{"id":3899,"date":"2015-10-12T10:20:49","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T14:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=3899"},"modified":"2023-01-04T13:46:24","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T17:46:24","slug":"jesus-vs-faith-alone-rich-young-ruler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2015\/10\/jesus-vs-faith-alone-rich-young-ruler.html","title":{"rendered":"Jesus vs. the “Faith Alone” Doctrine (Rich Young Ruler)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Jesus11\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[Flickr<\/a> \/ CC BY 2.0<\/a> license]<\/p>\n

Matthew 19:16-24<\/strong> (RSV)\u00a0And behold, one came up to him, saying, \u201cTeacher, what good deed must I<\/span> <\/span>do<\/span>, to have eternal life?<\/span>\u201d\u00a0[17] And he said to him, \u201cWhy do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments<\/span>.\u201d\u00a0[18] He said to him, \u201cWhich?\u201d And Jesus said, \u201cYou shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,\u00a0[19] Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.\u201d\u00a0[20] The young man said to him, \u201cAll these I have observed<\/span>; what do I still lack?\u201d\u00a0[21] Jesus said to him, \u201cIf you would be perfect<\/span>, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor<\/span>, and you will have treasure in heaven<\/span>; and come, follow me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>[22] When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.\u00a0[23] And Jesus said to his disciples, \u201cTruly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven<\/span>.\u00a0[24] Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God<\/span>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark 10:17, 19, 21<\/strong>\u00a0. . .\u00a0\u201cGood Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?<\/span>\u201d . . .\u00a0[19] You know the commandments<\/span>: . . .\u00a0[21] And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, \u201cYou lack one thing<\/span>; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor<\/span>, and you will have treasure in heaven<\/span>; and come, follow me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Luke 18:18, 20, 22\u00a0<\/strong>And a ruler asked him, \u201cGood Teacher,<\/span> what shall I do to inherit eternal life?<\/span>\u201d . . .\u00a0[20] You know the commandments<\/span>: . . .\u00a0\u00a0[22] And when Jesus heard it, he said to him, \u201cOne thing you still lack<\/span>. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor<\/span>, and you will have treasure in heaven<\/span>; and come, follow me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n


\nThe standard evangelical teaching\u00a0in terms of \u201chow one is saved\u201d is called sola fide<\/em>, or \u201csalvation \/ justification by faith alone.\u201d It doesn\u2019t mean that evangelical Protestants frown upon or discourage good works. Both Luther <\/a>and Calvin<\/a> taught that good works should<\/em> be present in any Christian\u2019s life, and that if they were not<\/em>, their faith was suspect in terms of its being a genuine<\/em> faith.\u00a0They were not antinomians<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Protestants do\u00a0formally<\/em> separate works from\u00a0salvation<\/em>, putting it in the separate box of sanctification, rather than justification. To put it another way, if you ask a Protestant how to\u00a0be saved, he virtually never<\/em> would say, \u201cdo good works x, y, and z.\u201d He\u00a0will say, rather, \u201crepent, have faith in Jesus Christ; believe in Him; put your faith and trust in Him as your Lord and Savior.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This is fundamental to Protestantism. Many Protestants erroneously think\u00a0that Catholics teach \u201c\u2018works-salvation\u201d or the heresy known to history as Pelagianism. Or they will say that since Catholics believe in faith + works, they are semi-Pelagians. But the Catholic Church condemned both heresies 1400 or more years ago. We do not<\/em> believe that we are saved by works. We believe (in agreement with Protestants) that we\u2019re saved by God\u2019s grace, that faith without works is dead (as it says in James), and that faith and works are two sides of the same \u201ccoin\u201d of justification \/ salvation.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is most striking about this incident in the life of Jesus \u2014 given Protestant views \u2014 is the almost sole emphasis on works<\/em> rather than faith, in Jesus\u2019 reply to the rich young ruler\u2019s question (I have combined elements in all three accounts), \u201cwhat good deed must I \/ shall I do to inherit \/ have eternal life?\u201d It\u2019s reiterated over and over again: works, works, works. It doesn\u2019t follow that faith is not involved, too. Elsewhere, Jesus and Paul and other biblical writers say plenty about faith and assent. But it does<\/em> mean that works are central in the whole equation and can\u2019t be separated from faith and put in a secondary category.<\/span><\/p>\n

Right at the beginning of the incident, the ruler asks, \u201cwhat good deed must<\/strong><\/em> I do<\/em><\/strong>?\u201d Inheriting eternal life is clearly synonymous with \u201cultimate salvation.\u201d According to Protestant soteriology (theology of salvation), this isn\u2019t even the right question<\/em> to ask. Their immediate reply would be, \u201cyou have a fundamental misunderstanding<\/em> of salvation. You can\u2019t do anything<\/em> to be saved. No work you do<\/em> is sufficient. All you can do is have faith in Jesus Christ, Who died for your sins.\u201d That\u2019s evangelical Protestant doctrine.<\/span><\/p>\n

The interesting consideration here, then, is: why doesn\u2019t Jesus act like a good evangelical and correct him right out of the starting-gate? Jesus would have failed Soteriology 0101 in any evangelical seminary or divinity school. Not only are good works, or deeds front and center; he also asks about which deed \u201cmust<\/em>\u201d he do. There is an element of necessity. If he doesn\u2019t do some sort of good deed, he won\u2019t be saved. But if this is essentially wrong and wrongheaded, Jesus would have corrected him by saying that he was wrong to be thinking about works rather than faith, and about thinking that any work was necessary<\/em> for salvation.<\/span><\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t do that at all. Instead, Jesus strengthens the man\u2019s initial assumptions and explains what works he has to do to be saved: \u201cIf<\/em> you would enter life<\/em>, keep the commandments<\/em>.\u201d It\u2019s a required condition<\/em> for obtaining a desired goal: \u201cIf you want x, do y.\u201d Y is necessary to obtain x, and y = keeping commandments, which are good works, in order to achieve x (eternal life). This is not like any<\/em> sermon I ever heard in my 13 years as an evangelical! This is not<\/em> how we were taught to share our faith in street witnessing, in order to \u201cget people saved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Then Jesus even individually names<\/em> six commandments. This means that, since they are all required to achieve eternal life, not observing any of them would disqualify<\/em> one from salvation. Elsewhere in the New Testament there are several passages that list sins which, if habitually committed, would bar one from heaven. Jesus says not a word about faith. Why didn\u2019t He say, \u201chave faith in Me<\/em>\u201c? Again, in other places, He does<\/em> emphasize that point. But here He ignores it.<\/span><\/p>\n

This listing of commandments as a minimal requirement for salvation is consistent with what Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount:<\/p>\n

Matthew 5:17-20\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cThink not that I have come to abolish the law<\/span> and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them<\/span>. [18] For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot<\/span>, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.\u00a0[19] Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments <\/span>and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them<\/span> shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.\u00a0<\/span>[<\/span>20] For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The man says he had observed the commandments. So far so good. It\u2019s like getting six out of ten answers right on a school exam. You still have to get four more<\/em> right to receive an A+. According to Jesus, he also has to do one more big thing, that he \u201clacks\u201d \u2014 in order to be saved. He has to sell all he has and give it to the poor. Note that this isn\u2019t required of every<\/em> man to do. It\u2019s not a general rule of Christianity. But for the rich young ruler, it was<\/em> an absolute necessity. Most commentators think that it was because the ruler had made money his idol<\/em>, putting it above God in his allegiance. That\u2019s why he<\/em> had to part with it; so that God would occupy the highest<\/em> place in His life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In any event, it is a requirement<\/em> for his<\/em> salvation. Once again, it is a good work that is made central. It\u2019s clear that it was necessary, from Jesus\u2019 concluding statement about it being difficult for rich men to enter the kingdom. They so often make money their idol, that it can jeopardize their very salvation. This is also notable in illustrating that salvation is not a cookie-cutter matter. What is required for one person (in terms of works that exhibit faith) may not be for the next.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, I submit that evangelicals ought to change their Bibles, to better fit their theology. The Bible we have is plainly far too \u201cCatholic.\u201d Perhaps it should read something like the following:<\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew 19:16-18, 21-23<\/strong>\u00a0(REV: Revised Evangelical Version) <\/span>. . .\u00a0\u201cTeacher,\u00a0what must I\u00a0believe<\/span>, to\u00a0have eternal life?\u201d\u00a0[17] And he said to him,\u00a0\u201cIf you would enter life, exercise faith alone<\/span> in the son of man.\u201d\u00a0[18] He said to him, \u201cWhich commandments should I keep, in order to be saved?\u201d And Jesus sa<\/span>id, \u201cnone can save you<\/span>.\u201d . . . [21] Jesus said to him,<\/span> \u201cS<\/span>ay the sinner\u2019s prayer, so you\u00a0will be saved<\/span>; and come, follow me.\u201d\u00a0[22] When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he couldn\u2019t bring himself to say the sinner\u2019s prayer<\/span>.\u00a0[23] And Jesus said to his disciples, \u201cTruly, I say to you, it will be hard for a man without faith alone<\/span> to\u00a0enter the kingdom of heaven.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Flickr \/ CC BY 2.0 license] Matthew 19:16-24 (RSV)\u00a0And behold, one came up to him, saying, \u201cTeacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?\u201d\u00a0[17] And he said to him, \u201cWhy do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.\u201d\u00a0[18] […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":3901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[2342,2346,2344,1070,1117,1116,1118,1071,2343],"class_list":["post-3899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-salvation-justification","tag-faith-alone","tag-faith-and-works","tag-justification","tag-pelagianism","tag-protestant-soteriology","tag-rich-young-ruler","tag-sanctification","tag-semi-pelagianism","tag-sola-fide"],"yoast_head":"\nJesus vs. the "Faith Alone" Doctrine (Rich Young Ruler)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It's very striking that Jesus wholly emphasizes works rather than faith alone, in His reply to the rich young ruler's question about attaining eternal life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}