November 29 - If You Want to Be Perfect 온전하고자 할진대

November 29 - If You Want to Be Perfect

 

“Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” – Matthew 19:21

 

 

Jesus reveals what the rich young ruler is missing to achieve salvation (Matthew 19:16). The man has asked Jesus what "good deed" he must do to be guaranteed a place in heaven. Jesus has emphasized to a man that only God is good, implying Jesus is God and ought to be listened to (Matthew 19:17). Christ has given a list of commands to keep (Matthew 19:18–19). The man has proudly and mindlessly said he had kept those (Matthew 19:20).

On the surface, Jesus gives man a task to complete to be perfectly good. He tells the rich man to give up all of his wealth, sell everything he owns, give the money to the poor, and come and follow Him. In this way, Jesus says, you will have treasure in heaven. The purpose of this comment is to expose the blindness of this wealthy young man and his ultimate lack of sincerity. The man believed—or wanted to believe—that he had already loved his neighbor as himself. Jesus showed that was false because the man still had great wealth, and his neighbors were still poor. The young man was not perfectly good, after all.

There are two points to this comment by Jesus. One is immediately clear, and the other comes to light when the rich man reacts to Jesus' advice. First, this demonstrates that nobody is good enough to be guaranteed eternal life with God in heaven. The gospel of Jesus Christ is that He is the only one good enough to die to pay for our sins and cover our lack of goodness with His perfect goodness. Anyone can be saved only by faith in Jesus and God's grace and power (Ephesians 2:1–10). As much as we might hope we've been "good enough," we can't live up to God's standard of perfection. The second and most immediate purpose of Jesus' words in this verse is shown in the following verse. The rich man balks when pushed to follow God—to pursue "good." His reaction proves that he is ultimately unwilling to follow God unless God does things the rich man's way (Matthew 19:22).

 

We cannot boast about our behaviors. One of man’s biggest lies is that our deeds can save us. First, we cannot be saved by our corrupt morality. A young rich man left Jesus because he could not sell his possessions and give them to the poor (Matthew19:16-22). The man followed all the commandments and had high morals but could not be saved because he loved his material possessions more than God. Second, we cannot be saved through our knowledge of God. No matter how much we know about Him, we cannot be saved without obeying Him. Pharisees and rulers studied the Bible for their lifetime but could not be saved due to disobedience. Paul rebuked the Jews who only had intellectual knowledge (Romans 2:17, 23-24). Third, we cannot be saved by remorse. Even non-Christians repent for their sins. We commit a greater sin by trying to solve the problem alone. We especially sin pride (Matthew 12:43-45). Cultivating ourselves and focusing on our lives can lead us far from God’s grace and salvation.  

 

 

Today’s Prayer: Pray for agencies and organizations that provide care in Jesus's name for the elderly, those with mental or physical handicaps, and the ill. Ask God to meet their needs.  

Prayer Pointer: “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” – Martin Luther 

Bible Reading: Ezekiel 41-42; 2 Peter 1

 

 

---

 

 

11월 29일 - 온전하고자 할진대

 

“예수께서 가라사대 네가 온전하고자 할진대 가서 네 소유를 팔아 가난한 자들을 주라 그리하면 하늘에서 보화가 네게 있으리라 그리고 와서 나를 쫓으라 하시니”- 마 19:21

 

 

예수님은 젊은 부자 관원이 구원을 얻기 위해 무엇이 부족한지 보여 주십니다(마 19:16). 부자 관원은 천국을 보장받기 위해서는 무엇을 해야 하는지 예수님께 물었습니다. 예수님은 오직 하나님만이 선하신 분이고, 예수님은 하나님이시기 때문에 그의 말씀을 들어야 한다고 하셨습니다(마 19:17). 예수님은 그가 지켜야 할 목록을 주셨고(마 19:18-19) 부자 관원은  자신있게 이미 그 모든 목록의 다 지켰다고 자랑합니다(마 19:20).

 

예수님은 부자 관원에게 온전해질 수 있는 사명을 줍니다. 예수님은 부자에게 모든 재산을 포기하고 소유한 모든 것을 팔아 그 돈을 가난한 사람들에게 주고 주님을 따르라고 말합니다. 이렇게 하면 하늘에서 보화를 얻게 될 것이라고 말씀합니다. 이 말씀의 목적은 이 부유한 청년이 보지 못하는 궁극적인 성실함의 부족을 보여 주는 것입니다. 이 청년은 자신이 이미 이웃을 자신처럼 사랑했다고 믿었습니다. 예수님은 그가 여전히 많은 부를 가지고 있고 그의 가난한 이웃들이 여전히 와 함께 하고 있기 때문에 그의 말이 사실이 아닌 것을 보여주십니다 결국 이 부자 청년은 온전한 삶을 살고 있지 않았습니다.  

 

예수님의 말씀에는 두 가지 요점이 있습니다. 하나는 바로 명확하게 나타나고 있고, 다른 하나는 부자 관원의 반응에 나타납니다. 첫째, 아무도 하늘에서 하나님과 함께 하는 영생을 보장받을 만큼 선하지 않다는 것입니다. 예수 그리스도의 복음은 예수님만이 우리의 죄값을 지불하기 위해 죽으시고 우리의 부족한 선함을 그의 완전하신 선하심으로 채울 수 있는 만큼 충분히 선하시다는 것입니다. 오직 예수님에 대한 믿음과 하나님의 은혜와 능력을 통해서만 구원받을 수 있습니다(엡 2:1-10). 우리가 구원받을 만큰 충분히 선하기를 바라지만 하나님의 완전한 표준에 따라서 살수 없습니다. 이 말씀의 두 번째이자 가장 직접적인 목적은 다음 구절에 나와 있는대로 하나님의 명령과 선행을 하도록 명령을 받은 부자는 주저합니다. 그는 자신의 방식대로 하나님께서 행하지 않는한 궁극적으로 하나님을 따르지 않는다는 것을 증명합니다(마 19:22).

 

우리는 행위를 자랑 할 수 없습니다. 인간의 가장 큰 거짓말은 행위로 구원받을 수 있다는 것입니다. 첫째, 우리의 부패한 도덕성 때문에 구원받지 못합니다. 부자 청년은 자신의 소유를 팔아 가난한 사람들에게 주지 않고 예수님을 떠났습니다(마19:16-22). 그는 모든 계명을 지켰고 높은 도덕성을 가졌지만 하나님보다 물질을 더 사랑했기 때문에 구원받지 못했습니다. 둘째, 하나님을 아는 지식으로는 구원받지 못합니다. 우리가 하나님에 관해 지식이 많아도 순종하지 않으면 구원받지 못합니다. 바리새인과 관원들은 평생 성경을 연구했지만 불순종으로 구원받지 못했습니다. 바울은 지적인 유대인들을 꾸짖었습니다(롬 2:17, 23-24). 셋째, 양심의 가책으로 구원받지 못합니다. 비기독교인들도 그들의 죄를 뉘우칩니다. 스스로 문제를 해결하려고 노력함으로 더 큰 죄를 짓고 교만의 죄를 범합니다(마 12:43-45). 우리 자신을 계발하고 우리 자신의 삶에 집중하는 것은 우리를 하나님의 은혜와 구원에서 멀어지게 하는 것 입니다. 

 

 

오늘의 기도:  예수님의 이름으로 노인들의 정신적, 신체적인 장애와 질병을 돌보는 단체와 기관들을 위해 기도하고 하나님께서 그들의 필요와 부족을 채워 주시도록 기도하십시오. 

기도 지침: “나는 너무 할 일이 많기 때문에 첫 세시간을 기도에 사용한다.” – 마르틴 루터.

성경 읽기: 에스겔 41-42장; 베드로후서 1장