No More Excuses!

Luke 9:57-62 ESV

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Many people today who are supposedly teaching the gospel of Christ are not teaching that there is a cost to following Jesus Christ with our lives. They presume that the “free gift” of our salvation has no requirements along with it, but that is because they don’t truly understand what that “gift” is. And they don’t have an accurate picture of what God’s grace is, either. And that is largely because not many people who are teaching what they call “the gospel” are actually teaching the gospel that Jesus taught.

Now it is absolutely true that not one of us can do anything in our flesh to earn or to deserve our own salvation. Our own fleshly works are like filthy rags in the sight of God. For we can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father draws us to Christ, i.e. unless he persuades us as to his righteousness and holiness and of our sinfulness and of our need to die with him to sin and to live to him and to his righteousness. For it is only by God’s grace through God-given faith in Christ that any of us are saved.

For the faith to believe in Jesus Christ does not and cannot come from ourselves. It is not of our own doing lest we should boast that we did something to earn or to deserve our own salvation. And it is not of the will nor of the flesh of man. So we don’t get to choose what that faith looks like. For that faith originates with God, thus it comes from God, and it is persuaded of God, and it is gifted to us by God. So that faith is going to look like God in character, and it will align with God’s will and purpose for us.

[John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Ephesians 2:8-10; Hebrews 12:1-2]

The same with God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation. For it instructs (teaches, trains) us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and fleshly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (see Titus 2:11-14; cf. Ephesians 2:10).

So, what is the “free gift” of our salvation? It is that Jesus Christ died on that cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. He died that we might now live for him and no longer for ourselves. He shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so we will now honor God with our lives (with our bodies), and so we will now be slaves of God and of his righteousness in walks of obedience to him and to his commands (New Covenant).

[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]

So, you see, there is a cost to following Jesus Christ with our lives. For the “free gift” came only through what Jesus Christ did for us in dying on that cross for our sins, but the gift itself is deliverance out of our lives of slavery (addiction) to sin so that we can now, by the grace of God, and in the power of God, live holy lives pleasing to God. So the gift of God’s grace and of his salvation is deliverance from slavery to sin and it is empowerment to live holy and godly lives in obedience to our Lord, to the glory of God.

So, following Jesus Christ with our lives is not a free ride into heaven while we sit back and do nothing. For Jesus let us know clearly that if we are to follow him that we must deny self, die daily to sin and to self, and follow him in obedience. For if we do not, and if we continue living in sin and for self and not for the Lord, we will not have eternal life with God. But if we deny self and die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, then we have eternal life in him (see Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23).

So, if we say that we want to be a Christian and to have faith in Jesus Christ, that is the same or should be the same as saying that we want to follow him. And there is a definite cost to following Jesus with our lives, for it is not in words or in profession only, but it is with actions and with deeds. But many people give lip service only to the Lord but they do not follow it up with action. And many of them are full of excuses, too, for why they are still living in sin, perhaps even after many years of professing him as Lord.

But Jesus doesn’t accept excuses for why any of us can’t follow him now with our lives and for why we are not following him now, if we are not following him. For “it takes time” or “I will continue to fail” or “I didn’t know” are not valid excuses, especially coming from people who have known for a very long time and who know better and who had had many years to get their hearts right with God but who keep delaying surrendering their lives to Christ, for truly they want their sin more than anything else.

And now we see here where Jesus, again, lets us know not only the cost of following him, but the cost of not following him, especially combined with a pretense of following him or a pretense of a desire to follow him. So, for those of you who are still delaying surrender of your lives to Christ and who are still holding on to your sin, but while you profess Jesus as Lord, Jesus is saying that if you say you believe in him and that you want to follow him but then you look back, and so you still desire your life of sin, that you are not fit for the kingdom of God, and so you won’t have eternal life in him.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

My Heart’s Desire  

An Original Work / June 29, 2013

Based off Rm. 10; Lu. 9:23-26; Ep. 4:20-24

Loved Ones, Oh, my heart’s desire

Is that you might come to Jesus.

Many appear zealous for God,

But they do not trust in Him.

They have not submitted to the One

Who saved them from their sins;

Not forsaken their sins,

Nor have they obeyed their King.

The word of the Lord is near you:

The word of faith we’re proclaiming:

That you must confess your faith

In Jesus as your Lord and King:

Believe in Him as your Lord, 

And follow Him where’er He leads.

Share the gospel; be a witness,

And meet others’ needs.

Beautiful are the feet of those

Who bring the good news of Jesus:

Anyone who would come to Him

Must deny himself today;

Die to sin and self, and

Let the Spirit transform you in heart;

Put on your new self in Jesus,

Yielding to the cross. 

https://vimeo.com/115643303