Inheritance

 And a ruler asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Luke 18:18 ESV
https://bible.com/bible/59/luk.18.18.ESV

On the face of it, this is a great question from a fine, upstanding member of the community. Surely we should all be wanting to know what we must do to inherit eternal life? He addresses Jesus really respectfully too.

Jesus's response seems really harsh: was He just having a bad day? He seemed to take issue with the ruler's greeting. The implication is that He's not just a good teacher, but God.

The ruler was trying to put himself on a par with Jesus. When Jesus rattled off a load of commands, he insisted he'd kept them all. His question was wrong however. Nothing we do can help us inherit eternal life.

We inherit eternal life only if God sovereignly saves us, not through effort of our own. Nothing we do can earn our salvation. We must trust in the broken body and the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

'Sovereign Lord God, may we trust You for eternal life, and not our own efforts. Salvation is all of You and none of us and we're grateful it is, in Christ's name, amen'

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