Fri, Apr 7th - 1:42PM

Message #2

True Discipleship is Effected by the Cross

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Gal 6:14)

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. (Gal 5:24)

And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. (Gal 5:11)

          The epistle to the Galatians is an argument for the cross and an argument against human effort in achieving holiness.  Human effort is typified here in the Hebrew ritual of circumcision, whereas true obedience to God is achieved and maintained by the power of the Holy Spirit, Who employs the means of the cross to bring this about in one’s life.  In the initial era of the church her greatest adversaries were the Jews who both murdered the Lord Jesus and persistently persecuted His followers.  Why was this so?  Simply because the Jews had developed a system whereby mankind could be perfected by religious ritual, a form of self-effort rather than a true inner cleansing from sin that only the blood of Christ can bring about.  Their system was congenial to the world (even though circumcision was an Old Testament mandate), because it had become an outward act with no inward substance to it. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, however was antagonistic to the world because it effected a true, inward cleansing from sin.  The cross therefore provoked jealousy and incited persecution from those who merely desired an outward show of moral rectitude, rather than a true change of heart.

          The situation is precisely the same today as at the time of the writing of this N.T. epistle.  In modern times, the greatest hindrance to those who would follow Jesus Christ in the way of true discipleship and holiness is that same principle of self-effort.  However, it is no longer Jewish ritualism that grates against Christianity and its true adherents. History has reversed the role of the Jew from that of persecutor to persecuted, and he is no longer directly responsible for the antagonism aimed at followers of Christ.  But the same principle that was in the Jew at the beginning, hating Christ and resenting His efficacious work on the cross now resides in the world and in the contemporary religious establishment.  That principle is no longer represented in circumcision, but is often subtly present in baptism, both infant as well as adult, and in other contemporary church rituals and activities.  Regardless of its manifestation in religious activity, this propensity remains the same, that of human, rather than divine effort.  The Bible refers to this as “salvation by works rather than by grace”(Rom. 11:6).    “Works salvation” in its many and varied forms is the great tendency that all humans possess, regardless of culture or religious heritage.  It is the desire to perfect human nature by its own efforts, and the corresponding belief that this self-perfecting can be accomplished.

          The cross makes a statement directly contrary to this concept of human self-perfectability.  It says that human effort in salvation is absolutely worthless. In fact, self-effort hinders and, yea, blocks the work of the cross in the life of an individual.  Furthermore, it mars the beauty of God’s perfect plan of redemption for man because it is rooted in self-righteousness.  God says that none is righteous, all are totally sinful and morally depraved. (Rom. 3:10-18)  Those who would perfect themselves by their own efforts obviously see some inherent good within themselves by which to accomplish this perfection.  It is only natural that these would resent being told that they have no goodness in themselves and are embarking on a futile endeavor.  But that is what the cross says them.  It is, therefore foolishness in their fleshly minds and not a subject worthy of consideration. (1Cor. 1:18) 

So we have a situation today, much as it was in early N.T. times, a division in the church between those who would follow the Lord by the gracious means he has provided in the cross, and those (Judaizers) who would pursue righteousness in their own way.  The expressions and manifestations of that self-effort in the contemporary church are many and varied.  They range from the psychological counseling methods that predominate in pastoral counseling to the many organizational “seeker-friendly” programs that so characterize the contemporary churches.  The fruit of these programs lies in the very loose living and course loving that is so common amongst those who profess to know Christ in our world today.  It is seen in wayward husbands, rebellious wives, disobedient children, worldly standards, preoccupation with sports, entertainment and other forms of self-fulfillment, and the like.  The list goes on and on.  A faulty and deficient message is being conveyed to God’s people, a form of godliness lacking in power for truly righteous living.  It’s essential theme is that “I can please God my way, by my own efforts, and in my own strength,” and is really a manifestation of stubbornness, rather than one of submissiveness to God.  The many pastors and counselors and active members of these various churches would certainly not admit to such a corrupted form of Christianity. But as Paul says to Titus so succinctly, “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him...” (Titus 1:16)

What is the antidote to this poisonous and corrupted system of belief and practice in the vast majority of the churches today?  It is simply the cross, applied to the life of the individual, to the family and to the body of believers known as the church.  The cross is the power of God to bring true, inward obedience to God’s moral precepts and to His instructions for the lives of His people.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20)

Those who profess to be Christians in this perilous time would do well to look closely at the words of Scripture, and return to a solid foundation of faith based upon the cross and all that it means to the life of a follower of Jesus Christ.  With the Lord’s help I will pursue this subject in greater detail in the coming days.  May He supply the necessary grace for this monumental task!  Amen.

Tue, Apr 4th - 4:24PM

True Discipleship

The Call to Discipleship and Contemporary Cross-less Christianity

And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.  (Luk 14:27)

     These words of the Lord Jesus are very direct and simple.  They fit perfectly into the context of all that He said throughout His earthly ministry.  It isn’t necessary to be the proverbial "rocket scientist" theologian to understand that the way of Christian discipleship is a narrow way of self-denial, self-mortification, and in short a total repudiation of self and the self life.  Even a very superficial look at the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament confirm this truth overwhelmingly.  How is it then, that we in twenty-first century America, possessing the beautiful, historical privilege of carrying the Gospel to several generations in this world, have come to deny the very essence of this precious message that we have been so graciously entrusted with?  That’s a very good question and a great topic for research for those who relish analysis.  My purpose here is to make a simple statement about a simple fact and, by the grace of God call for repentance to those who have bought into and promoted a false, contemporary version of the Gospel, both in their own lives as well as in the lives of others.

            What is it to bear the cross and what is it not?  I realize that when I present this question countless warning flags instantly pop up in the minds of the readers. “ Where is he going with this?  What exactly is he (the writer) trying to get us to do and to believe?  What kind of ‘fundamentalist legalism' is he try to lay on us?’”  I hope and pray that those defences in my readers’ minds can be removed by the Spirit of God as I present His word, hopefully rightly divided on this matter.

            Let us look at a couple of passages to attempt to provide an answer to the first part of the question, “What is it to bear the cross?”  In the passage from which our text above is cited, Jesus concludes a series of statements with this little statement:  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.  (Luk 14:33)  This is one of those difficult statements that many of our teachers have, intentionally (and sadly) overlooked or explained away.  In formers days in the history of the church this statement would be interpreted as a call to asceticism, which is an extreme form of self-denial such as might be practiced in monastic living.  History has exposed this false approach to the Christian life through men like Martin Luther, a former monk who found true freedom from the bondage to sin through faith in Christ’s sufferings, not in his own.  Nevertheless, these words of Christ cannot be lightly passed over.  There is an aspect to true Christian discipleship that entails the giving up of all of one’s possessions, and yea, all of the attachment that one would have for these possessions.  That attachment can be summed up in the term, “self” or “self-life.”  There is a secret to all of the enigmatic statements Jesus made concerning the denial of self, the hating of self and of all those things that the self is so affectionate toward.  True happiness, peace and fulfillment in the kingdom of God cannot be attained without the relinquishment of these things.  It’s not that these things and relationships are bad in themselves, it’s that our love and attachment to them form an idolatrous barrier to our advancement toward God.  Now this surrender of the self life, as explained through a number of illustrations by the Lord and by His disciples is the essence of discipleship.  Simply put, it is the giving up of one life, the life of self, in exchange for the life of God within, and all of the benefits thereof.

            Today’s church, by and large, has adopted a contemporary version of the Gospel, which is really not good news at all,  and gained multitudes of converts and adherents to it.  We are told, either explicitly or implicitly that we can “have our cake and eat it too” in God’s everlasting Kingdom.  We can live like the world, imitate it’s fashions, enjoy it’s entertainment, partake of it’s luxuries and, in short worship its idols, and still have eternal life and Jesus as our Lord.  "You can't love God effectively unless you love yourself" goes the trite little phrase.  "Rubbish!" is what the proper English would say to that.  I don't recall reading anything in the New Testament to that effect. In fact what Jesus said is exactly the opposite of this. (see Lk.14:26)  But our "Christian" psychologists would like us to buy this lie.  Who shall we believe, Christ or the "experts" of our day?

     Now you can take this paper and show it to your pastor, and the two of you can stand there together and deny my assertion with bold confidence.  But the harder you deny what I'm saying here, the more the Spirit and the word of God will convict you of the truth it.  “We don’t have to be a bunch of legalistic, sad-faced, boring old fogies!  That’s not what being a Christian is about!”  You’re right.  It’s not.  But being a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ does entail a form of suffering. Paul said:

Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ...  (Phi 3:8)

That suffering is sustained by the joy He gives in knowing Him, but it is suffering, nonetheless. 

     Are you willing to explore the ramifications of that statement and of all of the statements in the New Testament pertaining to this vital subject of discipleship with me?  If so, stick around through the next few of these essays and allow the Lord to search your heart on this vital matter.  Don’t be like that certain young ruler that approached Jesus inquiring about eternal life, and went away disappointed because he was unwilling to pay the cost in terms of giving up his own life.  Luke 18:18-24ff