At this time of year, most people have completed their holidays and are back focusing on work. Were your holiday’s what you expected?
The following are actual responses from comment cards given to the staff members at Bridger Wilderness Area in NW Wyoming.
-Trails need to be reconstructed. Please avoid building trails that go uphill.
-Too many bugs and leeches and spiders and spider webs. Please spray the wilderness to rid the areas of these pests.
-Please pave the trails…Chair lifts need to be in some places so that we can get to wonderful views without having to hike to them.
-The coyotes made too much noise last night and kept me awake. Please eradicate these annoying animals.
-A small deer came into my camp and stole my jar of pickles. Is there a way I can get reimbursed? Please call…
-Escalators would help on steep uphill sections.
-Too many rocks in the mountains.
Citation: Mike Neifert, Light and Life (February 1997), p. 27
These comments and complaints indicate that the people who made them did not really understand what it means to stay in a "wilderness area." They were looking for something convenient and comfortable, but not truly a wilderness experience. In a similar way, many people today do not understand what it means to be a genuine Christian, a true disciple of Jesus Christ. There are multitudes that often follow Jesus or claim to be a Christian but they do so on their terms and not his. They do not truly comprehend the biblical definition of discipleship.
Please turn to Luke 14
The High Calling of Christ is rooted in Christian discipleship. This presupposes one is born again, repented of sin, believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and is abiding in Him. The term "disciples" occurs 269 times in the New Testament, while the term "Christian" only occurs 3 times. In the Book of Acts we’re told that:
Acts 11:26b in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. (ESV)
Lk 14:25-26 shows the background of who Christ was addressing in Mt. 14. Jesus elaborated on being a disciple:
Luke 14:25-35 [25]Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, [26]"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. [27]Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Jesus was not talking to those who were antagonistic towards him or to those who were uninterested in his life and message. No, these were people who were "traveling with the Jesus." There are positive in their attitude toward Jesus. They were interested in what he had to say. They apparently mistook this positive attitude and interest in Jesus for true discipleship, as many people do today. They considered themselves to be followers of Jesus but in reality they were only casual followers and not committed followers.
They were willing and even anxious to follow Jesus providing the cost was not to high or the demands too great. They were like many people today who do "Christian things" like go to church, pray, sing Christian songs, etc. but are not really committed to Jesus. In a sense they were “along for the ride” but were unwilling to give up everything in their lives that conflicted with following Jesus in a committed way. They were like many today who look to Jesus to solve their money problems, relationship problems, health problems, etc. but who quickly grow disillusioned and unwilling to obey Jesus completely when following Jesus doesn’t solve these problems or following Jesus requires real sacrifices in their lives. These "large crowds" were casual followers and not committed followers, which are you?
In verse 26 Jesus says that this commitment level applies to "anyone who comes to me. . ." In other words, Jesus is not speaking exclusively to a special group of Christians such as apostles, evangelists, missionaries, pastors, or even mature believers. He is saying that this principle applies to everyone who would be one of his followers.
Jesus goes on to say, "Anyone who comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters,-yes, even his own life cannot be my disciple." Now the word "hate" here is not meant to be taken literally but is rather used figuratively to express a point. It is hyperbole or exaggeration similar to what we use when we say, "That man was as big as a house. . ." In Jewish culture the word "hate" was used to express lesser love, so Jesus is saying that we must love him much more that we love our closest family relationships or even our own lives. We must love him more than our hobbies, more than our goals in life, more than our careers, and more that our self interest.
Jesus is not speaking of our emotional feelings toward him or our families but rather he is speaking of our level of commitment. He is saying that our commitment to obey and following him must be greater than any other commitment in our lives. In other words, Jesus must be first in our priorities and loyalties. Is this true in your life?
For instance, if following Jesus obediently results in problems or interferes with your closest relationships, will you still follow him? This is no mere hypothetical situation. In other countries following Jesus can sometimes mean being kicked out of the family, losing your children, etc. In our own country, many relationships have encountered problems because one spouse was a committed Christian and the other was not. In such cases Jesus wants us to know up front what it means to be a disciple. He must come before even your closest relationships.
I. To be a disciple of Jesus you must be committed to him above everything else
We must not only love or be committed to Jesus more than to our loved ones, but we must also be committed to him above "even our own lives" as Jesus says in verse 26. This refers to our physical lives which we must be willing to surrender for Jesus’ sake. It also refers to are self lives, which means our personal desires, goals, interests, and even needs. We must be committed to Jesus above our bank accounts, our public image, our jobs, every personal desire, etc. If following Jesus means forfeiting these things, then we must be willing to do that. Again this is not a hypothetical situation. Following Jesus will many times mean making such sacrifices.
How would you characterise your relationship with God? Is he a concept, a comfort or a conviction? Is he someone that you have yet to come to grips with, someone who says to you that you are fine the way you are, or someone who says that if you want to think of yourself as a Christian and all that it entails, this demands radical sacrifice and self denial.
This series will lay out what God expects of those who would wish to be known as Christians. It is the Christians High Calling. It all starts and ends with the Cross. First:
1) THE PRINCIPLE MT. 16:24
Matthew 16:24 [24]Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (ESV)
Please turn to John 6
When Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would/wishes to come after Me,” they were doubtless reminded of the time He had called each of them. Some two and a half years earlier they had left families, friends, occupations, and everything else in order to follow Jesus.
To unbelievers among the multitudes who were present on that occasion (see Mark 8:34), Jesus’ words come after Me applied to the initial surrender of the new birth, when a person comes to Christ for salvation and the old life of sin is exchanged for a new life of righteousness. To the believers there, including the Twelve, come after Me reiterated the call to the life of daily obedience to Christ.
When people truly understand the nature of Coming after Christ, it separates those who follow for personal gain and a supernatural work of transformation:
John 6:63-66 [63]It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. [64]But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) [65]And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." [66]After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. (ESV)
It is sadly possible for believers to lose the first love they had when they received Christ as saving Lord and surrendered all they were and had to Him (see Rev. 2:4). It is a constant temptation to want to take back what was given up and to reclaim what was forsaken. It is not impossible to again place one’s own will above God’s and to take back rights that were relinquished to Him. It is especially tempting to compromise our commitment when the cost becomes high. But the fact that believers sometimes succumb to disobedience does not alter the truth that the character of a true disciple is manifest in a pattern of obedience. Although imperfect obedience is inevitable because of the unredeemed flesh, the basic desire and life-direction of the true Christian is obedience to the Lord.
Discipleship is on God’s terms, just as coming to Him is on His terms. The Lord here reminds us that the key discipleship principle of winning by losing involves self-denial, cross-bearing, and loyal obedience.
-I am taking great pains of not laying on you burdens that Christ himself has not directed as obedience. To do so would be legalism, that somehow extra biblical actions would earn favour with God.
-This series is attempt to unpack the understanding and action of what Christ requires of one who would follow after Him.
The first requirement of discipleship is self-denial. A person who is not willing to deny himself cannot claim to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Deny is from aparneomai, which means to completely disown, to utterly separate oneself from someone. It is the word Jesus used to describe Peter’s denial of Him while He was being questioned by the high priest (Matt. 26:34). Each time he was confronted about his relationship to Jesus, Peter more vehemently denied knowing Him (vv. 70, 72, 74). He disowned his Master before the world.
-To deny self is not the same as self-denial; it means to yield to His control so completely that self has no rights whatever.
That is exactly the kind of denial a believer is to make in regard to himself. He is to utterly disown himself, to refuse to acknowledge the self of the old man. Jesus’ words here could be paraphrased, “Let him refuse any association or companionship with himself.” Self-denial not only characterizes a person when he comes in saving faith to Christ but also as he lives as a faithful disciple of Christ.
Please turn to Ephesians 4
The self to which Jesus refers is not one’s personal identity as a distinct individual. Every person is a unique creation of God, and the heavenly Father knows each of His children by name. He has every believer’s name “recorded in heaven” (Luke 10:20). The self of which Jesus is speaking is rather the natural, sinful, rebellious, unredeemed self that is at the center of every fallen person and that can even reclaim temporary control over a Christian. It is the fleshly body,
Ephesians 4:22 [22]to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, (ESV)
Keep your place in Eph. 4
The Old Self is yet to be redeemed in glorification (cf. Rom. 8:23). To deny that self is to confess with Paul, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” (Rom. 7:18). To deny that self is to have the sincere, genuine conviction that one has nothing in his humanness to commend himself before God, nothing worthwhile to offer Him at all.
-This is at the center of the concept that there is nothing to our salvation that we bring except sin, the need for salvation.
How can salvation be offered to us as a free gift of God, yet Discipleship have a great cost? Consider this analogy:
Suppose you have a desire to climb Mount Everest. Suppose a wealthy businessman heard of your desire and offered to pay for the entire expedition. It costs about $70,000 to do it. He would buy all the expensive clothing and gear; he would pay for your transportation, the guides, and the training. It’s totally free for you in terms of financial cost. But if you accept his free offer, you have just committed myself to months of difficult training and arduous effort. It could even cost me my very life, because many good climbers die trying to climb Mount Everest. It is free and yet very costly.
Source: The Cost of Discipleship, www.fcfonline.org/80199.htm, Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 1999,
Our response to the cost of discipleship is often like this:
Poem: If It Don’t Rain
I would climb the highest mountain
Swim the deepest ocean too
I would crawl the hottest desert
I’d do anything for you
I would leap the tallest building
I’d bear any trial or pain
There’s no limit to my love
And I’ll be over Friday night
If it don’t rain
--Dan Atkins
Quote: Marin Luther Said: A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.
Someone is made acceptable before God when he trusts in Jesus Christ, and he stands before the Lord in perfect righteousness:
Ephesians 4:24 [24]and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (ESV)
Paul also declared, even after salvation a believer has no more goodness in himself, “that is, in [his] flesh,” than he had before salvation. To deny self is to “make no provision for the flesh” (Rom. 13:14) and to “put no confidence in [it]” (Phil. 3:3). To deny self is to subject oneself entirely to the lordship and resources of Jesus Christ, in utter rejection of self-will and self-sufficiency.
Jesus proclaimed that the first requirement for entering the kingdom is to be “poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3), to have the spirit of utter poverty in regard to one’s own goodness, righteousness, worth, and merit. It is to humbly recognize one’s spiritual destitution.
-If there is no perceived need for salvation, there is no salvation.
Quote: Arthur Pink wrote, “Growth in grace is growth downward; it is the forming of a lower estimate of ourselves; it is a deepening realization of our nothingness; it is a heartfelt recognition that we are not worthy of the least of God’s mercies.”
It is only the person who realizes how poor he is who will ever know the riches of Christ. It is only the person who realizes how sinful and damned he is who will ever come to know how precious the forgiveness of God is. “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Ps. 34:18). It is the broken and contrite heart that God loves and will never despise (Ps. 51:17). It is not the self-righteous and self-satisfied but the penitent and humble whom God saves. It was not the proud Pharisee who had such a high image of himself, but the brokenhearted tax collector who asked God for mercy, who Jesus said “went down to his house justified” (Luke 18:14).
The whole purpose of the Old Testament, reflected pointedly in the law of Moses, was to show man how spiritually and morally destitute and powerless he is in himself. The law was not meant to show men how they could work their way into God’s favor (that is religion) but to show them how impossible it is to live up to God’s holy standards by their own resources.
-This is the reason why we are focusing on the Law of God as the tool for evangelism in our training with The Way of the Master
Quote: Christianity is a cross, and a cross is “I” crossed out.—John Bisagno
Morgan, Robert J.: Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations, and Quotes. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000, S. 167
The second requirement of discipleship is to take up one’s cross. This idea has profound meaning which must be understood. Taking up one’s cross is not some mystical level of selfless “deeper spiritual life” that only the religious elite can hope to achieve. Nor is it the common trials and hardships that all persons experience sometime in life. A cross is not having an unsaved husband, nagging wife, or domineering mother-in-law. Nor is it having a physical handicap or suffering from an incurable disease.
-Don’t use the expression, “well it’s just my/your cross to bear”.
-Jesus didn’t say: “Take up His Cross”. Only Christ could atone for sin.
-Therefore no work of ours could atone for sin.
To take up one’s cross is simply to be willing to pay any price for Christ’s sake. It is the willingness to endure shame, embarrassment, reproach, rejection, persecution, and even martyrdom for His sake.
To the people of Jesus’ day the cross was a very concrete and vivid reality. It was the instrument of execution reserved for Rome’s worst enemies. It was a symbol of the torture and death that awaited those who dared raise a hand against Roman authority It has been estimated that perhaps some 30,000 occurred under Roman authority during the lifetime of Christ.
When the disciples and the crowd heard Jesus speak of taking up the cross, there was nothing mystical to them about the idea. They immediately pictured a poor, condemned soul walking along the road carrying (which is an accurate translation of airô, meaning “to raise, bear, or carry”) the instrument of his execution on his own back. A man who took up his cross began his death march, carrying the very beam on which he would hang.
For a disciple of Christ to take up his cross is for him to be willing to start on a death march. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to be willing, in His service, to suffer the indignities, the pain, and even the death of a condemned criminal.
Obviously the extent of suffering and persecution varies from believer to believer, from time to time, and from place to place. Not all the apostles were martyred, but all of them were willing to be martyred. Not every disciple is called on to be martyred, but every disciple is commanded to be willing to be martyred. “Beloved,” Peter wrote to his fellow believers, “do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Pet. 4:12-14).
To come to Jesus Christ for salvation is not to raise a hand or sign a card, although such things may sometimes play a part. To come to Jesus Christ is to come to the end of self and sin and to become so desirous of Christ and His righteousness that one will make any sacrifice for Him.
Jesus had earlier said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household” (Matt. 10:34-36). He had also said, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. ... If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!” (vv. 24-25). Christ was now in effect saying to His disciples that if He, their Lord, would have to “suffer many things ... and be killed” (Matt. 16:21), how could they expect to escape the same treatment?
The cross represents suffering that is ours because of our relationship to Christ. As Jesus moved unwaveringly toward Jerusalem, the place of execution where He “must go” (v. 21), He had already taken up His cross and was beginning to bear on His back the sins of the whole world. And in His train, millions of disciples, all with their own crosses, have since borne reproach with Him.
Christ does not call disciples to Himself to make their lives easy and prosperous, but to make them holy and productive. Willingness to take up his cross is the mark of the true disciple. As the hymnist wrote, “Must Jesus bear the cross alone, and all the world go free? No, there’s a cross for everyone, and there’s a cross for me.” Those who make initial confessions of their desire to follow Jesus Christ, but refuse to accept hardship or persecution, are characterized as the false, fruitless souls who are like rocky soil with no depth. They wither and die under threat of the reproach of Christ (Matt. 13:20-21). Many people want a “no-cost” discipleship, but Christ offers no such option.
The third requirement of discipleship is loyal obedience. Only after a person denies himself and takes up his cross, Jesus said, is he prepared to follow Me. True discipleship is submission to the lordship of Christ that becomes a pattern of life.
1 John 2:6 [6]whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (ESV)
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,” Jesus declared; “but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). To continue in His Word is to be His true disciple (John 8:31).
Paul calls salvation the “obedience of faith” (Rom. 1:5; 16:26). Peter describes God’s sovereign saving work in a life as “the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood” (1 Pet. 1:2). Obviously, obedience is an integral feature in salvation and is as characteristic of a believer as is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and the sacrificial saving work of the Son. Peter told the Jewish Sanhedrin that the Holy Spirit is given only to those who obey God (Acts 5:32), and since every believer has the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9), every believer is also characterized by obedience to God as a pattern of life.
“If anyone serves Me,” Jesus said, “let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him” (John 12:26).
We have seen 1) THE PRINCIPLE MT. 16:24 AND NOW:
2) THE PARADOX (Mt.16:25-26)
Matthew 16:25-26 [25]For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. [26]For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? (ESV)
Please turn to Phil. 3
Life and soul are here synonymous with each other and with the self (v. 24). All three words represent the inner person, the “real you.”
The Lord Here anticipates two hindrances to discipleship.
1) The first is the natural temptation to save oneself from discomfort, pain, loneliness, or loss
What may here seem to be a complex and contradictory idea is really quite simple. The Lord is saying that whoever lives only to save his earthly, physical life, his ease and comfort and acceptance by the world, will lose his opportunity for eternal life. But whoever loses his life /is willing to give up his earthly, worldly life and to suffer and die, if necessary, for Christ’s sake, will find eternal life. Every person has a choice. He can “go for it” now and lose it forever; or he can forsake it now and gain it forever.
Illustration: “When James Calvert went out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the captain of the ship sought to turn him back. “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages,” he cried. Calvert only replied, “We died before we came here.”
What reflects the perspective of Gain in Christ?
Philippians 3:7-11 [7]But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. [8]Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9]and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-- [10]that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11]that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (ESV)
We saw in our Leadership training for Christianity Explored how Jesus explained the situation:
Jesus identified the false believer who makes initial gestures of following the gospel, but will not let go of the world and all its trinkets, as bad soil full of weeds that choke out true spiritual life (Matt. 13:22).
The true disciple is willing to pay whatever price faithfulness to the Lord requires. The price may mean suffering martyrdom as Paul did or enduring physical exhaustion and illness in Christ’s service as Epaphroditus did. Whatever the particulars of a believer’s cross-bearing may be, it requires the willingness to abandon safety, security, personal resources, health, friends, job, and even life.
Illustration: The story is told of a plantation slave in the old South who was always happy and singing. No matter what happened to him, his joy was always abounding. One day his master asked him, “What have you got that makes you so happy?” The slave replied, “I love the Lord Jesus Christ. He has forgiven my sin and put a song in my heart.”
“Well, how do I get what you have?” his master asked.
“You go and put on your best Sunday suit and you come down here and work in the mud with us and you can have it,” came the reply.
“I would never do that,” the owner retorted indignantly as he rode off in a huff.
Some weeks later, the master asked the same question and was given the same answer. A few weeks later, he came a third time and said, “Now be straight with me. What do I have to do to have what you have?” “Just what I’ve told you the other times,” came the answer. In desperation, the owner said, “All right, I’ll do it.” “Now you don’t have to do it,” the slave said. “You only had to be willing.”
It is not that a disciple has to be a martyr, but that he is willing to be a martyr if faithfulness to Christ demands it.
With the two hindrances to discipleship.1) The first is the natural temptation to save oneself from discomfort, pain, loneliness, or loss.
2) The Second is the temptation to become financially wealthy, as mentioned here in verse 26:
Mt 16:26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Please turn back to Mt. 6
Here is the ultimate hyperbole. “Imagine, if you can,” Jesus was saying, “what it would be like to somehow possess the whole world. Of what lasting benefit would that be, if in gaining it you forfeited your soul, your eternal life?” Such a person would be a walking dead man who temporarily owned everything but who faced an eternity in hell rather than in heaven.
“Or,” Jesus continued, “what could possibly be worth having during this lifetime, if to gain it you would have to exchange your soul?” To gain every possession possible in this world and yet be without Christ is to be bankrupt forever. But to abandon everything in this world for the sake of Christ is to be rich forever (cf. Matt. 6:19-21).
Matthew 6:19-21 [19]"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, [20]but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. [21]For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (ESV)
Illustration: Jim Elliot said: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
He chose the unexplored frontiers of Ecuador in Latin America. Not content with bringing the Gospel to the civilized people of the country, he and his four companions flew their MAF Piper plane over the lands of the savage Auca tribe. Their first landing meant a tragic massacre, but out of that seemingly senseless tragedy comes a powerful testimony of the call of God on one man’s life.
Scott Wesley Brown, wrote this after reading “Shadow of the Almighty” (Elisabeth Elliot) and “Lords of the Earth” (Don Richardson). May we be challenged to higher levels of devotion to our God.
“God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, LORD Jesus.”
HE IS NO FOOL
I’ve lost track of all the Sundays
The offering plates gone by
And as I gave my hard earned dollars
I felt free to keep my life
I talk about commitment
And the need to count the cost
But the words of a martyr show me
I don’t really know His cross
Chorus:
For he is no fool
Who gives what he cannot keep
To gain what he cannot lose
Yes, he is no fool
Who lays his own life down
I must make this the path I choose
Obedience and servanthood
Are traits I’ve rarely shown
And the fellowship of His sufferings
Is a joy I’ve barely known
There are riches in surrendering
That can’t be gained for free
God will share all heaven’s wonders
But the price He asks is me.
We have seen 1) THE PRINCIPLE MT. 16:24 2) THE PARADOX (Mt.16:25-26) AND NOW:
3) THE PAROUSIA MT.16:27
Matthew 16:27 [27]For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. (ESV)
Parousia is a noun form of the Greek verb behind to come and is often used to refer to Christ’s second coming, of which this is the first mention in the New Testament.
A day of judgment is coming, Jesus reminded the disciples and the multitude.
John 5:22 [22]The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, (ESV)
When the Son of Man, who is also the Son of God, comes with His angels in the glory of His Father (an event further described in Matt. 24-25), He will then repay each person according to what he has done.
Romans 14:12[12]So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. (ESV)
Christ’s holy angels are the instruments of His service and His judgment, and when He comes to earth again they will come with Him, to raise:
John 5:29 (and come out,) those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. (ESV)
Please turn to Romans 2
That general truth had been proclaimed long before by the psalmist:
Psalm 62:12 [12]and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.
It was also echoed by Paul in his letter to the church at Rome. In 2:5-8, he is specific:
Romans 2:5-8 [5]But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. [6]He will render to each one according to his works: [7]to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; [8]but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. (ESV)
Matthew 25 records the Lord’s teaching about the judgment of the nations. They, too, will be judged by their works (vv. 31-46).
As the Lord reviews the life of each person who has ever lived, He will say, as it were, “There is a believer, I can tell by his works, because they are the product of My Holy Spirit. There is an unbeliever, as I can also tell by his works, because they are the product of the flesh.” It is not that works save, but that they are the product of salvation. James teaches that the only kind of faith that saves is the kind that results in righteous behavior (James 2:14-26; cf. Eph. 2:10).
Those whose works are pleasing to the Lord are those who, by God’s sovereign grace and power, have trusted in Christ as saving Lord, while denying self, taking up their crosses, and following Him. They will receive everlasting life and all the blessings of heaven. Those whose works are rejected by the Lord are those who put their hope and trust in the things of this life. They will receive eternal damnation and all the torments of hell.
The call to salvation is a call to discipleship as described in this passage. When God saves, He produces this kind of follower.
Poem: GOD COUNTED CROSSES:
I counted dollars while God counted crosses
I counted gains while He counted losses.
I counted my worth by things gained in store
But He sized me up by the scars that I bore.
I coveted honors and sought for degrees
He wept as He counted the hours on my knees.
I never knew until one day by the grave
How vain are the things we spend life to save.
I did not understand until my loved one went above
That richest is he who is rich in God’s love.
