How do you reconcile Faith Alone with the bible?

[Syele]

“And behold, one came up to him saying,“Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?” And he said to him…If you would enter life, keep the commandments” (Matt 19:16,17).

Do Protestants assume that this young man who asks Jesus what he must do to have eternal life has already been “saved”?

That man was faced with a choice, his wealth or Jesus. He chose wealth over Jesus. Which was his master? Wealth was. Wealth was more important to him then Jesus was. Read the whole passage for context please. I have bolded a few parts to make a point.

16Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” 17"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
18"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother,'d] and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'e]"
20"All these I have kept," the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.** Then come, follow me.”**
22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"
26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” **
** 27Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” **
** 28Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or motherf] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

This passage isn’t about how keeping the commandments will save you, it’s about how you cannot be saved if you put anything on your priority list higher up than Jesus.

It is impossible for man to be perfect and do all the good required of us. It is only possible with God as our leader! This rich man may have thought he was saved but instead he did not have Jesus as his number one priority. Haivng Faith that Following Jesus was better for him than keeping his wealth was too hard for him, even though he kept all teh other commandments, he fell short of the biggest one.Trust and follow Jesus our Lord.