by R. L. Morrison

"Then said Jesus to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me. For whosoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matt. 16:24-25).

Many are the scriptures which men pervert. The one above is no exception. Many fundamental, vital truths have been subjected to revision, perversion, and substitution. This has been done for centuries, and has been taught to so many generations that people today do not recognize the truth when they hear or read it. The error with many is so deeply imbedded, it is almost impossible to remove. When one chooses error, and rejects the truth that saves, everything God has done to save man is lost, in so far as that individual is concerned. Error must be rejected before the truth can reign in one's life. When truth will not move one to repentance, nothing else can do so!

In our text Jesus said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." We preach and teach over and over the terms of forgiveness, or one's obtaining salvation. In Acts, the book of conversions, these terms are clearly set forth: learning, believing, repentance, confession of faith, and baptism, which puts one into Christ. This must be declared IF one is to preach the gospel. Sinners must be told HOW to become a Christian. To fail to do so, is to fail to preach Christ!

But there are other conditions to the obtaining of eternal salvation. These also must be preached and taught that men may know. They are as important to the disciple as hearing and obedience are to the sinner. Some of these terms are found in the words of Jesus already referred to. Yet, it seems that seldom are these words of the Master so studied or presented to others for consideration. Perhaps they are not recognized for what they are, or it may be their importance is overlooked. But this self denial and cross bearing of which Jesus spoke are necessary to eternal salvation. To follow Jesus to eternal life, one must practice what He taught.

We sing songs that teach us that the cross precedes the crown. This was true in the life of Jesus, and should be in our lives as well. If we do not, or will not learn to deny self, our faith is of no value. A saving faith is an active faith. We ought to believe what Jesus said: "Let him take up his cross and follow me."

What is self denial? What is cross bearing? These questions need to be considered. When the Bible answers are found, they need to be applied, that is, if one is really concerned about eternal salvation.

There are many answers given to these questions. I suppose most, if not all churches have some answers or at least some ideas about them! With some, self denial is a quite prominent doctrine. Consider an example or two. We once had a neighbor, a good neighbor, who was a member of a church unknown to the New Testament. These people make a great observance of Lent. In the season of Lent, our neighbor denied herself her daily quota of beer. She thought it was a great sacrifice, to deny herself of something she liked so much. And the priest agreed with her. Others will stop, or at least cut down on smoking during Lent. To them it is a self denial. Others will give up things they really do not want to do, such as attend a church service, but deny self and attend anyway. They would much rather be fishing or golfing, or even at home with the Sunday paper. Such people think they are serving Christ in so doing, and that God is well pleased with such practices. Without doubt, many people will go through life denying things or some practices from themselves thinking they are bearing their cross and following Jesus in so doing.

Such ideas as these are as foreign to the teaching of the Bible as any thing could possibly be. And the "difficult to accept" thing is that not all of this practice is found among Catholics and others who are akin to them in doctrine and practice. We engage in it to some degree; not that we observe Lent, but rather we fail to recognize and practice what it really is to deny self.

Jesus said, "Let him deny himself." He did not say deny "things". Such denials have nothing to do with the lesson Jesus taught. What then did He say? To "deny self", and it means to bring one's all into subjection to the will of God!

Now cross bearing: It did not mean a burden or some kind of a disagreeable task. It didn't mean trouble, which always is a part of life. Nor did it refer to any kind of difficulty. In the days of Jesus, to mention the Roman cross meant to speak of death. The Romans were masters at crucifixion. So when self denial and cross bearing are put together, it suggests death, and that is what Jesus meant when He said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me." Of course, he did not speak of a literal death, but the death of self will. This is the death that every person who is a follower of Christ has died. In submitting his will to the will of God, he follows Christ. Here is Paul's description of this death: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). Paul so conducted the affairs of his life as if Christ were living that life. He ceased doing his own will and obeyed God.

But one does not completely rid himself of sin or self will in one act. It is a continuing process. The temptations constantly present themselves. We must have the desire, and strength to say "NO". We must recognize that as followers of Christ, we died to the practice of sin; it no longer rules or reigns in us. Putting to death that desire to sin is cross bearing. It is not the giving up of something, or the denying self of something we might want. It is to have the disposition of heart and mind, to shun the very appearance of evil! It is to remove selfishness from the heart and life and do God's will, rather than one's own will! This is the pathway the child of God must follow.

Jesus also said: "For whosoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whosoever loses his life for my sake will find it." This is a seeming paradox, a contradiction. But when one understands, its beauty and glory can be easily seen. Jesus says, in effect, "Life is coming through death." The death of self, through self denial and cross bearing, leads one to spiritual life and eventually eternal life! He who does so, loses his life of sin and self service in a life of righteousness and serving God. This manner of life affects one in every activity in every day of life! Serving God is not just something that is done in the assemblies on Sunday or Wednesday night. It affects one's dealing and relationship with every person with whom one comes in contact. It requires one to follow the example of Jesus, who, as a man in a fleshly body, so lived that men could see God in Him. Jesus practiced righteousness, and so must we. Being a disciple of Jesus means being a follower, showing his spirit, kindness, love, mercy, yet at the same time standing firmly for truth. It means making God's will first in life, first before self. This is not the easiest thing to do! We love self, and self will must be put to death, our whole life made subject to the will of Christ. It costs something to be a Christian. It takes the greatest effort we can make. They who say being a Christian is the easiest thing in the world to do should carefully reconsider these words of Jesus.

Lest it be thought this makes salvation impossible, that it is too difficult to serve Christ, we should study the scriptures further. Paul, writing to the church in Philippi, spoke of his life and needs. He said he knew how to be abased, he know how to abound. How? "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:11-13). To the Colossians (1:27), he wrote: "... which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." If Christ dwells within, governs the life, then sin can be overcome. His presence and the result of His presence in your life, is your hope of glory!

Are you willing to lose your life for the sake of Christ, that you might gain the glorious life of the redeemed, which will be revealed when He comes again? Is Christ in you?