Luke 9:23-26 ESV
“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.’”
Now what Jesus spoke here is really a summation of the
gospel of our salvation, from beginning to end. So, if you want to share the
gospel of Jesus Christ with anyone, share this. Yes, tell who Jesus was and is,
and share about his crucifixion and his resurrection from the dead and his
ascension back to heaven and the sending of the Holy Spirit to indwell his
followers, but if you want to share what it means to believe in Jesus Christ
and to have eternal life in him, share this.
Now there are many people here in America making professions
of faith in Jesus Christ who do not adhere to this as the gospel of Christ. For
they are believing a very diluted and altered gospel message which was created
in the minds of human beings in order to appease human flesh and to make
allowances for continued sinful practices. For they teach a faith in Christ
that is basically nondescript whereby all one’s sins are forgiven, and then
heaven is guaranteed them, but regardless of how they live.
But Jesus Christ knocks that down by what he said here. For
he never said that you can “believe” (unexplained) in Jesus and now all your
sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed you, end of story. Over and over he
told the people the cost of following him with their lives and what it means to
believe in him as their Lord and Savior, and it was never “regardless of how
you live” or “end of story” with no requirements made for how you should now
live since you have believed in Jesus.
But since the popular message being taught today here in
America is the opposite of what Jesus taught, then we have many people making
professions of faith in Jesus Christ who give off the appearance of being
Christians (followers of Christ), but their trust is in the teachings of man
and not truly in Christ and in his teachings. For they have not submitted to
Christ as Lord (Owner-Master) of their lives, and they have not forsaken their
sinful practices in order to now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his
commands.
And largely the reason for that is that they are listening
to preachers who are telling them that God requires nothing of them at all
other than some undefined faith in Christ. And so they are being convinced that
once they profess that faith in Christ that they are now good to go and that
they don’t have to repent of their sins, and that they don’t have to obey Jesus
Christ, for they are being told that is “works salvation,” and that it is not
the gospel, and that it is teaching salvation by keeping the Law and not by grace.
But what do the Scriptures teach about God’s grace? They
teach that God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, trains (instructs) us
to renounce ungodliness and worldly 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” which God
prepared in advance for us to walk in them (Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:10).
So, if you want to come after Jesus Christ and make him Lord
and Savior of your life, then please follow what Jesus Christ taught, not what
so many pastors are passing off as “the gospel” today which is not the gospel
of Christ. For Jesus Christ said the first step is to deny (reject, refuse, negate)
self (the flesh, the self-life, selfishness, self-pleasure, self-indulgence,
etc.). We have to give up self and what self wants to follow after Jesus Christ
and what he wants for our lives.
The next step is to take up our cross daily and to follow
Christ. And what was Jesus doing (accomplishing) when he took up his cross and
he died on that cross? He died 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.
[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20;
Romans 6:1-23]
So, if we take up our cross daily and follow Jesus Christ,
it means we die daily to sin and to self and we follow our Lord in obedience to
his commands, and we live holy and godly lives and no longer in sin. Sin should
no longer be our practice, for if sin is what we practice, and if sin is what
we obey, and we don’t walk in obedience to our Lord, and thus righteousness is
not our practice, then according to the Scriptures, including according to Jesus’
words here, we don’t have eternal life with God but Jesus will deny us when he
comes back for his bride, and we won’t go to be with him.
So, don’t buy into the lies which tell you that you can make
a profession of faith in Jesus Christ one time in your life and now all your
sins are forgiven (past, present, and future) and now heaven is guaranteed you,
and it can’t be taken away from you, either ‘end of story’ or ‘regardless of
how you live,’ which is really the same thing. For Jesus said, in essence, that
if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self that we will lose
them for eternity. But if for his sake we lose our lives (die with him to sin
and to self and follow him in obedience), then we have salvation and eternal
life with God.
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.
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