Shasta
Well-known member
Go ahead and show this in the red letters real quick if you don't mind. Meaning him telling them he was dying for their sin, show where he explained Isaiah 53, the Passover, how it all related to him and how he said to enter into life.
Allow me.
Matthew 5
18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 19
16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”Matthew 23
Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
Rather than go on and on and on with the requirements to enter the kingdom of heaven...I will respond with a quick one from Paul.
17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.
Romans 7
10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
Yes, this man wanted to do a good deed and thereby enter eternal life. Well, it does not work that way and Jesus immediately showed him that he had it fundamentally wrong. Good does not originate FROM man but from God who alone is good. This verse must be taken in the overall context of Jesus teachings. Christ was not a Pharisee or even just a moralistic Rabbi. He did nothing out of His own initiative (John 5:19). His life source was the Father and his words, works and character came from Him (John 14:9-10).
Jesus did not for a moment fall into the presupposition of human goodness."Good actions" "Godly character," righteousness was never something man could do or live out apart from the Spirit. If we could then the Old Covenant which consisted of men not born of the Spirit attempting to follow the rules of righteousness without the Spirit. It never worked which is why the Old Covenant had to be done away with and replaced with a New Covenant (Hebrews 8:7-8).
When Jesus tells the man if he wanted to inherit eternal life he must keep the commands He is presented him with a conundrum. Yes if the man could walk in conformity to the will of God He would have Eternal Life but the fact was he could not. Trying to do so would lead him down the path of Romans 7. At the end, if he gave up and cried "who will deliver me?" That is the point when we are ready to look away from ourselves and put our faith in Him. That Jesus should push people to this point (that of seeing the impossibility) is the way the Spirit deals with religious people. It is the way he dealt with Paul and Martin Luther. Only when we reach the place of powerlessness and surrender can we begin to walk in newness of life. However the fulfillment of that part had to await His crucifixion and resurrection. Nevertheless He preached it in advance. Jesus did not preach salvation by good works. According to Him eternal life was in Him and could only be found by believing in Him (John 3:16).
Jesus did not tell people they could keep the law. To the contrary He said 39“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life (John 5:39-40)
What He said about heeding the Rabbis words had to do with their teachings from scripture. Even this was not absolute because they taught doctrines that were not scripture but tradition. Jesus own teaching was not that of a typical rabbi. Of many weighty areas of the Law he made no comment at all. Other laws He superseded. All the while he guided people to the essence of morality.
Since the Old Covenant would be intact for a few more years He could not tell people to abandon all the practices of the Mosaic system but neither did he reinforce them. The "law" that He taught (when you look at it) was that same law which would be written human heart by the Spirit when the New Covenant would be formed.
Paul never urged Jews to abandon every practice of Judaism. At one point he even assisted someone in completing a Nazarite vow. He did not, however, teach anyone (Jew or Gentile) that they should practice all the rituals. Peter, who ministered quite a bit to the Jews did not (according to Paul) live like a Jew himself. Paul did not rebuke him for that just for his complicity with those who would impose that way of life on the Gentiles. Whatever a "Jewish Gospel" might have entailed it did not involve living a Jewish lifestyle, so what did it involve?