If your parent or teacher says, “There’s only one thing I want you to do,” or, “Just remember this one thing,” you know it is really important! If you don’t pay attention to the one thing you are told, you will probably end up in trouble! Some notable mentions of the expression “one thing” in the Bible are:

• one thing you lack (Mk. 10:21): salvation

• one thing I know (Jn. 9:25): assurance

• one thing is needed (Lk. 10:41–42): communion

• one thing I do (Phil. 3:13–14): service

• one thing I have desired (Ps. 27:4): expectation

In the first instance, a rich young ruler asked the Lord Jesus what he could do to inherit eternal life. If you think about it, that question does not even make sense. You cannot do anything to obtain an inheritance; someone has to die and you must accept it as a gift! This rich young man thought he could inherit eternal life by keeping the law, but by coveting earthly possessions and making them his god, he had in fact broken both the first and last commandments (Ex. 20:3, 17). The law is like a chain of ten links: break one link, and the entire chain is broken (Jas. 2:10).

It is only through the cross that we can inherit eternal life. We cannot earn our salvation by keeping the law, doing good works, going to church, being baptized, or anything else (Jn. 1:12–13; Gal. 2:16). We must receive the gift of eternal life through personal faith in the Lord Jesus, who loved us and gave Himself for us. On the cross he declared, “It is finished.” The work has been done; there is nothing left for us to do but accept the free gift of grace!