experienced salvation in Christ. Of course, this was not this ruler’s experience because he was very rich. It is not wrong to be rich, but some people have become rich because of how much they love money.

If you love money more than God, or if you love anything more than God, you are in the same spiritual condition as this ruler. If you have not yet given your life to Christ, there is probably something in your heart that you are still holding onto. Let go and let God. To surrender your heart to Christ means to surrender the things that you love to Him. You may think that you will lose, but actually you will gain far more than you have given up. You will come to know the exceeding riches of His grace. You will be given spiritual things whose value is far above gold and far above rubies.

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