Why Did Jesus Preach the Law to the Rich Young Ruler?

Have you ever wondered why Jesus told the rich young ruler in the Gospel accounts that in order to be perfect he must sell all his possessions and give to the poor?[1] Isn’t that works-salvation? Notice what Dr. Louis T. Talbot says in his book Bible Questions Explained, under the heading “LAW AND GRACE”:

“Question: If salvation is all of grace, and works do not have a part in God’s plan of redemption, why did Christ answer the lawyer’s question in Luke 10:25 as He did? The lawyer asked, ‘Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ Christ answered by telling him the story of the good Samaritan. Then He said, ‘Go, and do thou likewise.’ Surely this proves that works play a part in the scheme of salvation.

Answer: If you read the chapter carefully, you will have no difficulty in understanding why the Lord so answered the lawyer. The man was seeking to justify himself by keeping the law. He asked, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He desired to know how to get to heaven on the ground of ‘doing.’ The Lord answered by quoting the law, and gave the story of the good Samaritan, that he might know how to interpret the meaning of the word ‘neighbor.’ The Lord’s answer was to convict him, and to show him his inability to be saved on the ground of works.

The same lesson was taught by the Lord to the rich younger ruler. That young man also sought salvation by ‘doing,’ but was both unable and unwilling to keep the whole law by loving his neighbor as himself. Only our sinless Saviour was able to keep the whole law; that is why He could be our perfect Substitute on the cross. If a man is going to try to get to heaven by the works of the law, then let him keep the whole law, or he has broken it and ‘come short of the glory of God’ (Rom. 3:23). ‘For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all’ (James 2:10). ‘Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed (Christ, Gal. 4:4, 5) should come...Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster’ (Gal. 3:19, 24, 25.) Read all of Galatians; Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 3:5; Rom. 3:19-28.”[2] 

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Jesus preached the Law to the rich young ruler in order to convict the man of his sin and utter unworthiness. The apostle Paul makes this clear when he says: “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” (Rom. 3:20, NLT.)

 

References:

[1] See Matthew 19:16-22; Mark 10:17-22; Luke 18:18-23.

[2] Louis T. Talbot, Bible Questions Explained (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1952), pp. 97-98. italics and ellipsis his. Note: Dr. Talbot (1889-1976) was the second and also the fourth President of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now BIOLA University) from 1932-1935 and from 1938-1952 respectively. Dr. Talbot also pastored the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles from 1932-1948.