The rich young ruler was not the only person whom Jesus told to keep commandments in order to inherit eternal life. Jesus said the same to all of His followers in His famous Sermon on the Mount. In fact, He told them multiple times. Let me prove it.

Jesus began with the Beatitudes, nine promises of future blessing. Five of them are unmistakably related to ultimate salvation, eternal life and heaven. They are: (1) “theirs is the kingdom of heaven, (2) “they shall inherit the earth,” (3) “they shall see God,” (4) “theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” (5) [“their] reward in heaven is great” (Matt. 5:3, 5, 8, 10, 11). The Beatitude blessings begin and end with promises of heaven.

This leads us to think that the remaining four blessings are also best interpreted as ultimately being heavenly benefits: (6) “They shall be comforted,” (7) “they shall be satisfied,” (8) “they shall receive mercy,” (9) “they shall be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:4, 6, 7, 9).

Clearly, the people who will ultimately enjoy those future blessings have something to do with what qualifies them for those blessings—and what separates them from those who do not qualify. We can, therefore, examine our lives in light of the Beatitudes and determine if we are among, or not among the blessed, and thus determine if we are on the path to eternal life or eternal death.

The blessed “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (5:6), which naturally results in them striving to live righteously, and they therefore are “persecuted for the sake of righteousness” (5:10). That suffering could be a cause for their mourning (5:4), even though they always try to live at peace (5:9) with everyone, demonstrating gentleness (5:5) and mercy (5:7). Their righteousness is not just an outward façade; it is a product of their pure hearts (5:8).

Jesus said these things to His disciples (Matt. 5:1). They followed Him because they believed in Him. When they first believed in Him, they repented and were graciously forgiven of every past sin. They were thus saved by grace through faith. Their continuing faith was demonstrated by choices they consistently made to live righteously. Their righteousness would one day be rewarded. What I have just described is Christianity 101.

Immediately after the Beatitudes, Jesus told His followers that they were “the salt of the earth,” but then warned them against becoming unsalty, in which case they would become “no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men” (Matt. 5:13). That doesn’t sound like “unconditional eternal security” (also known as “once saved always saved”).

Jesus Drops the Bomb

Jesus was just getting started stressing the importance of righteousness and its connection to eternal life and ultimate salvation. He continued:

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:17-20).

Allow me to unpack that timeless passage.

Jesus certainly didn’t come to “abolish the Law or the Prophets.” He was the One who gave the Law and inspired the prophets. At another time He said that the Law and Prophets could be summed up in two commandments, namely to love God and neighbor (Matt. 22:40). Later in this same sermon He said that the Law and Prophets could be summed up in one moral principle—to “treat people the same way you want them to treat you” (Matt. 7:12). Jesus didn’t come to abolish the two greatest commandments and the Golden Rule!

Rather, Jesus came to “fulfill” them, which has been variously interpreted. He Himself would of course demonstrate perfect obedience to the Law and Prophets. Moreover, He would soon, in this very sermon, “fill to the full” what the commandments—found in the Law and Prophets—actually prescribed, because that had been diluted and drained of meaning by the false teaching of the scribes and Pharisees.

Those commandments would outlast heaven and earth, so Jesus’ disciples should be focused on them. Their obedience to those commandments, and their teaching others to obey them, would determine their rank in heaven. In fact, if their righteousness, that is, their obedience to those commandments, didn’t exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, they would not enter heaven. That is what Jesus said. The Sermon on the Mount was a sermon about salvation. Regardless of what any modern preacher claims, heaven hinges of holiness, and saving grace is not unconditional but conditional. The condition is “faith that works through love” (Gal. 5:6).

Many readers miss it, but in the final sentence in that passage, Jesus told His followers that all of their religious leaders—under whose teaching and example they had lived all of their lives—were headed for hell.

All of this helps us understand the heretical nature of the modern false-grace gospel. It is little more than a license to sin. It leads those who have “accepted Jesus” to believe that their righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees because of some alleged “legal righteousness” they possess that relieves them of any responsibility to obey God. He supposedly can’t see their sin because they are “permanently clothed in Christ’s righteousness”—an absurd idea exposed by Jesus’ corrective messages to the seven churches in Asia, recorded in Revelation 2-3. Anyone who believes that spurious doctrine does not believe what we just read in Matthew 5:17-20. Jesus was indisputably talking about practical righteousness, not some alleged “legal righteousness” that hides unrighteousness.

Jesus then went right to work “filling to the full” truths that had been diluted and drained from the major commandments by the scribes and Pharisees. We soon learn that God’s prohibition of murder was intended to also prohibit what can lead to murder—hatred in the heart that sparks anger and spills out in venomous words. Jesus warned that those who commit such sin “shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell” (Matt. 5:22). So, again, holiness is related to ultimate salvation. And Jesus expects His followers to work for reconciliation when there is division among them (Matt. 5:21-26).

We next learn that God’s prohibition against adultery was also intended to be a prohibition against what always precedes adultery, namely lust. Jesus expects His followers to cut off what might cause them to stumble in that regard, lest they end up in hell, as He clearly warned, saying, “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matt. 5:29). No adulterer, Paul later wrote in agreement with Jesus, will inherit God’s kingdom (1 Cor. 6:9-10).

Jesus also closed the loophole of divorce-for-any-cause, employed by Scripture-twisting religious leaders in order to marry the women of their fantasies without incurring sin. Jesus exposed it as being no different than adultery, and even worse (Matt. 5:27-32).

There are other passages in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in which He hinged holiness to salvation. He warned, for example, that if we don’t forgive others, God will not forgive us (Matt. 6:15). Do unforgiven people ultimately inherit God’s kingdom? In Jesus’ Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matt. 18:23-35), the servant’s master reinstated his formerly-forgiven debt and handed him over to torturers until he repaid what he could never repay. Jesus warned, “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart” (Matt. 18:35).

An Honest Summary

As Jesus wound His sermon down, He continued to reiterate that heaven is only for the holy:

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it (Matt. 7:13-14).

Although some teachers attempt to persuade us that Jesus Himself is the “narrow gate,” and that “accepting Him” is all that is needed to gain eternal life, when we consider all the Jesus already said in His sermon, we can’t honestly arrive at such a conclusion. The Sermon on the Mount was a sermon about holiness and its relationship to salvation and rewards in heaven. In fact, in the very next passage, Jesus solemnly warned His followers against teachers who downplay the necessity of holiness, and He plainly told them how such teachers could be identified:

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits (Matt. 7:15-20).

That was another clear warning of hell for the unholy, including unholy spiritual leaders. Jesus doubled down in the next passage:

Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:21-23).

It could not be clearer. The litmus test for being counted worthy to enter heaven will not be a claim that Jesus is our Lord (or that we believed in Him). It will not be miracles performed in His name. It will be obedience to the commandments of His Father who is in heaven. All who pass that test will be saved “by grace through faith” because sinners need forgiveness and genuine repentance and faith results in obedience.

As I have already stated, it is clear from the New Testament epistles, as well as from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, that perfect obedience is not essential, and if it was, heaven would be empty. But we don’t want to be classed with those who “practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23). Why not rather aim for maximum heavenly rewards?

Jesus’ final summarizing statement, when interpreted within the context of the entire Sermon on the Mount, is not advice for how to prevail when we face the storms of life, but a warning for how to escape the destruction that awaits those who avoid the “narrow gate” in order to remain on the “broad way”:

Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on [obeys] them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on [obey] them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall (Matt. 7:24-27).

The Point

What does all of this have to do with the Stewardship Journey? There is one significant passage in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount we have not yet fully considered:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth (Matt. 6:19-24).

This passage—the theme of which revolves around money and possessions from beginning to end—consists of repeated contrasts. We read about those who (1) store up treasures in heaven or on earth, (2) have hearts that are in heaven or on earth, (3) possess a clear or bad eye, (4) are full of light or darkness, (5) serve God or money as master, (6) and love God or money. If we logically align them, to one side is the person who stores up treasures in heaven, whose heart is in heaven, who has a clear eye, who is full of light, and who serves God—whom he loves—as his Master. To the other side is the person who stores up treasures on earth, whose heart is on earth, who has a bad eye, who is full of darkness, and who serves money—which he loves—as his master. Keep all of those contrasts in mind as we continue.

We have previously considered Jesus’ specific words about the impossibility of serving God and money. If one disobeys God in regard to money matters, he shows that money, not God, is his master. Such behavior also exposes him as being greedy and an idolater, which both disqualify him from inheriting God’s kingdom. This particular passage in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount amplifies those truths even more. We learned that greedy idolaters are also “full of darkness.” It would seem safe to conclude that Jesus was referring to spiritual darkness. They also possess a “bad eye” rather than a “clear eye.” What did Jesus mean by that?

Some Bible versions translate the phrase “bad eye” found in the passage we are considering as “evil eye.” A note in the margin of my NASB offers that alternate translation as well. Thankfully, that phrase, “evil eye,” is found in two other places in Scripture, and it is clearly a Hebrew idiom for “greedy heart.” Here’s the first one:

A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth
And does not know that want will come upon him (Prov. 28:22).

Greedy people desire quick riches, which tempts them to not treat others as they would want to be treated.

Here is the second example:

Or is your eye envious [or “evil” according to a note in the margin of the NASB] because I am generous? (Matt. 20:15).

That question is found in Jesus’ Parable of the Laborers, and it was spoken by the landowner who sporadically hired harvesters throughout the day. At the day’s end, when the laborers who worked an entire day witnessed the landowner’s generosity towards those who worked only one hour, they expected to receive more money than they had originally agreed to. So the landowner asked them if their eyes were envious, or more literally, evil, because of their expectation of receiving more than he had originally promised. The Greek word translated “envious” or “evil” in his question is poneros, the identical word Jesus used in Matthew 6:23 that is translated there as “bad” (in the NASB).

So, again, an “evil eye” is synonymous with a “greedy heart.” You can probably guess how such an idiom was birthed. The eyes of greedy people are always focused on how to get more money at the expense of others. So they compromise ethics and break God’s commandments.

Jesus’ many contrasts in Matthew 6:19-24 should now make more sense. People with greedy hearts are full of spiritual darkness. Money, not God, is their master. They are characterized, not by storing up treasure in heaven but by storing it up on earth. And note that Jesus’ words reveal that greed is not just an inward attitude towards money and possessions; it is an inward attitude towards money and possessions that manifests itself by one what does with both, specifically by where one stores them. Where they are stored not only reveals who one’s master is, but also the location of his heart and whether he is full of spiritual darkness or light.

All of this is to say, Jesus was clearly not contrasting an obedient Christian with a non-obedient Christian. He was contrasting believers with unbelievers. He was contrasting those who are full of darkness with those who are full of light, those whose master is money with one whose Master is God, those who is are greedy idolaters with those who love God. This, of course, should be of great concern to the many alleged believers who are not storing up treasure in heaven. They are exposed as unbelievers whose god is money.

So many are deceived in this regard, which is why Jesus said in the passage under consideration, “If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matt. 6:23). That is, if you are full of darkness but think you are full of light, you are full of the greatest darkness of all. No doubt He was making reference to Israel’s religious leaders whom Luke said were “lovers of money” (Luke 16:14). Had anyone asked them, however, if they loved God, they would surely have affirmed that they did. They were full of darkness but thought they were full of light. How great was their darkness!

The All-Important Questions: Does my righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees? (Not really a difficult standard to attain!) Do I truly love God or do I actually love money? Is God or money my master? Is my heart in heaven or on earth? Do I have a clear eye or an evil eye? Am I full of spiritual darkness or light? All of those questions are answered by where you are storing up treasure.

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