If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
You can’t do much online without agreeing to terms and conditions of use. And once we have checked the “I agree” box, credit cards, social media platforms, and websites will notify us from time to time that their legal policies have changed—and that in order to continue using the services they provide, we must accept the new ones.
Changes like these can be frequent and subtle. It’s virtually impossible to notice or keep track of them all. Fortunately, though, the terms and conditions of being a follower of Christ have never changed, and they never will. They can’t be revoked or adapted to our preferences, because God established them. In these verses, the Son of God is setting out the “terms and conditions” for becoming one of His people and being given eternal life.
We sometimes tend to act as though we have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps in order to obey the Lord. But the truth is quite the contrary! The Bible says that just as we trust in Jesus as a response to His initiative and grace (Ephesians 2:8), so that same grace also sustains us and makes it possible for us to keep following Him (Philippians 1:6). He shapes our minds, our morals, our manners, and our means so we can be brought under the control of the one whom we’ve declared as Majesty.
One of the “conditions” of following Christ, then, is that our lives are no longer about us. Our individual identities and goals are not the priority. We are instead transformed to bear fruit that is visible to the outside world through our union with Christ. He calls us to radically denounce self-idolatry.
Through denying ourselves, we take up our cross and follow Him. Unfortunately, the metaphor of “taking up our cross” is often trivialized; we would be well served to remember that being crucified was actually one of the most brutal, horrible forms of execution that humanity has ever devised. By using the image of bearing a cross, Jesus is emphasizing that discipleship carries a great cost.
But Christ is not calling us to do anything that He has not already done. It was on a cross that He bought us at a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). Walking with Him in discipleship is therefore a march both towards death to one’s old self and towards eternal life. It’s not a stroll but a living sacrifice, because we are not our own. But take heart, for there is also beauty in that march. One day, the Son of Man will return in power and glory, and in His kingdom redeem what is broken. Until then, losing our lives on behalf of the kingdom of God is a good buy, no matter the price.
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Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, The Good Book Company.
