Yet salvation does have a price. Of course we know that Jesus Himself paid the price, because nothing short of the death, burial, and resurrection of God could pay the price for the sins of the entire world …Because nothing we could do could ever earn our way into heaven.

Yet, Christ speaks of a cost. Think of the story of the Rich Young Ruler as it is found in the synoptic gospels (MT 19:16-30; MK10:17-31; LK18:18-30). The young man asks Jesus what must he do to attain eternal life. Jesus answers that he must keep all of the commandments.

The young man answers that he has done exactly that. Jesus then tells him, “Sell everything you own and give the money to the poor and the come and follow me.” The young man considers the cost and declines, going away sad. Why did he decline? The Bible tells us that he declined because he was very wealthy.

Why did Jesus answer this way? Well many Bible commentaries tell us that Jesus was talking about two different things: eternal life on the one hand and the Kingdom of God in the other. I don’t buy that because Christ does not trifle with one’s soul. If the man had not understood, Christ would have clarified.

Other commentators tell us that the passage is hyperbole. That Jesus didn’t really expect the man to sell everything and give it to the poor to be worthy to follow after Him. He only needed, some claim, to stop loving his material goods more than he loves Jesus. He could’ve, in reality, they say, continue to possess his goods and followed Jesus anyway.

Others tell us that we miss the entire point when Christ tells us that it is impossible with man, but all things are possible with God. And here we get closer to the truth.

Now we know that neither selling everything we own and giving it to the poor nor keeping the commandments is enough to get you into heaven. Nor does Christ tell us that everyone must give all they own to the poor.

Let’s take a look at other passages that speak of the price of salvation. At one point a scribe – a scholar dedicated to accurately copying Scripture – tells Jesus that he will follow Him as His disciple. Christ replies, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

The Bible doesn’t directly state this but implies that the scribe, like the Rich Young Ruler, left disappointed.

Another follower asked to leave Jesus to go to his father’s funeral. Jesus answered, “Let the dead bury the dead.”

That seems harsh, but Jesus never once said it would be easy to follow Him.

And with that last sentence I just lost half my audience. Many of those who remain are saying “What about John 3:16?”

Well let’s take a look at John 3:16 in the larger context of the entire chapter. We have lived so long with the term “born again” that we fail to recognize it’s significance. Sure, Christ says that everyone who believes will be saved, but how many of those who follow the prescriptive ABC of salvation really believe? I fear not many, for few can live up to the expectations of the full context of the discourse in John 3. Take a look at verses 19-21.

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

How many who consider themselves Christians actually change their direction? How many of them repent?

Christ tells us that we must be born again but he also tells us that we must die to self. In Luke 9:23, he says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”

The cross is not a symbol of hardship, like I heard growing up in church (a man I knew speaking of his life as a single father after his wife abandoned him years ago always ended the discussion with the words, “that’s just my cross to bear”). Not at all. The cross is not a symbol of hardship it is a symbol of death. When Jesus said to take up our cross and follow Him, he added a clause to the beginning: “deny yourselves, take up your cross daily and follow me!”

If we are to be born again we must also die to our own self. Christ does not tolerate a double-minded person; you should be either hot or cold but not lukewarm.

I have had preachers warn me about this message, the message of repentance. They tell me that, were they me, they would be scared of turning away seekers from the altar. I preached at a church three Sundays ago and preached on repentance. Another preacher was in the congregation that morning. He was scheduled to preach the following Sunday. When he did preach, he looked me in the eye from the pulpit and said that it is enough that people accept Jesus, believe in their hearts, and confess their sins. It is up to God to convict them enough to repent. I worry that preachers like him are convincing many sinners they are saved because they said a solitary prayer but never really repent and trust in Christ. Their lives show no fruit of the Spirit.

What does it cost to follow Christ? Just our very self.

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Holiness is, perhaps, the most misunderstood concept in Christianity. Anyone who has striven to follow the life of Christ can likely tell you that it is impossible to do. No one can match His love, His grace, or His compassion. For no one but Jesus is perfect. Once the believer is filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit, though, he or she is filled to the brim with the love of Christ, and desires nothing more than to please God and follow in Christ’s steps. The love of sin is gone. In its place is a love and passion for others. That is Christian Holiness. This is Christian Holiness Daily.

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While missteps and straying from the path may happen. Christ warns that the entire journey will be hazardous.

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of following Christ is that He tells us to deny ourselves, and take up our crosses and follow Him.

We cannot imagine the gut-wrenching terror of this statement. Even if we put it into a modern context, we cannot fully fathom it.

To even attempt to follow and appreciate this statement, we must stop thinking about the cross as a gold emblem to be worn around our necks or wrists. We cannot think of it as two 4×4 posts fit together to easily hoist on the shoulder. We must think of the cross as first-century readers thought of it.

So here is just a little context. Public executions were common in the Roman empire, nearly a daily event. Many crimes warranted execution by crucifixion, including theft, rape, and murder. Crosses were little higher than eye-level, so the one dying could easily hear and see those who mocked him, which often included close relatives and associates who betrayed the convicted for fear of being the next condemned.

A sign attached to the top of the cross announced the name of the condemned and his crime. The cross was low enough that the sign could be easily read.

The Roman’s were expert executioners who knew exactly how to beat the condemned to within an inch of his life (to beat the condemned to death when he had been sentenced to die by crucifixion was itself a crime). The executioner could tell you at exactly what time they expected the condemned to die and they knew how to prolong or hasten the death accordingly.

It was uncommon but not unheard of to find a road lined with crosses of the condemned. Jesus was, Himself, crucified near a road, “outside the gate.”

The Greeks used crucifixion before Rome was an empire. When Alexander seized Tyre, to the north of Israel, in 332 BC, he crucified 2000 people.

Crucifixion, to people conquered by Caesar, was the means by which Rome instilled fear and maintained control.

For Jesus to tell those who would follow Him to “take up their cross,” was to strike fear in their heart.

I can think of two modern parallels, and both fall short in striking fear. To compare the cross to the electric chair fails because the electric chair is not used to intimidate (it is carried out behind closed doors) so much as the cross was. To compare beheading to crucifixion fails because it too is uncommon, although that may be changing.

Why did Jesus tell us this? It makes for a lousy recruitment poster. What was He thinking? It speaks to easy-believism. Is it enough for us to simply say a prayer like reading a magic spell and then consider ourselves “saved?” Even if we exhibit no remorse for our sinful life? Even if we do not repent? Is it enough to simply say a prayer?

Taking up or cross is not a burden we must bear. It is not living with human frailty. It is following Jesus no matter where the path leads, even if it leads to job loss because we read our Bible on lunch break. Even if we are sued for refusing to bake a cake. Even if we are jailed for what we peach. Even if we lose friends because we don’t hang like they do. Even if we are targeted by terrorists for being Christian. We must follow in His footprints.

It means denying our human impulse for fun, thrill, and pleasure, and praying for God to replace it with His love. It is denying yourself – dying to self – daily.

We must follow Him.

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I thought, at first, he was speaking metaphorically. The more I read, the more I realized that he literally expected to be burnt at the stake for preaching the Gospel. 

I wanted to tell him that God didn’t expect that of him, that he would never be granted a visa, and that it was more likely he would be thrown in jail if he ever went to Baghdad. Who was I to tell him that he was wrong?

God calls us to present our lives as a living sacrifice. For some of us, that means going to exotic and dangerous places. For others, it means witnessing to friends on the job. Yet, He expects the same attitude of self-denial of us all. 

Whatever God calls us to do, it is the least we can do for the one and only true and living God, for the God who came to earth and defeated sin and death so that we may live in eternal victory. 

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 

Romans 12:1

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My brothers and sister and I never suffered. My brothers had bikes and skateboards. I had a trike that I peddled down the street after my sister and her boyfriend. I don’t remember my parents spoiling themselves, though. The never purchased anything on credit. They never owned a new car or fancy clothes. A photo of my parents sitting in my grandmother’s travel trailer shows Dad looking very uncomfortable. He would never own such a trailer or a nice enough car to pull it with. 

We children never went without anything we really needed. Because of the sacrifice of my mom and dad, I didn’t realize until I was grown that I had grown up poor. 

The Apostle Paul calls us in Romans 12:1 to be a living sacrifice to God. A traditional animal sacrifice in the first century consisted of the very finest. It was an animal without flaw, perfect, and pleasing to God. Jesus, God made flesh, presented His perfect life as a permanent and perfect sacrifice for all mankind. This being the case, then, why is it that Paul call us to present ourselves sacrificially.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 

– Romans 12:1 

Here, he speaks of our daily walk with Christ. Just as my parents sacrificed so much because of their love for me and my siblings, Paul tells us that our love of God should compel us to sacrifice our own selfish desires and seek the finer things that God offers us. 

We should surrender ourselves daily to God. After all, God sacrificed His only begotten Son for you and me. 

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It is true that while Jesus was on the cross, He thought about you and me. This is evidence in His prayer for forgiveness of those who crucified Him. My point is that, sometimes, our worship begins to focus on ourselves instead of the great love God expresses towards us in the person of Jesus Christ. At some point, it becomes prideful, and self-centered.

The Word of God consistently calls us to a life of self-denial, and not self-love. Very little is written in the Bible about boosting the ego of Christians, but much is said about avoiding self-love. Instead of loving ourselves, we are to love God, praise God, worship God, and obey God.

For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.       

  -2 Timothy 3:2-5

So, how is it that sinful man would ever want to deny himself or herself in order to worship God? There is no human explanation. I can only say that when one hears and comprehends the Word of God, and one experiences the love and acceptance of God, the natural response is to deny self, and instead focus on God. Take a look at the Zacchaeus, tax collector. Here is his response to hearing the loving and accepting words of Christ:

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

He didn’t have to be told to deny himself. His self-denial was in response to repentance, offered in the realization that he was but a filthy sinner staring at a pure and holy God. That should be our response, too. We deny ourselves so that we may fill our hearts with His Spirit, and our minds with His Word.

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