Who Are the “These?”
Matthew 19:13-22
1. The “These” (Matthew 19:14) are Residents of the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 19:13-15, Matthew 7:21, James 2:5)
Matthew 7:21, Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
James 2:5, Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?
2. The “These” are Insufficient in Their Extraordinary Deeds and Sacrifices. (Matthew 19:16-19, 2 Corinthians 3:4-6)
2 Corinthians 3:4-6, Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God. He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
3. The “These” are Only “Complete” in Self-Surrender and Humility. (Matthew 19:20-22, Romans 8:3-4, James 2:20-23)
Romans 8:3-4, What the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
James 2:20-23, Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.