NEVER GOOD ENOUGH TO MERIT THE BLESSING

 NEVER GOOD ENOUGH TO MERIT THE BLESSING

October 31 , 2023

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi

Matt 19:20 NIV  "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"

     There are two types of Christianity, (1) the born-again Christianity where a person’s salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and (2) religious Christianity characterized by external display of   man-made religious  standards:

religious Christianity like all religions  is devoid of the substance  and the virtues of a saved life namely righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom14:17). It cannot make a person righteous and perfect before God.  Followers lack a sense of self worth before God and always need a human mediator to access God's provision. A typical testimony of a religious Christians always says "after i did that God did this" while grace says "I am grateful that God did this all by Himself from the beginning to the end"

        Religious Christianity deprives a person of the one-of-a-kind relationship with God and is driven by fear and guilt. No good work is sufficient to exonerate a man from his sins. Like the rich ruler in Matthew 19:12-21, they lack the confidence and assurance of salvation which is only attained by the inner witnessing of the Holy Ghost; given to those who have received the gift of righteousness by faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross (Romans 8:16).

          Like other religious folks , the religious Christian seeks to take credit for his or her salvation by flaunting their  inconsequential religious achievement as shown in the statement of this ruler in Matt 19:20 ‘ All these I have kept," a display of false piety shown  by his manner of approach to Jesus Christ: he addressed Jesus as “Good master” while seeking to reinforce the fact that he deserves salvation through good works.  

         Religion says Jesus is good enough to be called ‘good’ but he is not God.  Meanwhile, a man’s salvation is only guaranteed by the acceptance of Jesus Christ as trustworthy enough to be the saviour, something only God can do. No one can save a man from God’s wrath except God himself. In Matthew 19:17 Jesus was indirectly saying: “If God is the only person qualified to be called good then I am He “. Jesus is the Word of God in human flesh (1Timothy 3:16)just as water may exist as steam, ice however, its chemistry remains the same, likewise is Jesus Christ ,the Holy Ghost and God the father. It is possible for the same thing to exist in more than one state  , an example is the Amoeba algae  with a capacity to divide itself in to so many components and behaving alike . 

      The account of Abraham’s encounter with God in Genesis 14:19 completely invalidates religion's claim to salvation by carnal works. Abram was declared 'blessed' by God before his circumcision (the symbol of righteousness with God) and since a man cannot be both blessed and a sinner at the same time, it then follows that his sins were not imputed. They were forgiven. He was saved by a saviour . He acknowledged this through his tithing to Melchizedek (Gen14:18-20, Heb7:15-17) an antitype of Jesus Christ.  Apostle Paul throws more light on this in Rom 4:4-6" When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it:”(Psalm32:2)

         This rich young ruler was not looking for a Savior. He was trying to be his own saviour like most religious folks: they will rather choose to obey all the commandments of Moses instead of having a saviour. Failing in one of the 613 laws of the old testament  is failing in all (James2:10). If you cannot memorize all 613 laws is failure in itself . No one is saved by observing the laws (Galatians l2:16). 

   Righteousness is demonstrated in benevolence: Abraham demonstrated this through his tithe and religious folks are too attached to the material world that is why Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all he had and give to the poor in a bid to show how selfish, ungodly and unloving religious folks are.

        No man could come unto the Father, but by Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:6).” There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 NIV. Trust Jesus Christ for your salvation now

Prayer : Heavenly Father forgive me of my sins against you I believe Jesus Christ died and was raised again for my salvation I receive him as lord and saviour and receive the Holy Ghost and power to overcome guilt and condemnation in Jesus name. 

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