Jesus Beholding Him Loved Him (For Keeping The Law)

BY PGF
1 year ago

“19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. 20 And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.” – Mark 10:19-21

I woke up thinking about this post from Sunday night and its implications in today’s churches. In this section of Scripture, the rich young ruler tells Jesus that he has kept the law from his youth. Only Mark, of the three synoptic Gospels, records more closely the physical interaction between that man and Jesus. Perhaps Mark, who many consider to be an eyewitness to much of Christ’s time in public life, was in a position to see his Master, where Matthew was not, and Luke, we reckon, was not there.

Only Mark records, “Then Jesus beholding him loved him.” We’ve heard some speculation about this in preaching and teaching. Some say the love Christ showed was actually pity for the man because he must have lied about keeping the law. And yet others have attempted to reduce the significance of the moment and the non-verbal response of our Lord.

During travels this last summer, I attended a Wednesday night meeting at a small church. In becoming acquainted with the Pastor before the service, he revealed that we would discuss the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the law of God until the temple(s) was built, where the law was then held in the holiest of holies. The Pastor asked me and a few others from his church in the pre-meeting discussion where the ark is now. Well, I said it was in heaven, always has been in heaven; the ark and the temple were merely types or a picture of the throne room of God. Fortunately, only a few people heard me because I gave away the conclusion to his lesson. The Pastor offered for me to stay in his RV while passing through. Good folks, down to earth. A discussion with a very recent convert was especially fruitful and enjoyable. It’s always a delight to meet newer believers. That night’s lesson did not mention the section of Mark above, but you’ll see the point momentarily.

Back to the rich young ruler and Jesus. Why wouldn’t Jesus have looked upon a man with love who had kept His law? The law was given by God, and Christ is God, Himself being the law in the flesh; “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” Could that look of love have been God’s approval as He called the rich young ruler to follow Him to his own cross of martyrdom? The ruler kept the law but loved his stuff; this we all get. Having observed the ordinances, he was called to abandon the things of this life, going wheresoever the will of God would take him (Joshua 1:9).

There were attempts to downplay the law’s importance in those poor lessons about this passage. All failed to show that Jesus is God and that the law is The Word of God! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1.

It’s bothersome having never heard a preacher state simply that God loved him for keeping His law. Why is this so hard to say? Because it hurts, all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. God loved the man for keeping His law. The only way around this is to press incredulity losing the straightforward meaning of the interaction between Jesus and the ruler. We’re not saying that the man never sinned; only Jesus has done that. But he did, apparently, keep the Commandments Jesus cited.

The keeping of the law can never save a man’s soul, this we know, but where is the error in righteous living unto a holy God? Surely the churches are not advocating theft, dishonor of parents, deceiving, cheating, or killing, are they? Why can’t a man who believes, and is sure of his eternal station, keep the law? Is it so offensive to believers today?!?!

Some said the law was for the Jews, which is true, but if you search the Scripture, only the law of sacrifice (and the rules of Pharisees) has been done away with. We still live with sin today. The law remains and convicts the sinner unto repentance which is its purpose (1 Timothy 1:9). The implication is that some seem to claim that we can now, living under grace, pretend to be Christians while acting much like those headed to the devil’s lake of fire, which is a perilous new doctrine. But as the linked post from Sunday night shows, it may not be so new after all.

Wickedness remains; the law and God’s judgments are in the New Testament and are used by the Holy Spirit of God to bring conviction of sin in the heart of the lost man and believer alike. Yes, Jesus loves us and is the Saviour offering the gift of eternal life, but He is no less Lord (Romans 6:23).

When we witness to lost sinners, we use the simple example of a lie to prove their sin. Is this wrong to cite one of the Ten Commandments today? No, all men have lied. It’s a simple way to prove sin while not getting sidetracked into various debaucheries and sinful living. Slightly off-topic, but while we’re here: people under conviction might confess felonies. For many reasons, some obvious and some not, don’t let detailed discussion of sinful behaviors happen when talking to the lost; keep it simple; use the lie as a single primary example. Looking them right in the eye, you can tell them they’ve lied and done much worse. This drives the point home while sticking to the subject of salvation by the grace of God’s forgiveness of sin.

The law is in heaven; it’s always been with our holy God. The law is there in the throneroom with the four living creatures, all the holy angels, and the four and twenty elders on their faces saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” Amen.

The law is still there, right where it’s always been. The point is, if you’re in one of those churches that downplay righteous living for the Lord, get out and find a church that’s at least serious about all that God commands, teaching His whole counsel. People now verbally dancing around the law of God expect to stand in its very presence one day soon. God have mercy on them.

“11 For there is no respect of persons with God. 12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; 13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” Romans 2:11-16

We won’t go through this thoroughly now. I tell people to read these verses first as one reading. Then read what is not in parenthesis and then read, thirdly, what is between. This will significantly help with comprehension. The section outside parenthesis cannot save you by the law, nor will the part inside save you without the law; salvation is by Christ alone.

Assuming you never attempted the foolhardy life of trying to keep the law absent the Holy Spirit, when you sinned, you sinned without the law and were headed to perish in hell, but you had broken the law nonetheless. When God saved you by faith in Christ’s atoning death, burial, and resurrection, He forgave you forever. When you sin in the law, even today, having heard His word but being already saved, you have even less excuse not to live according to God! Is the law of Mighty God written on your heart, yes or no? We’re not telling you to stand before God depending on the law, but verse 15 indicates that God shows the work of the law written on our heart, our conscience also bearing witness.

The Church is trying to thread the needle between saying we have no obligation to the law and demanding righteous living; it’s not working. Everything is falling apart, and it started with the churches long before the government, family, and society went to the dogs. One reason a Reconstructionist approach attracts is that clearly, what the Church is doing isn’t working. And blaming our failures on escatology is a lousy excuse to accept rampant heathenism and an even worse excuse for believers to live like heathens themselves!

What is a Christian that spends his day as a liar, cheating, stealing, abusing family, etc.? Well, he’s not Christian; we know that. Those saved by Christ no longer live like that; that’s part of the miracle of salvation. We are being recreated in the image of God’s own Son and trying to live a life spent as the image of Christ to those around us. When Christ looks upon you, will He love you?

 

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment


You are currently reading "Jesus Beholding Him Loved Him (For Keeping The Law)", entry #34376 on The Captain's Journal.

This article is filed under the category(s) Religion and was published March 20th, 2023 by PGF.

If you're interested in what else the The Captain's Journal has to say, you might try thumbing through the archives and visiting the main index, or; perhaps you would like to learn more about TCJ.

26th MEU (10)
Abu Muqawama (12)
ACOG (2)
ACOGs (1)
Afghan National Army (36)
Afghan National Police (17)
Afghanistan (704)
Afghanistan SOFA (4)
Agriculture in COIN (3)
AGW (1)
Air Force (40)
Air Power (10)
al Qaeda (83)
Ali al-Sistani (1)
America (22)
Ammunition (275)
Animals (282)
Ansar al Sunna (15)
Anthropology (3)
Antonin Scalia (1)
AR-15s (373)
Arghandab River Valley (1)
Arlington Cemetery (2)
Army (86)
Assassinations (2)
Assault Weapon Ban (28)
Australian Army (7)
Azerbaijan (4)
Backpacking (2)
Badr Organization (8)
Baitullah Mehsud (21)
Basra (17)
BATFE (218)
Battle of Bari Alai (2)
Battle of Wanat (18)
Battle Space Weight (3)
Bin Laden (7)
Blogroll (3)
Blogs (24)
Body Armor (23)
Books (3)
Border War (18)
Brady Campaign (1)
Britain (38)
British Army (35)
Camping (5)
Canada (17)
Castle Doctrine (1)
Caucasus (6)
CENTCOM (7)
Center For a New American Security (8)
Charity (3)
China (16)
Christmas (16)
CIA (30)
Civilian National Security Force (3)
Col. Gian Gentile (9)
Combat Outposts (3)
Combat Video (2)
Concerned Citizens (6)
Constabulary Actions (3)
Coolness Factor (3)
COP Keating (4)
Corruption in COIN (4)
Council on Foreign Relations (1)
Counterinsurgency (218)
DADT (2)
David Rohde (1)
Defense Contractors (2)
Department of Defense (210)
Department of Homeland Security (26)
Disaster Preparedness (5)
Distributed Operations (5)
Dogs (15)
Donald Trump (27)
Drone Campaign (4)
EFV (3)
Egypt (12)
El Salvador (1)
Embassy Security (1)
Enemy Spotters (1)
Expeditionary Warfare (17)
F-22 (2)
F-35 (1)
Fallujah (17)
Far East (3)
Fathers and Sons (2)
Favorite (1)
Fazlullah (3)
FBI (39)
Featured (189)
Federal Firearms Laws (18)
Financing the Taliban (2)
Firearms (1,758)
Football (1)
Force Projection (35)
Force Protection (4)
Force Transformation (1)
Foreign Policy (27)
Fukushima Reactor Accident (6)
Ganjgal (1)
Garmsir (1)
general (15)
General Amos (1)
General James Mattis (1)
General McChrystal (44)
General McKiernan (6)
General Rodriguez (3)
General Suleimani (9)
Georgia (19)
GITMO (2)
Google (1)
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (1)
Gun Control (1,634)
Guns (2,298)
Guns In National Parks (3)
Haditha Roundup (10)
Haiti (2)
HAMAS (7)
Haqqani Network (9)
Hate Mail (8)
Hekmatyar (1)
Heroism (4)
Hezbollah (12)
High Capacity Magazines (16)
High Value Targets (9)
Homecoming (1)
Homeland Security (3)
Horses (2)
Humor (72)
Hunting (31)
ICOS (1)
IEDs (7)
Immigration (106)
India (10)
Infantry (4)
Information Warfare (4)
Infrastructure (4)
Intelligence (23)
Intelligence Bulletin (6)
Iran (171)
Iraq (379)
Iraq SOFA (23)
Islamic Facism (64)
Islamists (98)
Israel (19)
Jaish al Mahdi (21)
Jalalabad (1)
Japan (3)
Jihadists (81)
John Nagl (5)
Joint Intelligence Centers (1)
JRTN (1)
Kabul (1)
Kajaki Dam (1)
Kamdesh (9)
Kandahar (12)
Karachi (7)
Kashmir (2)
Khost Province (1)
Khyber (11)
Knife Blogging (7)
Korea (4)
Korengal Valley (3)
Kunar Province (20)
Kurdistan (3)
Language in COIN (5)
Language in Statecraft (1)
Language Interpreters (2)
Lashkar-e-Taiba (2)
Law Enforcement (6)
Lawfare (14)
Leadership (6)
Lebanon (6)
Leon Panetta (2)
Let Them Fight (2)
Libya (14)
Lines of Effort (3)
Littoral Combat (8)
Logistics (50)
Long Guns (1)
Lt. Col. Allen West (2)
Marine Corps (280)
Marines in Bakwa (1)
Marines in Helmand (67)
Marjah (4)
MEDEVAC (2)
Media (67)
Medical (146)
Memorial Day (6)
Mexican Cartels (41)
Mexico (61)
Michael Yon (6)
Micromanaging the Military (7)
Middle East (1)
Military Blogging (26)
Military Contractors (5)
Military Equipment (25)
Militia (9)
Mitt Romney (3)
Monetary Policy (1)
Moqtada al Sadr (2)
Mosul (4)
Mountains (25)
MRAPs (1)
Mullah Baradar (1)
Mullah Fazlullah (1)
Mullah Omar (3)
Musa Qala (4)
Music (25)
Muslim Brotherhood (6)
Nation Building (2)
National Internet IDs (1)
National Rifle Association (95)
NATO (15)
Navy (30)
Navy Corpsman (1)
NCOs (3)
News (1)
NGOs (3)
Nicholas Schmidle (2)
Now Zad (19)
NSA (3)
NSA James L. Jones (6)
Nuclear (62)
Nuristan (8)
Obama Administration (221)
Offshore Balancing (1)
Operation Alljah (7)
Operation Khanjar (14)
Ossetia (7)
Pakistan (165)
Paktya Province (1)
Palestine (5)
Patriotism (7)
Patrolling (1)
Pech River Valley (11)
Personal (72)
Petraeus (14)
Pictures (1)
Piracy (13)
Pistol (4)
Pizzagate (21)
Police (648)
Police in COIN (3)
Policy (15)
Politics (970)
Poppy (2)
PPEs (1)
Prisons in Counterinsurgency (12)
Project Gunrunner (20)
PRTs (1)
Qatar (1)
Quadrennial Defense Review (2)
Quds Force (13)
Quetta Shura (1)
RAND (3)
Recommended Reading (14)
Refueling Tanker (1)
Religion (491)
Religion and Insurgency (19)
Reuters (1)
Rick Perry (4)
Rifles (1)
Roads (4)
Rolling Stone (1)
Ron Paul (1)
ROTC (1)
Rules of Engagement (75)
Rumsfeld (1)
Russia (37)
Sabbatical (1)
Sangin (1)
Saqlawiyah (1)
Satellite Patrols (2)
Saudi Arabia (4)
Scenes from Iraq (1)
Second Amendment (668)
Second Amendment Quick Hits (2)
Secretary Gates (9)
Sharia Law (3)
Shura Ittehad-ul-Mujahiden (1)
SIIC (2)
Sirajuddin Haqqani (1)
Small Wars (72)
Snipers (9)
Sniveling Lackeys (2)
Soft Power (4)
Somalia (8)
Sons of Afghanistan (1)
Sons of Iraq (2)
Special Forces (28)
Squad Rushes (1)
State Department (23)
Statistics (1)
Sunni Insurgency (10)
Support to Infantry Ratio (1)
Supreme Court (52)
Survival (185)
SWAT Raids (57)
Syria (38)
Tactical Drills (38)
Tactical Gear (14)
Taliban (168)
Taliban Massing of Forces (4)
Tarmiyah (1)
TBI (1)
Technology (21)
Tehrik-i-Taliban (78)
Terrain in Combat (1)
Terrorism (96)
Thanksgiving (13)
The Anbar Narrative (23)
The Art of War (5)
The Fallen (1)
The Long War (20)
The Surge (3)
The Wounded (13)
Thomas Barnett (1)
Transnational Insurgencies (5)
Tribes (5)
TSA (24)
TSA Ineptitude (13)
TTPs (4)
U.S. Border Patrol (6)
U.S. Border Security (18)
U.S. Sovereignty (23)
UAVs (2)
UBL (4)
Ukraine (10)
Uncategorized (98)
Universal Background Check (3)
Unrestricted Warfare (4)
USS Iwo Jima (2)
USS San Antonio (1)
Uzbekistan (1)
V-22 Osprey (4)
Veterans (3)
Vietnam (1)
War & Warfare (412)
War & Warfare (41)
War Movies (4)
War Reporting (21)
Wardak Province (1)
Warriors (6)
Waziristan (1)
Weapons and Tactics (79)
West Point (1)
Winter Operations (1)
Women in Combat (21)
WTF? (1)
Yemen (1)

March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006

about · archives · contact · register

Copyright © 2006-2024 Captain's Journal. All rights reserved.