When we first begin to contemplate salvation, a natural question is “What good thing must I do to get eternal life?” That question reflects our human tendency to think that we have to do something in order to get something.

In other words, we assume that we only get what we have earned.

This issue is the basis of a conversation between Jesus and a rich young ruler in Matthew’s Gospel. The rich young man began the conversation with a question:

“ ‘Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life.’

‘Why do you ask me about what is good?’ Jesus replied. ‘There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.’

‘Which ones?’ he inquired.

Jesus replied, ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’

‘All these I have kept,’ the young man said. ‘What do I still lack?’

Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth” (Matthew 19:16-22).

I don’t know anyone who has become a Christian because they obeyed this command. I’ve never heard an altar call like this: “Come forward, sell your possessions and give to the poor and you can be saved.”

We are invited to repent of our sins and believe in Jesus. That’s because we don’t become perfect based on what we do; we receive our righteousness as a free gift from God.

That’s the question many ask. “What must I do?” The answer is, “It’s not what we do, it’s what Jesus did.”

We are simply asked to believe in Him. Jesus said that many times in His ministry on earth.

Jesus began to list some of the Ten Commandments and the young man acknowledged that he had kept each one Jesus named. Then Jesus listed the one the man lacked. The rich young ruler loved his money.

When Jesus touched covetousness He lifted the bar so high that the man just gave up and walked away.

No matter how many laws we keep, no one keeps them all. No one has done it and no one ever will except Jesus.

Remember that Jesus told him up front that there is One good. Jesus is the only One who has ever kept all the commandments.

No one else will ever qualify by perfect performance and He did it for us. Salvation is a gift that is given when we believe in Jesus and it is based purely on the grace of God.

Jesus was pointing out to the man, and to us, that the bar of perfect obedience is too high for any of us to clear.

The good news is better than “Try harder and jump higher.” Jesus said as much in the sixth chapter of John:

“Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’

Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent’ ” (vv. 28-29).

Thankfully, no one has to walk away disappointed. Jesus cleared the bar of perfection for us and believing in Him is the key to eternal life.

Everything Jesus asked the man to do He did for us. He gave everything, even His life, so we could live. He emptied Himself so we could be rich spiritually.

We don’t have to jump over the bar of perfection. He did that for us. All He asks is that we believe in Him and we can do that.

That is the story of the grace that saves us.