[TheRealThing]

Didn't Jesus say "sell all of your possessions and follow me". Jesus spent more time talking about wealth than any other subject, including but not limited to Heaven or Hell. Sounds a lot like Bernie to me! Of course, in some versions of the Bible or people who quote the Bible for their own prosperity Jesus just spoke about homosexuals, coal jobs, and abortions and that is about it. Here is the challenge, bet you a diet pepsi, you count the times Jesus talks about wealth compared to the above subjects, and list the number of times Jesus talked about them and I will say that wealth is mentioned more... any takers?

Men have always deluded themselves with the misbegotten notion that somehow, they will inherit eternal life based on their own works, or goodness. And the Judgment supposedly, is a place where people who are considered to be good, are contrasted against people who are considered to be bad. Not true, all men will be contrasted against the perfect character of God. No way to win that one short of a Savior Who fortunately for us, gave His own life for men who would accept it. That's the gift of salvation and it cannot be earned. It is given only to those who repent in faith before Him, believing in the death, burial and resurrection of His Son as payment for our sin.

The guy mentioned in Scripture of which you speak had just asked what he had to do to go to heaven. When the Lord told him to keep all God's commandments, he proudly announced to the Lord that he had kept them all since he was but a child. The Lord's first response was the lead-in by which He could reveal to the young man his personal short fall.
Mark 10:21-23 (KJV)
21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
22 And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

In other words, people who are rich trust money. That's where their faith most often lies. The young ruler knew at that point that he could never give up his money in order to gain heaven. But then, his question wasn't how he could live forever, it was what must he do in order to earn eternal life. Nobody is good, and nobody makes it on works. That's why the Lord chided him in the preceding verses when he called Jesus good;
Mark 10:17-18 (KJV)
17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.

Only by the blood of Christ and faith in Him, can a man's sins be washed away and he then has eternal life. But the Lord gives a very important conclusion to the ruler's need to sell and give all to the poor. As verse 21 points out, after giving away all that he had, he was then to follow Christ sacrificially. That's the big deal that always gets glossed over.

Your scenario was a unique Scriptural accounting of how men by their nature trust in things or deeds, and miss the point. It is only through Christ and a personal relationship with Him that a man is saved. But so many people take away the wrong idea here. I hear over and over that God asks His own to sell everything and give the proceeds to the poor. All I can tell you is that is not Biblical for a couple of reasons. First is the fact that the Lord expects able bodied men to get off their beds of sloth and get out there and work for their substance, where He can then bless their efforts. Second, what is my family supposed to do after I give my life's work away, live in a washer box? Third, God has ordained that His Own are to give to the Lord's work of their substance, so as they are blessed on the first day of the week. That's where the money is supposed to come from.

Now, if one believes God is like Robin Hood, prying people loose from their money through taxes imposed by government and giving it to the poor, then the Bernie show is for you. If you'd actually read the post I put up and you went to the trouble of quoting, you'd likely noticed I wasn't the one extolling the virtues of wealth.