³⁶ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? ³⁷ Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Mark 8:34-38).

The question in the passage above is known as a rhetorical question, which is a figure of speech used to make a point. Jesus is not looking for an answer; he is actually making a profound statement: It is no good to gain the world if in doing so you give up your soul. There is nothing of value that comes close to the value eternal life. We might say it like this, “Is it really worth eternal life with Jesus in order it to ______ (you finish the sentence)?”

We can’t buy eternity with our own goodness:

I ponder the word “good” quite frequently. We use this word in many ways. It can actually be a noun, verb, or adjective. If you ask me how I’m doing, I might say, “I’m good.”  It might have been more proper to say I am well, especially if you are asking me about my health. But it’s not improper to use the word good if I mean that I don’t need anything right now (it might be incorrect, but it’s not improper).  In that context, good means whole, productive, useful. Another use of the word is to describe someone’s actions, such as “He’s a good person.” We know people who are good workers, good spouses, good parents; generally good people because they are generous and kind and always do the right thing. However, in the economy of Jesus, human goodness doesn’t buy your eternity. In our culture where we are surrounded by evils on every side, it is so easy to succumb, to think, “It’s not that bad,” or “This is nothing compared to what I’ve seen other people do.” But the world is not our standard. The Bible is the standard for believers. All our goodness is as filthy rags, according to Isaiah 64:6. The only thing of redeeming value is believing what Jesus did for us on the cross. We can’t earn our way to eternal life; we can only get there by accepting what Jesus did on our behalf.

What good is it? You remember the story of the rich man who asked Jesus: “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” Jesus explained that he basically must keep all the commandments perfectly and give all of his possessions to the poor. “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” Jesus responded “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:16-30) Nothing we can do is good enough to buy our ticket to Heaven. But, glory hallelujah! with God all things are possible!

There is nothing good enough here on earth worth trading for eternity:

This passage also points to idolatry in all its ugly forms. It points to anything that we desire more than Jesus. When we are about to make a choice to say, do, or think anything that puts ourselves or anything else in place of Jesus on His throne, we should ask ourselves, “What good is it to have this worldly thing? Is it worth it to do this or to have this and to lose my soul forever?”

Jesus is really talking about surrender. He is trying to explain to his followers that He has surrendered to a violent horrific death on the cross in order to pay the price for our sins. He is saying that we must also be willing to surrender. We can choose to put first the things that matter here on earth and thereby guarantee hell, or we can choose to follow Him and thereby gain eternal life. This passage is not necessarily saying that we must literally die for the gospel in order to be saved. But it is saying that to demonstrate our faith in Jesus, we must die to self; we must die to the thought that we can do this for ourselves or that any worldly thing matters more to us than Jesus.

I Surrender All (lyrics by Judson Van Deventer)

All to Jesus I surrender,
All to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust him,
In his presence daily live. (Refrain)

All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at his feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
(Refrain)

All to Jesus I surrender;
Make me, Savior, wholly thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that thou art mine.
(Refrain)

All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to thee,
Fill me with thy love and power,
Let thy blessing fall on me.
(Refrain)

All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to his name!

Refrain:
I surrender all,
I surrender all,
All to thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

In Christ,

Judy