At this point, Jesus was not teaching a new way of salvation. He was not saying we can be saved by donating our goods to the poor. Neither was He implementing a universal mandate for people to divest themselves of all their private property. He was dealing with this particular man, a rich man whose heart had been completely captured by his wealth. His money was his god, his idol. In essence, Jesus said to him: “You say you have kept all the Ten Commandments. All right, let’s check number one: ‘You shall have no other gods before me’ [Ex. 20:3]. Go, sell everything you have.” After that, the
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