Luke 18:18-30 (New Living Translation)
18 Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good. 20 But to answer your question, you know the commandments: ‘You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother.’”
21 The man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.”
22 When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich.
24 When Jesus saw this, he said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”
26 Those who heard this said, “Then who in the world can be saved?”
27 He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.”
28 Peter said, “We’ve left our homes to follow you.”
29 “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, 30 will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.”
I. Submission through community (vv. 18-20)
• The Kingdom of God is an
• God flexes his authority and power through
• Submission is the strongest evidence of
• Humility can only be cultivated and demonstrated by submission in
• Respect is
II. Submission through letting go (vv. 21-25)
• Submission means to be under the same
• Submission is never submission until we
• Mature Christians submit rather than run under
• Success is not measured by the
III. Submission through dependence (vv. 26-30)
• Salvation from sin and entrance into heaven are not
• Righteousness is
• Submission to God through His
• There is no commendation in heaven for submitting where we don’t