“And a ruler asked him, ‘Good Teacher,’ what must I do to inherit eternal life.’”1
It’s a good question. But I imagine that if this ruler had discussed these theological and philosophical matters with all his good friends—which he probably did—they would have reassured him by saying, Brother, you have nothing to worry about there. You’re a good person. Of course, you will inherit eternal life! And he would have believed them. And perhaps he was expecting Jesus to tell him the same thing! Or at the very least, he thought Jesus would give him a task to do that he was certainly willing and capable of doing—and doing well!
I tend to think much of the world believes the same way. After all, good people should go to heaven, right? And they do! But not all of them. And, probably, not most of them! As a matter of fact, good people who are counting on going to heaven because they are good, will not! How can this be? What is the point of being good if we get no credit for it? That’s another really good question. And this question needs to be asked by everyone—nonbelievers, good people, bad people, and especially believers who have already secured their home in heaven! Because I think we believers hold on to this idea thinking perhaps God will love us more for being good. But he does not. God cannot love us any more than he already does!
Then what is the point of doing good things or being a good person? Do we really need to be good? Yes, we do! But not because that is the way to get into heaven. It is because we were created to do good deeds! It is where we find great fulfillment and God finds great pleasure in seeing us discover our good purpose. The good deeds are for us to do—for others! And God has magnanimously and omnipotently already planned them out for us. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”2
Oh. And by the way. Guess what Jesus’ answer was to that rich ruler? He gave him one task to do. And the ruler couldn’t do it! He came to Jesus thinking he could do anything Jesus asked him to do. But Jesus knew the one thing he couldn’t do and gave him that task. That seems a bit cruel of Jesus! But the point Jesus was making was that there was nothing he could do to earn eternal life. That, in fact, his words of wanting to “inherit eternal life” were spot on! It’s an inheritance thing—handed down to family members. Not earned by them or bought by them.
So. We do not have to do good deeds. Ever. God only requires that we acknowledge our need for him and trust him and make him the God of our lives. That’s it. And for doing that, because we are in the family, we “inherit eternal life”! However. If we do decide we want to be a good deed doer, we need to get to know Jesus. His godly traits of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,”3 will begin to fill our hearts and then through the power of his Spirit our behavior will change! As we grow in Christ, we will naturally want to serve God in some way! And how could we serve him? By doing good deeds!
Our pleasure. And God’s.
Indeed.
1Luke 18:18 2Ephesians 2:10 3Galatians 5:22
