Mark 10:19

Thou knowest the commandments, Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor thy father and mother.

In these words, wherein Jesus quoted from the second table of the Decalogue, our Lord answered the young man's question with regard to what he might do that he might inherit eternal life. Matthew supplied the connecting link, "If thou wouldest enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17). When the young man inquired as to "which," Jesus quoted the Decalogue. In view of this, there is utterly no way to separate keeping the commandments from the requirements God has made of them that would inherit eternal life. How absolutely opposed to the word of God is such an opinion as that of Sanner, who said, "This is a rejection of the idea that goodness is by achievement. There is nothing one can do to inherit eternal life."[28] Humanity faces the mystery of redemption in this; for it is altogether true that men do not have it in themselves to keep God's commandments perfectly, However, JESUS KEPT THEM PERFECTLY! Men are saved, therefore, by believing and being baptized INTO CHRIST. Thus, they are identified with Christ and AS CHRIST. (See Galatians 2:20). No man can be saved as John Doe; if ever saved at all, he must be saved "in Christ" and "as Christ."

That Jesus was actually attempting to lead this young man into a higher understanding of the truth is implicit in the fact of his quoting only from the second half of the Decalogue, omitting the first section's requirement of loving God with the whole heart, mind, soul and strength. That part of the Decalogue the young man had not fully kept. Thus, the Lord here stressed the portion of it in which the life of the young man was most nearly acceptable to God.