Author: Charlie Garrett

Sunday, 10 May 2026

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Matthew 19:22

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“And having heard, the young man, the word, he departed – grieving, for he was ‘having possessions, many’.” (CG)

In the previous verse, Jesus said to the young ruler, “If you desire to be complete, you go, you sell your ‘the possessings,’ and you give these to ‘poor’, and you will have treasure in heaven. And you, hither! You follow Me.”

That was the final instruction for this young man to enter perpetual life in the manner he requested. Matthew next records, “And having heard, the young man, the word, he departed – grieving.”

It must be remembered that this person was asking how he could merit perpetual life. This is the problem. The young ruler was making the issue about himself and his merit before God. All three synoptic gospels indicate this. Matthew, which is indicative of the other accounts, said, “Teacher, what ‘good’ I should do that I may have ‘life perpetual’?”

He was doing this based on the words of the law found in Leviticus 18:5. Jesus’ answer was necessary to give as He did because the law was still in full force. It would be inappropriate for Him to say that He could find life some other way at this time.

Therefore, Jesus gave the commandments He wanted the young man to focus on, and then He said to be complete in meeting them, he would need to sell what he possessed, give it to the poor, and he would have treasure in heaven. Then he was to come to Jesus and follow Him.

This is what brought about his grief. He would have to give up everything to attain life, but what a challenge! But this is how the law works. If he couldn’t love his neighbor as himself, he proved, by default, that he did not love God above all else.

Because of this, Matthew records, “for he was ‘having possessions, many’.” As the subject and accomplishment were about himself while living under the law, he could not find the spiritual stamina to do it. And indeed, no one could. Approximately fourteen hundred and fifty years of Israel living under the law proved this.

But step back now and look at what he missed by making it about himself. Jesus told him to keep certain commandments. Did Jesus do this? Yes, He fulfilled the law perfectly. But more, before He did that, what did He do? He gave up all of the riches of heaven to accomplish the necessary requirements of the law –

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. ⁹ Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11

Jesus gave up everything, giving Himself to the poor people of the world who were stuck under the authority and condemnation of Satan. He did not ask the ruler to do anything He didn’t do. Now that Christ has fulfilled the law, the answer to the same question can be answered quite differently –

Q: Teacher, what ‘good’ I should do that I may have ‘life perpetual’?
A: Trust in the completed work of Jesus Christ, and you will have ‘life perpetual’.

Jesus had not yet completed His mission when the young man came to Him. Therefore, the answer had to be about the law leading to death. Now, with Christ’s sacrificial offering that brought the law to an end, there is no law to deal with. Rather, there is Christ’s fulfillment of it. Our faith is in what He did, not in what we must do. Our “doing” is His “having done.”

Life application: The general tone of commentaries concerning this passage is essentially that we must do what Jesus instructed this young man. And it is true, if we accept the premise that we are under law, such as the Seventh Day Adventists, Hebrew Roots adherents, etc., claim, then we are obligated to do just what Jesus told him to do.

However, if we accept the premise that Jesus died in fulfillment of the law, we are under no obligation to do those things. They have been done for us. Why would Jesus tell you to do the things of the law that He accomplished, fulfilled, and annulled? That would mean His cross was a pointless gesture.

He wouldn’t, and He doesn’t. All He asks of the people of the world to do is to trust that His doing was sufficient and that He will be our representative before the Father. So the proposition is laid forth for you. You can go it alone under law, or you can trust Jesus, who accomplished all, all by Himself. Choose wisely. Choose Jesus.

Lord God, it is not easy to set ourselves aside and say, “I will relinquish my very soul into the hands of another.” But when the “other” is You, how easy it suddenly becomes. Thank You, O God, for coming in the form of a bondservant under the law to redeem us to Yourself. What manner of love this is! Hallelujah to You, O God. Amen.

Saturday, 9 May 2026

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Matthew 19:21

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“He said to him, Jesus, ‘If you desire to be complete, you go, you sell your ‘the possessings,’ and you give these to ‘poor’, and you will have treasure in heaven. And you, hither! You follow Me.’” (CG)

In the previous verse, the young ruler told Jesus that he had guarded all the commandments Jesus referred to in the previous verses since his youth. With that having been said, Jesus next gets to the root of the man’s true state by giving him one last directive. Matthew records, “He said to him, Jesus, ‘If you desire to be complete, you go, you sell your ‘the possessings,’.’”

A new word is seen, huparchó, to exist, to be, to possess. It is from hupo, under, and archomai, to commence. The connection can be seen in the sentence, “It is he who is the pastor of the church.” He possesses the position of pastor. The things that the ruler had existed under him.

Jesus’ instruction is to take those things which existed under him, which were obviously unnecessary to him if he faithfully kept the commandments he claimed he kept. The reason for this, in particular, is because of the last one Jesus referred to. It was not a part of the decalogue. Instead, it was a principle found in the moral codes of Leviticus, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

If he loved his neighbor as himself, he would tend to his neighbor as he tended to himself. But he was rich, and many of his neighbors, the people of Israel and any strangers among them (Deuteronomy 10:18, etc.), were poor.

If he loved them as he loved himself, he would tend to their needs just as he tended to his own. Jesus has, as in Matthew 5, raised the bar from simple precepts to what lies behind them. The parable of the Good Samaritan is an example of such a situation. The idea of tending to them in this way is made explicit in the next words, “and you give these to ‘poor’, and you will have treasure in heaven.”

A bar has been set for this young ruler. To attain perpetual life under the law, he would need to give up everything he possessed as a demonstration of his true care for the precepts of the law. Understanding this, He next says, “And you, hither! You follow Me.”

Another new word is seen, deuro, hither, or here. In most cases, it is used as an emphatic verb, signifying to come hither. But the verb is only implied. It can also be used as an adverb. It is used that way in Romans 1:13, where it says, “Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now [deuro]) …”

Jesus implores him that if he wants to learn the way of meriting favor through the law, he will sell everything, give it all to the poor as a demonstration of his love for his neighbor, and then come to Him to learn the way of attaining perpetual life as stated in Leviticus 18:5 –

“And you guard my enactments and my verdicts, which he will do them, the man, and he lived in them. I, Yehovah.” Leviticus 18:5 (CG)

The man’s question was based on that precept. Therefore, Jesus gave His answer to this man based on his question. He did not introduce salvation by grace through faith at all. Rather, He confirmed what is necessary to attain eternal life through law observance.

Life application: This interaction between the ruler and Jesus has nothing to do with Christians attaining eternal life through the finished work of Jesus. The man was emphatically implored by Jesus to follow Him. Jesus had not yet died in fulfillment of the law. If the man followed His instructions and then followed Him as instructed, he would have been “perfect” in his pursuit of the law.

Obviously, this could not have happened, but Jesus’ words were an instructional tool to learn what is required if one wants to attain life through law observance. The key to understanding this interaction is the man’s initial words concerning his desire for perpetual life. He said, “Teacher, what ‘good’ I should do that I may have ‘life perpetual’?”

He inserted himself into the equation, “What good shall I do?” If he had asked, “Teacher, how can I be granted eternal life?” Jesus’ response may have been completely different. The answer to the question for us is, “There is no good thing you can do to merit eternal life.” Instead, we must trust in what Jesus has done.

Understanding this, it is ridiculous to use this interaction as an example of what Christians should do. The Roman Catholic Church has what are known as the “counsels of perfection.” They build their theology on works, known as supererogation, based on this example. But perfection cannot come through works. We are already tainted with sin.

Rather, perfection comes through faith in Christ. His perfection is imputed to us. This interaction between the ruler and Jesus has nothing to do with Christian faith. It should never be used as an example of what we are to do to be pleasing to God.

To do so will only diminish the glory of what God has done for us in the giving of Jesus. Let us not mar grace. After salvation, if we want to do good stuff, that is great. But it should never be considered a condition for attaining perfection.

Lord God, thank You for the lessons we learn in Scripture. They lead us to the understanding that Jesus is all we need to be right with You. May we never assume that we can merit Your favor apart from Him. All glory to You, O God! Amen.

Friday, 8 May 2026

The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Matthew 19:20

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“He says to Him, the youth, ‘All these I guarded from my youth. What yet, I lack?’” (CG)

In the previous verse, Jesus finished His list of things to do in order to merit perpetual life. His answer was in response to the ruler’s question about what he needed to do to obtain it.

Before evaluating the verse, it should be noted that there are some differences between texts –

“He says to Him, the youth, ‘All these I guarded from my youth. What yet, I lack?’” (CG)
“All these I have kept,” said the young man. “What do I still lack?” (BSB)

With these differences noted, and now that Jesus’ list has been given, this man replies to Jesus. Matthew records, “He says to Him, the youth.”

A new word is seen here. The man is now identified as a neaniskos, a youth. The term is used concerning a man up to the age of forty. It is ultimately derived from the adjective neos, new, as in “what was not there before”.

So, despite being a ruler, he is not an elderly person. This may explain why he is naïve about the ways of law, death, and attaining eternal life. Although the inability to perceive one’s own sin does not suddenly perish with age.

However, this person sees that aging and death lie ahead, and he is looking to avoid that by meriting what had thus far eluded the people of Israel. Having been presented with Jesus’ words, he says, “All these I guarded from my youth.”

Two new words are seen here. However, they are only in some texts. For other texts, they will be introduced in the parallel account found in Mark 10. The first word is phulassó. It signifies to watch or guard, being derived from phulé, an offshoot, such as from a race or clan.

The idea is that someone from a particular race is isolated to that race. Hence, one would guard his genealogy, watching or guarding it as his heritage. This young man claims to have watched over his keeping of each commandment given by Jesus, not having strayed at all from faithful observance. And he has done it from his neotés, youth.

This is the second new word. It too is derived from neos, new. So this man is a youth who claims he has kept watch over the necessary commandments stated by Jesus since his youth. It seems a point is being made here about a lack of understanding by saying he was a youth, and yet the man is claiming he kept all the commands since his youth.

He is overly confident in his accomplishments despite lacking the years necessary to understand how things actually work. Despite this, he continues by asking Jesus, “What yet, I lack?”

One more new word is seen, hustereó, to be later. By implication, it means to be inferior or to fall short or be deficient. In other words, if someone is in a race and he comes in later, or last, he is deficient in what is necessary to win.

This young ruler is in a race to attain perpetual life. He wants to know how he can win this race by eliminating whatever will cause him to “arrive later” at the goal.

Life application: The word hustereó is used several times in a manner similar to the question of the young ruler here. In Romans 3, Paul says, “for all have sinned and fall short [hustereó] of the glory of God.” Again, in Hebrews 4, it says –

“Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short [hustereó] of it.” Hebrews 4:1

Another time where it is in a similar context, it says –

“…looking carefully lest anyone fall short [hustereó] of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.”

Paul elsewhere equates our time in this life as a race, noting of himself, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippines 3:14). If we are somehow trying to merit our salvation, we will always arrive late, lacking the necessary requirement to attain eternal life.

Paul’s race was not one attempting to merit salvation. Rather, his race was one ran because of his salvation. He was striving ahead in Christ’s salvation, offered to all and attainable by simple faith in what He has done. This is what is pleasing to God. It is certain that God has no time for braggadocios who set out to impress Him with their insufficient efforts to merit His favor.

He is looking for those who are trusting in His provision. We are already in the ocean of sin. There is nothing we can do to get ourselves out of it. But He is pleased to extend His hand through Christ if we are willing to reach out for it. Be wise and take it! That is where God will find true pleasure in you.

Lord God, we are lost sinners heading for destruction without reliance on Jesus. But You sent Him! Despite our fallen state, You were willing to send Your Son into the world to rescue us. Where does such love come from? Thank You, O God, for the wonderful grace found in Jesus Christ our Lord., and Savior. Amen.

Thursday, 7 May 2026

‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 19:19

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“You honor the father of you and the mother, and you will love the ‘near you’ as yourself.” (CG)

In the previous verse, and in response to the question about how to enter perpetual life, Jesus began listing a series of commands that were intended to make this come about. That list continues with, “You honor the father of you and the mother.”

Jesus had listed from the Ten Commandments numbers six, seven, and eight. He now backs up to the fifth –

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12

This was probably a shoo-in for the man questioning Jesus. Even though he was a bit unruly in High Yeshiva, those days were gone, and mom and dad would give him a thumbs up when he needed it. After all, he was their precious Schlomo who was to carry on their name with his own family.

So far, so good. Jesus now diverts from the Ten Commandments to cite one of the moral laws laid out in Leviticus, saying, “and you will love the ‘near you’ as yourself.” This precept is cited in a string of moral and ceremonial precepts in Leviticus 19 –

“You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:18

At this point, the ruler is probably thinking the deal is sealed. Despite no one else having made it since the giving of the law, he could do it! His neighbors loved him. He always had parties in the cul-de-sac and invited them for the fun and food. For sure, if anyone had done these things, it was him!

Life application: In Romans 13, Paul gives a general repeat of what Jesus has said here. He changes the order of things and adds in additional material, but it reflects the thought conveyed by Jesus –

“Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Romans 13:8-10

Paul is not saying that believers are to do these things in order to merit salvation. Just the opposite is the case. He is saying this because Jesus has merited our salvation, and we should desire to act in accord with the salvation He has provided.

It would be completely contradictory for Paul to say in Romans 6:14 that we “are not under law but under grace,” and then to tell those in the church that they must obey certain laws in order to be saved.

But this is how many interpret what Paul is saying, such as, “See, Paul observed the Ten Commandments, and he has told us to do so too.” In this perverse thinking, adherence to Moses becomes the vehicle by which we are supposedly pleasing to God, something contrary to the gospel, which says we are pleasing to God through trusting Jesus’ merits before His throne.

As can be seen, there is a difference in “pleasing for salvation” and “pleasing because one has been saved.” Jesus did the first, and we are asked to consider and apply the latter to our walk before God. That conduct, then, leads to how we will be judged, not “for” but “in” our salvation –

“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³ each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. ¹⁴ If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” 1 Corinthians 3:11-15

Get the boxes right. Be sure to stay away from anyone who teaches that you must act in order to be saved. Jesus acted for us. We are to believe. This is the difference between the true gospel and a false one.

Lord God, thank You that we do not need to merit our salvation. If we did, we would be like every other person in every other religion on the planet. We would be pursuing salvation through our own efforts, never knowing if we had done enough. But we know that Jesus did it all and that, through Him, we are saved. Hallelujah for Jesus! Amen.

Wednesday, 6 May 2026

He said to Him, “Which ones?”
Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ Matthew 19:18

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“He says to Him, ‘Which-such?’ And Jesus, He said, ‘Not you will murder, not you will commit adultery, not you will steal, not you will false-witness.’” (CG)

In the previous verse, Jesus noted that One is good, God. After that, He answered the ruler’s question concerning what to do to obtain perpetual life, saying that if he wanted to have perpetual life, he was to keep the commandments. Hearing this, and knowing there were a lot of commandments mentioned in the Law of Moses, “He says to Him, ‘Which-such?’”

A new word is seen, poios. It is derived from pou, where, and hois, what sort of or such. The pou is turned into an individualizing interrogative (of character) to indicate “what sort of.” Hence, the entire thought gives the sense of “which ones,” or “what ones,” or something similar, based on the context.

However, the idea is that he is looking for quality of command rather than a cumulative list. In other words, “keeping what sort of commands are necessary for me to live.”

One would think Jesus would look at the man and say, “Well, you need to observe the entire law perfectly.” However, He doesn’t. He sticks with the qualitative for His response, citing a somewhat surprising list of the sort that will lead to life. At the same time, He excludes some that the people found extremely important, like the Sabbath. To begin, Matthew records, “And Jesus, He said, ‘Not you will murder.’”

It is the sixth commandment. It is a rather easy thing to keep from doing. Your neighbor is alive. Despite how much you like or dislike him, just don’t intentionally kill him, and you can check that one off the list. Next, Jesus says, “not you will commit adultery.”

This is the seventh commandment. It seems easy enough. The people were told not to do this thing. Therefore, if Jesus has set that as a standard, and a person can refrain from doing it, then he is a step closer to eternal life. Jesus next goes to the eighth commandment, saying, “not you will steal.”

Again, stealing is something one can refrain from doing if he is trying to earn his way to heaven. The need or the temptation might be there, but all he has to do is just not do it. Things are looking good for this guy if he has paid heed to Moses. Jesus next says, “not you will ‘false-witness’.”

This is another new word, pseudomartureó. It is derived from pseudomartur, a false witness. That, in turn, comes from pseudés, false, and martus, a spurious witness. Jesus is referring to the ninth commandment concerning lying. This is another command that seems easy enough. Just tell the truth, and things will be fine.

Jesus has added nothing new to the requirement, something maybe the ruler was expecting. Instead, He cited laws from the second half of the Ten Commandments, those pertaining to responsibilities toward others. He has not finished, but so far, it seems as if this guy might be a shoo-in for perpetual life, depending on his past conduct.

Life application: Jesus’ words to this man refrain from the responsibilities directed toward God found in the first half of the Ten Commandments. This is purposeful because if one cannot meet his obligations toward his fellow man whom he can see, it is certain he will not meet his obligations toward God, whom he cannot see.

Therefore, Jesus will get to the heart of the matter with this man and his desire to be granted perpetual life. One step at a time, Israel is being schooled on what is necessary to please God. They are also being shown why no one since the time of Moses has lived and continued to live without dying.

In seeing this, they will then have all the information they need to choose a Messiah who can deliver them from their body of death, something Paul speaks about in Romans 7. Unfortunately, the enticement of self-aggrandizement is so strong in most people that they cannot let go and trust God alone for salvation.

Instead, we as humans have an innate desire to put ourselves into the salvation equation, looking for a pat on the back from God when we stand before Him. But God has accepted the work of Jesus. This alone is where our righteousness can stem from. Therefore, no compliments will be given to those who look to themselves for justification.

“But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²² even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.” Romans 3:21, 22

Lord God, thank You for the simplicity of the gospel. Help us to not trip over it in our search for eternal life. Rather, may we carefully pay heed to what You have done through Jesus and be willing to accept that alone for our reconciliation with You. Amen.