The story of the rich man is also another story which is highly taken out of context.


Let's examine this story and find out its true meaning.


Matthew 19:16-22



16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.



Notice in the first part of this parable at verse 16


The rich man refers to Jesus as "Good master" so this shows that he does not recognize him as God in the flesh/ messiah but rather a mere human being.


This is why Jesus replies in verse 17


"Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God"



Furthermore the rich man does not say to Jesus "What must i do that i may have eternal life", but rather "Good master What GOOD DEED must i do that i may have eternal life"



In other words "What good work must i do to enter heaven".





From this we can tell immediately that this man wants to enter heaven on his own merit/good works rather than believe that Jesus is the messiah.





So this is the reason why in in verse 17 Jesus replies "but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."



The only good deed that one can do in order to receive eternal life other than to trust in Jesus Christ is to keep the entire law perfectly from life unto death.





We know that all of man kind is incapable of completing such a task so what is Jesus really saying here ?


Let's continue



The rich man then says in Matthew verse 20


"All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?"




The rich man in his self righteousness does not even realize that he already broken the very first and most important law which is "You shall have no other Gods before me", His Riches, and his possessions were his God.




This is why Jesus says to him in verse 21 "Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me."





The very law that this man thinks he's supposedly keeping Jesus is using to point out his sin.





But when the man heard this we see that he couldn't bring himself to do it.



22 "But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions".





The man should have realized on the spot that, Jesus is messiah/God ,he broken the law and was incapable of keeping it perfectly and should have asked for mercy, but instead chose to rely on his self righteousness and departed.





If you truly believe that you have to keep the commandments as well on believe on Christ in order to be saved then you believe in a false Gospel and will not enter heaven. Because it is then no longer a free gift of God but of works.


We cannot add to the cross nor take away.



Romans 3:20


"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."




Obeying God's commandments is a natural response once someone becomes saved and something that every believer should do. But we do NOT do these things in order to be saved.





Only those that believe on Jesus as the son of God that he died, buried and rose again as a sufficient payment for their sins will enter.


It's that simple


Hope this clears any confusion


God Bless you all in Jesus name