Today we continue in our rather long series on regeneration, renewal, and perfection. But we have far from exhausted this most important subject. And right at the beginning of this message I would like to establish a number of points. The first point I'd like to establish from the teaching of the Lord Jesus is that in the Lord's own teaching there is no salvation without perfection. I repeat: in the Lord's teaching there is no salvation without perfection. This is the first point I will establish for you from the Word of God as we proceed. Secondly, perfection is not possible apart from faith. That is why, for that very reason, salvation is by faith. And finally, I aim to define yet more precisely the meaning of faith as it is in Scripture. I have said before that the Reformation did a great thing for us in stressing that salvation is by faith. But I have said that it failed to complete that service and in fact left us in the dark by failing to define for us what faith really is. And therefore, I will come back to a yet more precise definition of faith, which I have touched on before already in this series. But we need to be yet more complete in our definition of it.
Let us then come to the first point immediately. And the first point, as I have mentioned, is that in the Lord's teaching there is no salvation without perfection. Let us turn to Matthew chapter 19. Matthew chapter 19, verse 16. I shall read this whole passage for you. And I have already expounded from another angle this passage a few years ago, that is, in December of 1980, concerning this passage about the rich young ruler. But this passage is of enormous importance for the understanding of the Lord's teaching about salvation. Let us read it attentively again.
Reading from verse 16 of Matthew chapter 19: "And behold, one came up to him, saying, 'Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?' And he said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.' And he said to him, 'Which?' And Jesus said, 'You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and mother. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.' The young man said to him, 'All these I have observed. What do I still lack?' Jesus said to him, 'If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.' When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, 'Truly I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 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.' When the disciples heard this, they were exceedingly astonished, saying, 'Who then can be saved?' But Jesus looked at them and said to them, 'With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'"
Now let us look at this passage very carefully. What is the question being asked? The question is a question about inheriting eternal life. Verse 16. Here I would like you to notice seven things. Seven things in this passage that relate to the question of eternal life. They all deal with this basic question. The first of these seven is this: the question here is in verse 16, to have. "What must I do to have eternal life?" The Lord answers this question by saying, "If you would enter life." To have eternal life, you have to enter life. If you would enter life, keep the commands.
The third thing is in verse 21. Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect." Now notice how "if you would enter life" and "if you would be perfect" are completely parallel to each other. If you would enter life, if you would be perfect. This is saying exactly the same thing. To enter life, you have to be perfect, in the Lord's teaching. Now notice, none of this is my words. This is the Lord's teaching. He is saying, if you would enter life, you have to be perfect. If you want to enter life, then you have to have the same question: if you would be perfect. It depends on whether you would be perfect.
The fourth statement then, still on the same matter of life, is to enter the kingdom of heaven, in verse 23. "Enter the kingdom of heaven." Which is parallel, in verse 24, to "enter the kingdom of God." All this comes to the sixth point. In verse 25, "Who then can be saved?" To enter life. To inherit the kingdom of God. To enter the kingdom of heaven. To be saved. These are all parallels, one to the other. And then finally, this whole passage ends with the matter of inheriting eternal life. In verse 29: "And everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life."
So the whole question of this passage, from beginning to end, deals with the question of eternal life, and how to inherit it. And one thing begins to emerge very, very clearly: that without perfection, there is no way you will enter into life, or inherit life, or be saved, or enter the kingdom, which are all synonymous phrases. They all mean the same thing. But without this perfection, there is no way you will receive any of these things, no way you will enter life. Notice. Whichever way we like to face this matter, no matter what you think the Lord Jesus means by being perfect here, there is no escaping the fact that He says — not I, He says — that you will not be able to inherit life unless you be perfect.
You know, today we have become used to the idea of a cheapened version of Christianity. And this kind of teaching, the way the Lord Jesus teaches salvation, is almost impossible for us to swallow. We keep saying to ourselves, "Surely the Lord Jesus didn't mean this." Well, if He doesn't mean it, you tell me what He means. You tell me what He means by perfect. Is He saying to the rich young man, "Okay, you're a good guy, up to now everything is fine, and you need only a little bit more"? You see, He says, "You need to become perfect." Did He say He needs to be perfect to reach some higher stage? Certainly not. By now, we have already seen that the entire discussion is about salvation. And when this person turned away sorrowful from the challenge to be perfect, the Lord said, "How hard it is for rich men to enter the kingdom of God." The question is about entering the kingdom of God. It's not about being already in the kingdom and reaching some higher stage. It's the basic question of how to enter the kingdom.
And the disciples understood this perfectly. That's why they asked, "If he can't be saved, who can?" "Who can be saved? If this one cannot be saved, who can?" I mean, he has all the conditions of an ideal person. He's a perfect ideal person. If this person can't be saved, there's none of us left that have a chance. And the Lord said, "That's right. With man, salvation is impossible. It is possible only to God." You see, Jesus taught salvation in such a way as to make it impossible for the natural man to accept it without the faith to be totally changed by God. Let me say that again. Jesus taught salvation in such a way as to make it impossible for the natural man to accept it unless he is willing to be changed by the power of God. Did you grasp that?
But today, churches preach salvation in such a way as to make it impossible for the natural man to refuse it unless he's a complete fool, even though he does not depend upon the grace of God to be changed. The Lord said, "Unless you become perfect, you cannot enter the kingdom of God." That's impossible. Right. He wants you to understand that it is impossible. There is no way the natural man is going to enter the kingdom of God. That's what He wants you to understand. That's the way He preaches the gospel.
But how do the churches preach? The churches preach that salvation is a gift of God, it's a free grace, and that faith is the hand that reaches out and accepts it. And they preach it in such a way, therefore, that who doesn't want to accept a free gift? They preach it in such a way as to make it impossible not to accept it unless you are a complete idiot. I mean, which sensible man refuses a free gift which requires virtually no conditions? I mean, you must be a complete fool not to accept such a gift. It's impossible for the natural man in his right mind not to accept such a gift.
I'd like you to see how completely different the Lord Jesus preaches the gospel from the way we have become accustomed to hearing it. And anyway, where do you get such a definition of faith and grace? Where do you get in the Scriptures a definition of faith which is the hand that takes hold of a free gift? Where do you get such a definition? By what piece of cunning invention do we produce this type of a definition?
Let us get to the beginning. If we don't want to be deceived, if we don't want to be self-deceived, if we don't want to just invent a gospel of our own imagination, the Lord Jesus, read this passage for yourself very clearly, says with absolute clarity, in reply to the question of the rich young ruler who asks, "What must I do to inherit life?" Jesus says, "Be perfect." Perfect. What does it mean? He doesn't leave us in the dark. He says, "I'll tell you what perfect means. You go out there, dispose of all your possessions — not some, not part, not part — all your possessions. Store up that treasure in heaven which you don't even see with your eyes now, and one day you will receive." And then, you think that's enough now? "Okay, you sold everything and given it to the poor and stored up treasure, that's enough?" Not finished yet. What? Still not finished? No, no. Then, you come and follow me.
By this time, I can see the rich young ruler sweating already. I mean, you ask me to keep the commandments, I have kept the commandments, at least as best as I know how. No one suspects this rich young man of lying. He has tried, according to the best of his knowledge, to keep the commandments. Now, surely that's enough to inherit eternal life? The Lord says, "No, no, no. That's not enough. You are going to have to turn your back upon the world, and all that is in the world, and all your attachment to the world that is represented by your possessions. You are attached to these things. You're going to turn your back upon all this, and then come and follow me. With no more hindrances from this world, no more hindrances from your possessions, free from all the world, you come and follow me."
Does that sound like the gospel you are used to hearing? I think when you hear the gospel as preached by the Lord Jesus, you are going to say to yourself, "There must be some mistake in here. It can't be that difficult." I mean, Lord, be a little bit reasonable. This is becoming unreasonable. I mean, surely, surely, let's sit down and reason together and talk some sense. I mean, he is this nice, decent fellow who comes along. He has never done a bad thing in his life. He's kept all the commandments. I mean, be a little bit kind to the man. I mean, let's say just, okay, half your possessions. We'll bargain a bit about this. Surely, half your possessions will do. You keep the other half, then you come and follow me. And yeah, when the church needs a little bit of financial help, we'll come and call on you again, right, with the remaining half.
The Lord says in Luke, "Except the man renounce all that he has, whatever it is that attaches you to the world, except the man renounce all that he has, he cannot be my disciple." I think you don't have to be highly intelligent to perceive that there is something very different about the way the Lord Jesus preaches the gospel from the way the church preaches the gospel. Because we know that if we preach a gospel like this in the way the Lord Jesus preaches it, we are not going to get many converts. And we are not going to get churches packed with people. And if you want to pack people into the churches, you don't preach this kind of gospel. Because it is impossible for the natural man to accept this kind of teaching. It sticks in his throat like a fish bone. He can't get it down. It is choking him. It is impossible. I like to stress that word "impossible" because that is exactly what the Lord Jesus says. It is impossible. He knows it is impossible and He has made it that way. He insists that it will be that way. And you and I think we have the right to change it? At least the churches think they have the right to change it.
But let's look back at this rich young man again. He is the most attractive person. Most attractive. I just sometimes like to wonder what hordes of girls would have their eyes on him as this eligible candidate. I mean, in modern times, he is not only rich. He is not just rich. Luke chapter 18 verse 23 tells us that he is very rich. I mean, not just rich. Rich is already something, but he is very rich. So, in modern terms, you might picture him driving up to the Lord Jesus in his Mercedes sports coupe.
But the beautiful thing about it is he is not in the least arrogant. Now, that's difficult. To be rich and not to be arrogant. To be rich and still humble shows the quality of this man. He really has quality. You can say he has class. He has class. Because to be rich and arrogant is just disgusting. People find this kind of people disgusting. But to be rich and powerful and yet to be humble and gracious, that is class. That is character.
How do we know this? Well, look at the passage. It tells us in Mark chapter 10 verse 17 that he knelt down before the Lord Jesus. He humbled himself before this very ordinary teacher of the Word of God. I mean, remember that the Lord Jesus was an upstart at the time. He had only been in His ministry for one or two years. He was a newcomer, you see. Yet, this man drives up in his Mercedes sports coupe, stops there, comes out of it, and is not afraid to dirty his sharkskin trousers. I'm sure you know sharkskin is a material, very high-class, shiny material that some rich people can wear. And so, he comes and he kneels down in the mud before the Lord Jesus. He could have swaggered up and said, "Well, how do I inherit the world?" No, no. If he had behaved like that, the Lord wouldn't even have talked to him. The Lord would not even have taken notice of him. He would have just turned away, I'm sure of that. But no, no. None of this. He kneels before the Lord Jesus, and then notice his courtesy: "Good Teacher." Notice the word. He expresses "Good Teacher." We find that in Mark and Luke. He uses the address of "Good Teacher." He is very polite. Of course, the Lord challenges him on that point. "Are you just being polite and using the word good, or do you mean good when you say good?"
So, we notice that this is a very attractive young man. He is really very attractive. But more than that, he is very capable too. And that's also a rare combination. I mean, it shows that he didn't just inherit a lot of money, because you can be more or less a piece of jelly having inherited money from your forefathers. But he is a ruler. Yes, we are told that he is a ruler. In the Luke account, it also tells us that he was a ruler. The word ruler in Luke can mean either the leader of a synagogue or even a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal body, both legal and religious body in Israel, more or less equivalent to the Supreme Court. This means that he must have been reasonably learned as well as being reasonably capable, because this kind of position is not attained merely by social status in Israel. He had to indicate a certain level of qualification and training, perhaps in law. So, he was a ruler, a leader, and maybe he was both leader of a synagogue and a member of the Sanhedrin. We are not told which of these he is, but either way, he is a man of considerable standing, even at a young age, because we are told in Matthew 19:20 that he is young.
So, he is rich, he is young, and he is also a ruler, and he is also religious, he is a moral man, he is a polite man, he is a cultured man, a capable man — all the qualities you can look for. That is why I say, wow, the girls must have gone wild about this guy, not to mention about his sparkling horse that goes by. Maybe in those days they didn't go in Mercedes, but an Arabian charger might go by. So, wow, what an attractive picture.
In fact, not only is he such an attractive person, but his very sincere heart and attitude — he was not a hypocritical superficial type. He obviously was a very sincere person, and we are told in Mark that the Lord Jesus, looking upon him, loved him. Loved him. The Lord Jesus even loved this person, at least loved him for his sincerity, his genuineness in his question. He's got everything. He is pretty nearly perfect, as far as this world is concerned. I mean, what better man — if you were looking for a man, these are all the qualities you would look for, right? You name something that's missing here, you can't think of anything that's missing. He's got everything that a person should have, or might desire to have, in this world.
So, maybe given this fact that he is such a religious, moral, good person, maybe we can make it easier for him, right? To inherit eternal life, how about this? No. The Lord Jesus loved him, as we are told in Mark, but He could not lower the standard for the sake of admitting somebody that He loved. It could not be done. And yet, we, the churches today, dare to do the very thing that the Lord Jesus did not do. Think on that. That is really something quite remarkable. He required, let me stress one more time, nothing less than perfection. "One thing you lack," He says to the young man. Oh yes, you are nearly perfect. As far as this world is concerned, you are about as perfect as you can go. But one thing you lack. And that one thing you lack is the most important thing.
What is it, Lord? Perfect obedience to God. Your heart, my friend, is still attached to the world. And because your heart is attached to the world, you cannot inherit life. That's what it amounts to. Our hearts may not be attached to riches, as this young man was, but our hearts are attached to something in this world. Could it be degrees? Human status? Whatever it is that this world has captured your heart with, that thing will prevent you from following the Lord with all your heart. There is still something in this world that is precious to you, as it was to this rich young ruler. And that one thing will stop you from entering into life. And you know what it is in your heart.
I mean, you can congratulate yourself that you are not rich, let alone very rich. You have nothing to sell, nothing to give up, you have nothing that is worth anything. If you took it to the junk shop, they might not even want to accept it. So you say, "How fortunate I am. So you see, this rich young man can't get into the kingdom, but hallelujah, I can." No problem? Not so fast, not so fast. The Lord is also not that superficial. The riches may be the one thing that blocks this young man, but what might it be that blocks you? Because one can say with absolute confidence that there is no person in this world that is not attached to this world in some way or another. There is no one who does not find his heart attracted by the world in some area.
Could it be academic knowledge? Could it be the glory that comes with academic qualifications? Could it be social status? Could it be that we seek the approval and applause and praise of men? To an artist, a performing artist, praise of men is worth more than diamonds. Oh, it's worth more. I began only slowly to realize how much praise is worth to an artist as I began to listen to the sharing of various artists. To the artist, the applause, which to some people means nothing, to them it's everything. Oh, that is the music to their ears for which they live every moment, for which they slave and for which they labor. It may mean nothing much to you, but it means everything to them.
There is something peculiar in each person which attaches their heart to the world. It's sometimes amazing to find out what that thing is. To some people, for example, travel in the world means everything. To be able to travel and see this and see that, oh, this is everything. For this they will slave and they will labor so that they may be able to travel. You say, "I don't care, I'm bored to death with traveling," but for them it means something. And there is something that means everything to you, which to another person may mean nothing at all.
There are some people who will slave and labor just so that they can get one promotion higher than where they are now, so that they can sit in the boss's swivel chair over there in a little glass cubicle. Most of us would be suffocated sitting in the glass cubicle. But for some people, that glass cubicle represents all of paradise. That little swivel chair in there, half worn out, and that little desk in there, that is everything that they aspire for. You say, "I can't understand this," but that person can. That place behind that glass panel where the manager sits, that is where he dreams to be one day, so that he can put his foot up on the desk and twiddle his thumbs, so he thinks anyway. For that he will slave and he will work and put in overtime so that he can sit in that little office.
Now whatever you think it is, something in this world captures your heart. Something. For another person it's food. Food. I mean they slave and they work so that they can... I mean, Hong Kong people understand this point very well. This one I don't have to elaborate. Food, that is the thing. That is the joy of life. That is the satisfaction of life, for which one will slave and labor. Oh yes. When I traveled — not only the Chinese, by the way — when I traveled in France, my eyes were open. When I looked at the price of menus and the restaurant full in spite of the price of menus, I couldn't believe my eyes. I said either these people in all this village are totally rich or that food is the ideal for them that cannot be missed. That is why they work the whole day in the office so that in the evening they can sit in this little restaurant and sip their wine and eat their food. That is what life is all about. Amazing.
See, one thing for this person, one thing for another. And whatever that is, the Lord is saying, you've got to cut that away. Oh, painful, painful operation. Not only painful — it's not possible. "Lord, it can't be done. I can't give this up." That's right. You can't. You have said it exactly. With man, it is impossible.
So now we are ready to move to our second point. Let me stress again the first point. The Lord has stressed that without perfection — His word, not mine, it is the regular word in the Greek for perfection — without perfection, no man will inherit eternal life. Perfection. And perfection here means, as we have seen, perfect obedience to God. It means the readiness to surrender everything there is in this world that ties you or attaches you or holds you to this world. Everything whatsoever, to turn your back upon it all, to deny even yourself, to follow Him. This is not the kind of gospel the Lord Jesus preached that will appeal to the crowds. It has no crowd appeal. And nor does He intend it to have crowd appeal. He never appealed to the crowds. He spoke only for those who have ears for the truth and for none other.
So now let's come to more closely examine this matter of faith. Why are we talking about faith? Because we are talking about what is impossible. Now this is the first and basic definition of faith in Scripture. And when you don't have this aspect in the definition of faith, then you are not talking about New Testament faith. New Testament faith, all faith, always has to do with what is humanly impossible. That is, it is impossible to man. It cannot be done. You see, if it's possible to man, then it doesn't have to be of grace. We can achieve it ourselves. If it is possible for man to attain to eternal life in his own strength and by his own achievement, then we don't need faith. Any definition of faith that leaves out the impossible — impossible for man — is not the definition of the New Testament.
Now let us, in the light of this basic statement, check the statement that salvation is a free gift and faith simply accepts a free gift. Can you tell me anything in this definition that is impossible? Impossible for...
# Perfection Through Faith
It's not to accept the free gift, is it not? If anybody offers you a free gift, and that free gift is eternal life, what's impossible about accepting it? It's not only not impossible, it is irrefusable. It's an offer too good to refuse. We have changed the gospel, brothers and sisters. The churches have taken the liberty to change the gospel, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They made it something else; it's another gospel.
So, this is not the gospel that I read of. Look at this passage again, look at all the Lord's teachings, and look at what you've been listening to, and see whether we are still talking the same thing. We have changed the gospel. A faith that is simply a hand reaching out for a free gift, that is called a New Testament definition of salvation, of faith. You show me where this is; I can't find it. We have made our own invention. We have cheapened grace to the level that is irrefusable. Irrefusable. Oh no. Let us not fool ourselves.
The New Testament definition of faith always has to do with the impossible. Let's look at Matthew 17, verse 20, for example, just two chapters earlier on. Matthew 17, verse 20. The disciples tried to cast out a demon, and they found they could not do it. And they asked the Lord Jesus why, and He says in verse 20, He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. And nothing will be impossible to you." Nothing is impossible to faith, because God is the one who will act when you have faith.
Let me show you another example of this in Mark chapter 9, verse 23. That faith always has to do with the impossible. Mark chapter 9, verse 23. And this is what we read here. And Jesus said to him, "If you can, all things are possible to him who believes." All things are possible. Now when we turn back to Matthew 19, we understand why the Lord Jesus says that with man it is impossible. Matthew 19, let us get these words clearly before us. "Who can be saved?" Verse 25. And Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible." And all things are possible to them that believe.
That is why salvation is by faith, because it is impossible to man. If I could achieve salvation, somehow or other, I don't need faith. To talk about a faith that accepts a free gift, it is a joke. Frankly, putting it bluntly, it is a joke. That is not faith in the Bible. What do you need faith to accept a free gift for? You just accept it. What do you need faith for? You just tell me why you need faith. There is nothing in a free gift that one can just stretch out one's hand and collect it. You are simply receiving it. It has nothing to do with faith.
Now, salvation then is absolutely based upon faith. In the definition of faith that Paul gives in Romans chapter 4, this element of the impossible is stressed by the Apostle Paul. Paul understands the meaning of faith perfectly. And when he speaks about justification by faith, he has never devalued faith to mean something that is easily possible to man. Paul is too well versed in the word of God to make this kind of mistake. Let's turn to Romans chapter 4 to see this point very clearly. Romans chapter 4. And this is what we read. We read from verse 19, talking about Abraham's faith, because it is by Abrahamic faith that we are saved with that same kind of faith.
He says, "He, Abraham, did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead, because he was about a hundred years old. But when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb, no distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God. But he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God." Think of the situation. Why did Abraham have to exercise faith when God said that his descendants would be as the stars of the sky, as the sand of the sea? Why did he have to exercise faith in the impossible? Because it was humanly impossible. It was humanly impossible.
He was a hundred years old. But that is not the impossible part. The point is that Sarah, even when she was not yet 90 years old, and she was 90 years old at the time, even when she was not 90 years old, she had been barren all her life. She could not bear any children. All her life she bore no children. She was always barren, incapable of bringing forth children. If that was true when she was 20, how much more is it true when she was 90? She was long past the period when any woman could bear children. And if she was infertile in her youth, to talk about her bringing forth children at the age of 90 is absolutely impossible.
It is not within the realm of possibility. It is in the face of the impossible that Abraham believed God. And it was accounted to him as righteousness, as it said in Romans 4. See, Paul is in himself stressing the fact that true faith, like Abraham's faith, believes in the impossible, that God can do the impossible, and that God must do the impossible if His word is to be fulfilled in us. So you see that Paul himself constantly stresses this. And he goes on to say that the same thing is true of us. As we read on here, in verse 24, in verse 23 it says, "But the words 'it was reckoned to him' were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also." It will be reckoned to us who believe in Him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
To believe that God raised Jesus from the dead — impossible to man. That is a miracle. That's not possible. But the whole gospel is like that. There is nothing in the gospel that is possible to man. Did you know that? There is nothing in it that man can accept on the basis of reason. Nothing whatsoever. Think of it. Jesus started by being born of a virgin. That's impossible. No virgin ever gave birth to any person. We start with an impossibility already, right from the start. And so it goes through all His life. Everything is impossible, including His being raised from the dead and ascending into heaven. I mean, the whole thing is impossible. Have you ever seen a man ascending into heaven? This is just not possible to man. This is, to the human mind, it is simply mind boggling.
There is nothing in this that is possible. There is no item in the gospel that you can accept according to human reason. It's an offense. It offends the reason of man. Precisely. God in His wisdom chose to establish a gospel in which no single point can be accepted by human reason. It cannot even be understood by human reason. It can only be understood as an act of God's supernatural power. If you don't want to accept the supernatural, you shouldn't be a Christian because there is nothing in the Bible that is not supernatural. There is nothing in God's saving work that is not supernatural.
Yet it is offensive to man. And they want to change it, you see, to make it acceptable to man. And the Lord Jesus is saying it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved. It is just not humanly possible. But what does our commentator tell us? He invented a story from somewhere. He says there is a gate in the city, a city gate that is called the eye of a needle, and a camel could just about squeeze through it. Amazing. Amazing. Because I have searched high and low through every authoritative commentary and every encyclopedia and dictionary that is worth talking about, and they have never heard of such a gate in any city. Where did this commentator invent this story from?
You see, they want to make it something possible to man. Jesus said it is impossible, but they decided it is still possible. Why? Because they decided to cut out a hole in the gate in their imagination anyway and call it the eye of a needle. But in fact, such a thing does not exist in archaeology; it does not exist in history; it does not exist anywhere. I wonder which preacher in his dreams invented this thing to make the impossible become possible. That is what we are always trying to do, isn't it? We want the gospel to conform to us. Oh yes, and how did Jesus ascend directly? Oh easy — UFO. Unidentified flying object. Ah yes, you see, when the Lord Jesus was standing there, then a cloud came and picked Him up, and that cloud was really a UFO. Oh, this story is getting more exciting. This is really going to the realm of science fiction now.
We are prepared to find any explanation except the explanation that God in His almighty power did this thing. No, no, no, no, we want to rule this out. No, no, God doesn't interfere in the world. No, no, no, no, no, this world is all very natural, you see. Really. This gospel that the Lord Jesus preaches is offensive to the natural man, and God forbid that we shall dare to take that offense away. But no, we change the story all the time. It's very difficult for a camel to squeeze through a small gate, but it's at least possible, right? So why did the Lord Jesus say it's impossible?
The first and fundamental element in faith in the scriptural definition — let me stress this thing absolutely to you — is that it is faith in God doing something impossible. Can your heart turn away from the world? Could the rich young ruler give up his possessions? No way. No way. Could a musician give up her music or his music? No. That's his life. Could a scientist give up his science? No way. No way. That's his life. I mean, he might as well give up his life. Exactly. Now we are talking. It's to give up your life. Nothing short of that. Now this is not possible until God does a work in your life, and you accept by faith that He can do this work. He can say, "Lord, I can't." The rich man would have had to say, "Lord, I can't. I really can't give up my riches. There's no way. You're asking the impossible. But Lord, if eternal life is that valuable, so do a transforming work in me. Create a miracle in me, so to change my heart that I will regard all this as rubbish, and I will gladly give it all." It has to be a miracle. Salvation is a miracle.
Grasp this clearly. Salvation is a work of God, and every work of God is a miracle. Let me move on quickly to the second point of our definition of the meaning of faith. The second thing about the definition of the meaning of faith is that, precisely because salvation cannot be achieved by human effort, because it involves an act of God — that is what grace means. Grace means that God does something for us that we could not do for ourselves. But the second point about grace is that grace is something very specific to each person. In Romans chapter 4, it is Abraham, specifically Abraham. In Matthew chapter 19, it is the rich young ruler, and specifically spoken to him: "Come, follow me."
God's grace to you and to me is very specific. What do I mean by this? What I mean is this. God does not just treat you as a face in the crowd, as a name in a telephone book that means nothing to the one who opens the telephone book, as a number on a computer. You must get it clearly into your mind that God knows you, and He knows you as a distinct person, not just some unknown face in the crowd, and He is going to do a work of grace specifically in your life. And it is you specifically that must exercise faith. You cannot, in other words, sneak into the kingdom of God behind someone else's coattails. It is you that must make the response of faith, and God's grace and the miracle He will do is specifically in your life.
This is something that we still don't understand very clearly. Jesus wants to speak to each one of us in a very direct way. That is why faith cannot be had secondhand. We can't be saved because our father is a pastor or our mother is a church worker. We cannot be saved because your father was a very good Christian. It is you who must make the response. It is you who must enter into the kingdom of your own accord, and it is you who must turn your back upon the world to do so. In this sense we can talk about personal faith, because each person must make that commitment for himself or for herself.
And we look throughout the scripture, and it is God's love as it is spoken to you specifically, not just to the human way: "God so loved the world." The world is very big, and I am hardly a face in that crowd. But Paul was able to say, "The Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." There is a sense in which God's love is specifically for you and not just for the world as a whole. The miracle of transformation that He wants to do is specifically in your life and not just for the world generally. When He died upon the cross, faith apprehends the fact that it was specifically for me that He died. Not just for the world generally, but that your name was specifically listed as the purpose for His death. Can you grasp that? In other words, it is Abraham who had to make a specific act of faith. It was the rich young ruler who had to make a specific act of faith. Abraham succeeded by God's grace. The rich young ruler failed because he did not depend on God's grace. Which of these two will you be?
The third thing that needs to be mentioned about faith, the third specific character about faith, is that it always has to do with promise, and promise always has to do with the future. That's very important to understand. If we look at Romans again, you will see that the word "promise" occurs again and again in Romans chapter 4. It occurs, in fact, five times between verses 13 and 21. Five times between 13 and 21 of Romans 4. The promise to Abraham — the promise had to be taken by faith. What is a promise? A promise means it's something that you haven't got yet in your hands, but you will have in the future. This is the same thing that the Lord Jesus says to the rich young ruler: "Sell what you have and you will have treasure in heaven." You will have in the future. It is future. In other words, you are trading the present for the future. Your faith in God rests on a promise of God in the future.
This is very important to grasp. Faith does not look backwards. In other words, it looks forward. The question of faith to say, "Do you believe that Jesus died for you in the past?" is not the right question. It is not faith looking at the past; it is looking into the future. The question is, do you believe that in view of what Jesus did for you in the past, you will inherit life in the future? We are not saved on the basis of a memory. We are saved on the basis of a faith that looks to the promise of God, to the word of God that is in the future. Do you grasp this point? You are not saved because you believe that Jesus died for you a long time ago. That is not the basis of faith as such. The point of faith is that you believe that in view of what Jesus did before, it affects you now and it will affect you in the future. It is the past as relating to the future. That is what faith is about. It is not past as past, but past as relating to the future. Now that is very important for you to grasp.
What do we mean by this? You can tell whether you have true faith or not by the extent to which you look forward into the future for the promise of God. Abraham looked for the promise of God. He walked with his eyes looking forward. But Christians walk either with their eyes looking backwards or looking downwards, but not forward to the future. Does the future count? Do you look with eager expectation for eternal life? Do you look with eager expectation for the hope of salvation as it is called by Paul? The element of hope is so exceedingly important in Paul. The word "hope" occurs in the New Testament 53 times, of which 36 times it occurs in Paul's writings. And in Romans alone, the word "hope" occurs 13 times. Hope means you look forward with eager expectation. In fact, the word "hope" is not a very good word to use in the English language today, because hope is so weakened today as simply to have no more real content. Hope in the New Testament means eager expectation. Do you have that kind of faith?
The reason why this element is so important is because, you see, if you are a natural man, you want to hold on to what you have got now. You don't want to give up what you have now for something that is in the future. That's what the rich young ruler didn't want to do, you see. Riches is what he has got in his hands now. He can see his Mercedes with his eyes. When he presses the button, the roof goes down. Ooh, nice feeling. When he presses another button, ooh, the lights come up. He presses another button, the radio comes on. These are now, the things he can experience now. Treasure in heaven? Too far away. And you are asking me to give up what I have now to get something which is in the future, which I don't even see right now, which I don't have in my hands.
When I go to my bank, I see my bank book, gold color or whatever color it is, and I open it and I see the figures in black there. Mmm, $150,000 in my deposit account. I don't know how much the rich young ruler would have. I mean, these are concrete things. We are talking concrete things. It is the now. Today is my day. And you say, give this all up for treasure in heaven? What do you think I am? I live in cloud cuckoo land? I didn't become rich by living in cloud cuckoo land. I am a practical, concrete man. And you are asking me, Lord Jesus, you are asking me to give up all this stuff that I got now for treasure in heaven. Well, excuse me. I think I will stick to the present.
And so you are asking a person to give up the present for the future. That is what faith is about. Do you grasp this point? To the natural man, this is impossible because the present, according to present-day philosophy, is all you have got. All you have is now. You may not have tomorrow. You may not have the day after tomorrow, never mind eternity. It is all contrary to reason. The human mind says, "I can't follow this. I've been wanting the present all the time. Now that I have the present — you know how many years I studied? Do you know how many years I studied? Do you want to see my diploma? How many years I studied to reach this day, this glorious day, or almost glorious day that I am in now. And you are asking me to give up the present for the future? I don't even know whether I have a future." That's right. Because the natural man has no future. Only the man of faith has a future.
You see, Abraham was willing to give up all that he had, unlike the rich young ruler, because he sought a city that has foundations, which is in eternity. Eternity? Well, I think I'll settle for my lollipop that I can taste in my mouth. I can taste it now. I can't taste eternity. But this is faith. Ask yourself whether you have it. Sell what you have. Part with the present and put your confidence in the future. Store up treasure in heaven, and then you come and follow me. What you will have in the present is no more Mercedes. But, my friends, you're going to have persecution. You're going to have blood, and you're going to have sweat, and you're going to have tears. And you say, "Lord, I think I'll stick with my air conditioning. I don't think I like all the stuff that You mentioned just now. But something about taking up a cross and following me and all this kind of stuff. I mean, cross? Give up a Mercedes in exchange for a cross? You must be kidding."
Right, to the human mind, it is kidding. But let me say to you, this is what the Lord Jesus told the man. Is it not? Am I exaggerating? Am I misrepresenting the fact? Is this not the truth? This is the truth. This is nothing but the truth. Faith has to do with the promise of God. It is to give up the present for a promise. Can you think of anything more impractical than that? Right, my friend, you are very practical. I thought so. That is why it's impossible. Impossible to man. Faith does the impossible.
Let's come to the last point as we close. Promise has to do with hope. But hope in the Bible is not the wishful thinking of the world. When we say in the world "hope," we really mean wishful thinking, isn't it? "I hope the weather will be good tomorrow because tomorrow is a holiday, and I would like to go to Albion Park, and I would like to have my picnic there, and I don't want it to be rained out. So I hope the weather will be good." Now when we use "hope" in this way, we really mean wishful thinking. There is no substance to this hope whatsoever. It's based on nothing. It's based on absolutely nothing except my own desire. And when anything is based merely on your own desire, that is the proper definition of wishful thinking. And the word "hope" today really means wishful thinking. That's why I say we should not use the word "hope" to translate the Greek word "elpis" in the New Testament, because it should be really translated as "expectation."
And so we see this in the same way with Abraham. He gave up everything to follow God. And now God is giving him a promise: "I am going to call your descendants to be as the stars of the heavens, as the sand of the sea." And he doesn't even have one child. Never mind the sand of the sea and stars of heaven. One will do for a start. But when God said it, though his body was as good as dead and his wife was as good as dead, 90 years old, who never bore a child in her life, he believed God's promise. And what does it say in Romans chapter 4? Those are the words we see here, verse 21: "He was fully convinced," not just hope in some make-believe, wishful thinking. He was fully convinced. And what did he base his faith on? He based his faith on the character and on the power of God. "Fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised."
God was able. That's what faith is about. It comes down to the crunch at this point. Do you believe that God is able? And I don't mean do you believe theoretically He is able. But do you really believe that He is able to do this for you? You and me — nobody. And God, King of kings, Lord of lords, He will condescend to do this for you. Faith indeed. That faith — that is saving faith. That is the kind of faith Paul is talking about in Romans chapter 4. It is justified by this kind of faith. Don't we dare to change faith into some wishy-washy nonsense and then say, "There we are, we are justified by faith." That is faith in Paul's definition. That is faith — the same definition as the Lord's own definition of faith. It is this kind of faith that believes that what God has said, He will do, because He can do it and He will do it.
Therefore, now we understand that we sum this whole matter up. I began by saying that we were going to look at these fundamental points: that in the Lord's teaching there is no salvation without perfection; secondly, there is no perfection without faith; and thirdly, that it is precisely this faith which depends on God to do the impossible that saves us. What is our conclusion then? What was the Lord's reply to the question about eternal life? His reply was simply this: unless you are perfect in your obedience to me, and you will demonstrate this perfect obedience by turning your back completely upon the world, and having done that, to depend on God's promise that your treasure will be in heaven — you will come and follow me with all the consequences of following me. That is the answer to your question, my friend. How do I inherit eternal life? That is how you inherit eternal life.
It is through discipleship that you will inherit eternal life. It is through the faith that is manifested in discipleship that God will do such a change in your life, perform such a miracle of transformation in your life, that you become a new person, a new creature, and you follow Him. And in such a person, God's grace and power will be manifested in such a way that all the world will see that you walk with God. Let us pray. Thank you.