Once we answer the question of who Jesus is, we have to answer what that means to us. This daily devotional looks at the steps we need to take after we decide Jesus is our Savior.
Nuggets
- When we first choose the accept the Plan of Salvation, there are some things we need to give up in order to follow God’s Will.
- Taking up our cross will be a daily activity for the long haul.
- Following Jesus means that we submit to imitating Him.
Devotions in the Who Is Jesus? series
What Should We Do about Who Jesus Is?
The Benefits of Who Jesus Is?
I have always loved this passage. But gee whiz! Talk about tough!
Luke’s diagnosis was that, once we have decided for ourselves Who Jesus is and what we are going to do about that, we have to live for Him. He told us the steps to do that.
Let's Put It into Context #1
These verses come right after the Who Am I verses.
• We each have to find the answer to the question, who do you say Jesus is?
• Jesus didn’t want the disciples to tell others that He was the Messiah because the Plan of Salvation wasn’t complete.
Let's Put It into Context #2
Liddell gave us a good description of that the cross means to disciples. He wrote, “To us Christians the cross is the symbol of salvation, self-devotion, obedience to our Father, loyalty to our Saviour.”
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Self-Denial Is Really Self-Sacrifice and Self-Discipline
“Then he said to them all, ‘If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Lk. 9: 23 CSB)
When we first choose the accept the Plan of Salvation, there are some things we need to give up in order to follow God’s Will.
God can ask us to give things up when we become His children. Remember who Jesus is talking to — His disciples. We know Peter had ABCDed from his comment a few verses earlier. Others probably had, too.
Glossary
So, like Aitken said, Jesus was talking to people who already were subjects of grace.
Unfortunately, most of us aren’t really good at self-denial. Let’s say I decided to become a vegetarian. (Oh, yeah. Mom would be rolling in her grave laughing.)
But I don’t give up meat. In fact, I keep eating it three meals a day, every day.
Am I really a vegetarian just because I said so?
Aitken warned us about self-denial isn’t about relieving us of our guilt. Self-denial doesn’t redeem us. It doesn’t make amends for our sins.
Nor is it about denying us pleasure. Satan likes us to think God has made all these guilty pleasures in which we can no longer partake.
Yes, there are some things we may have to give up because they are a sin. God will give us pleasurable things to replace them.
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Harris equates this more with self-sacrifice than self-denial. We know our job description says we are to be a living sacrifice. To me, that is more of a choice, also.
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The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #1
Be a Living Sacrifice (Romans 12: 1-2)
But really, isn’t it self-discipline? We spent all of last year talking about how we needed to let God increase our self-discipline.
Aitken suggested we use the word ignore instead of deny. I can see that. We cannot deny our sinful nature. It is there.
We have to choose to ignore the temptations. We have to choose to follow Jesus.
Self-denial/self-sacrifice/self-discipline is how we are obedient to God. Cuyler reminded us that not being disciplined has consequences. “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Lk. 12: 21 ESV).
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God wants us to give up anything that ties us to our sinful nature. Oh, yeah. That is going to be hard in some cases. This shows our commitment to Him.
I think worldview people get turned off when they hear things like Boston said. He wrote, “Faith taking hold of God as our God, according to the measure of faith, the whole man is swallowed up in Him; God is all, and we become nothing in our own eyes: the whole soul, the whole man, the whole lot, is resigned to Him.”
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Sometimes, I think worldview people take that to mean we are to become robots. No, far from it. We still have the character that makes us who we are.
More importantly, we still have our free will. Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character.
God wants us to govern ourselves, not demean ourselves.
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To read devotions in the What Does It Mean series, click the button below.
Taking Up Our Cross Is About Endurance
Taking up our cross will be a daily activity for the long haul.
Oh, yeah. We are all going to have our crosses to bear if we are children of God. Boston put it this way. He wrote, “They shall not need to make crosses to themselves, nor to go out of their way to seek a cross: God will lay it down at every one’s door. He had one Son without sin, but no son without the cross (Hebrews 12:8).”
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Hmmmm. Would we try to make our own cross? Us??? Well, yes.
- Oh, yes. This is a continual, everyday occurrence. We have to choose daily to deny ourselves and follow Him.
That means we have to have endurance.
Don’t worry. God helps us. “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam. 3: 22-23 ESV).
I know. Most of us would rather skip the trials that go with bearing our crosses and go straight to the we’ve-succeeded part. Why did God make it so that we have to suffer?
God in His infinite wisdom knew taking up our crosses was the best way to sanctify us. We know “… that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8: 28 NIV).
Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration, gradually changes our nature through the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness. Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive. Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God. The perfected state indicates the combination of the graces which, when all are present, form spiritual wholeness or completeness.
Glossary
But what does it really mean when it says for us to take up our crosses? Roberts said that we are to “… recognize them as your portion, and bear them uncomplainingly.” This is what God put in our plan for us.
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Horne brought up something that I think we sometimes forget about when we are hurting from the trials. He wrote, “Christianity did not bring afflictions into the world with it; it found them already there.”
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We can’t take up our crosses begrudgingly. We can’t bear it in self-will, as Boston said.
We have to keep our focus on God and grab hold of His mercies. He will help us through.
Look at it this way. If denying ourself is making the choice to become self-disciplined, isn’t taking up our crosses putting it into practice? We can’t just say things — we have to do things. We have to have a changed lifestyle.
God calls us to be in for the long haul.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Barfield contended that our endurance brings about the ultimate salvation. Well, think about it. We know that everyone who thinks they are going to get into Heaven won’t.
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To read a related devotion, click the button below.
It isn’t about just saying I am a vegetarian. It is about not eating the meat so that I have a healthy lifestyle. It is the healthy lifestyle that is the key.
It is changing our character to be that of God’s that is the key. It is our sign of salvation.
To read devotions in the What Does It Mean series, click the button below.
Following Jesus Is about Submitting to Him
Following Jesus means that we submit to imitating Him.
Can it get much plainer than that? We have to follow Jesus — do what He did and don’t do what He didn’t do. That is where the do’s and don’ts come in.
The goal of following Jesus is to become pure like Jesus.
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The people who wrote the New Outlines on the New Testament’s The Condition of Service sermon brought up a very good point. They wrote, “It [follow me] leads not to the monastery. No more social, loving man ever lived than the Master. Keep in touch with Him; grasp His hand; listen to His voice.”
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Following Jesus doesn’t mean we cut ourselves off from the sinful world. True, we aren’t supposed to look like worldview people. Jesus said we are to be in the world but not of the world.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
To read devotions in the What Does It Mean series, click the button below.
Making the Connections
We have to do salvation God’s way. Vaughan warned us, “When a man has laid down for himself a certain way of salvation, and begins in his own strength, goes on in his own wisdom, and ends in his own glory, [he turns] his self-complacent virtues into saviours.”
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That is not what God is looking for.
Going back to my example about becoming a vegetarian, God knows that we won’t be able to not eat meat ever again. He just doesn’t want us to schedule cheat days.
God doesn’t want us to make the conscious decision to sin.
No, it isn’t going to be easy. We are going to have an outward struggle as well as an inward struggle.
But that also means the evidence will be both on the inside and the outside. Our patience will have to come from the inside, but it manifests itself on the outside as meekness.
I love how Edwards referred to it as “… a silence of the soul …” We have to turn down all the noise of the world and focus on God. We have to wait patiently for Him.
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How Do We Apply This?
We have to determine what our cross is. Barrett kick started a list for us.
- What hinders us from totally submitting to God?
- What keeps us from serving Him?
- What are the reasons that these obstacles are put in our pathway?
- What can we do to remove these obstacles?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
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What else can we do?
- Look to God as to what and how we are to deny. He is not calling us to give up our interests that align with His Will but those that takes our focus off Him.
- We have to be godly rather than have a good reputation with man.
- Having worldly morals does not mean we have spiritual graces. Foote said that we have to deny our own righteousness and wisdom.
- Sometimes we have to give up our friends and activities that influence us to sin.
- Don’t judge others because their self-denial will be different than ours.
- Don’t carry our crosses in anger, displeasure, and begrudgingly.
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Father God. You want good for us, but You will not force us to love You. Instead, You have given us free will to choose You. Lord, we choose to have Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer. We choose to submit to You as our Sovereign God. Forgive us of our sins and help us to grow to be like You. Amen.
What do you think?
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