A common thread in our culture today is that our worth is measured by our ability to live up to certain standards. You could say that the value system of our society is performance-reward. It is what drives us to be a better people and to work harder. Since this performance-reward system is part of our everyday life we assume that this is the way that God’s economy works also. That God’s love, mercy and grace is transactional. This idea of a performance-reward system is can be found in churches and in Christian congregations. It comes from having a misguided or a misunderstanding of the Gospel. This is the idea that we must contribute something to our salvation. The Gospel is revolutionary because it is a contrary message to everything that we have been taught to believe. The truth of the Gospel is that we are made righteous before God apart from our ability to live up to God’s expectations.
This Sunday we will be looking at Mark 10:17-27 see the hope of the Gospel in the interaction between the rich young ruler and Jesus. What we will see is that Jesus defines what is good, that sometimes we need to hear the truth in love and ultimately that we do not contribute anything to our salvation but we rest in the completed work of Christ.
Pastor Justin
