In the nineteenth chapter we find these words from the lips of Jesus:
“It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is easier
for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God.” He is stating a thing that is impossible and
the disciples ask in amazement, “Who then can be saved?” Their question
calls forth His answer, “With men this is impossible; but with God all
things are possible.” Men can be reconstituted but this requires divine
assistance. As Canon Westcot has said, “Jesus established fresh
foundations for society and a fresh standard of individual worth.”
Is it still hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven? As hard
as ever and absolutely impossible as long as he makes riches his object
in life, as long as he compromises with evil for a consideration, as
long as he ruins competitors in business in order to create a monopoly.
But does the Church know what Jesus meant to teach? Yes, if it knows
itself and its duty, which is “to show to the world its chief concern is
morality, not money; principles, not profits; the faith of the crucified
Christ, not the favors of men who have accumulated fortunes without
righteousness.”
Six words contain the solution of the whole problem, “With God all
things are possible.” God can so completely transform a rich man that he
can forget he is rich. He can think of himself as a man and as a servant
of God. He can see himself as a sinner before God and also as saved by
grace thru faith in Jesus Christ. He enters the kingdom not as rich but
as believing. In the Simple Life we read: “If there are people at once
rich and content, be assured that they are content because they know how
to be, not because they are rich.”
God can trust saved men with money, to possess it, to invest it and to
use it in the interest of His kingdom. But he cannot permit men who
worship wealth to enter His kingdom. This is impossible. An unchanged
nature cannot enter the kingdom of God and could not find happiness
there because it is out of harmony with the laws and the life of the
kingdom.