Mark 10:17-27.

Comment: The rich young ruler asked the ultimate question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" (ESV).  Yeshua's first reply is that, "No one is good except God alone" (ESV).  This is to remind the man that the goal of repentance is not to seek perfection such that God would grant an acquittal of sin, and that relative to divine righteousness, the man wasn't righteous.   However, Yeshua required repentance.  So he goes through the commandments.   At the end he finds that the man loves his possessions more than God.   This essential point of repentance the man lacked.  He was not wholly committed (πιστος) to God which pertained to the greatest commandment.     After he has done the required repentance, then Yeshua tells the man to come follow him.  The idea behind repentance is not to be perfect, but to forsake sins or commitments that conflict with a commitment to love God and keep his commandments.  In Mark 1:15, Yeshua says, "Repent and faithfully trust the good news".   He puts repentance first, showing how important it was.   What the man wanted was assurance of salvation, and Yeshua was telling him how to get it.   Yeshua does not ask any repentance that a person is not capable of. (DLC: torahtimes.org, Mark 10:17-27).

 

Comment: Does repentance come before or after salvation or understanding the good news?  The answer is that it comes both before and after.  The Spirit is convicting the world of sin and that they need to change and do the right thing, and he is also convicting the believer of remaining sins that need to be removed.   The one who faithfully trusts listens to the Spirit and repents when the Spirit convicts.   The world generally does not listen to the Spirit and rebels when the Spirit convicts.   If the believer wants to have assurance of salvation, then he or she needs to be sure of their commitment to God.  If one tries to justify knowing disobedience  by appeal to any philosophy or false theology that repentance does not matter to God in the face of the Spirit's persistent conviction, then one has lost the knowledge of the faith, or has never had it in the first place.

 

Comment: Nominal Christians tend to justify their rebellion by trusting in a gospel of acquittal, i.e. that God sees them as righteous.   I fear that this is the final step of apostate Christianity, to justify sin because God does not see it.   However, there are many caught in between, who have been taught the false theology, but who have not trusted in it.  These really do repent when the Spirit convicts and continue in the faith.   However, the majority, at this point in time, have justified rebellion against the Spirit based on the false theology.   These are the people whom Yeshua will say, "I never knew you".

 

Comment: We are not talking about earning salvation.  That would require perfection.  Thankfully, the Spirit does not require impossible perfection to receive forgiveness.   That's why Yeshua paid the penalty for sin.   But if rebels think God is going to give them a valid assurance in the midst of their rebellion then they are sorely mistaken:

 

KJV Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (DLC: torahtimes.org).
 

 

Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary: (http://www.torahtimes.org/translation/mar1017.html)