Sunday, December 15, 2013

Giving Up Your Life for Christ Is Mandatory

My other blogs are:
Giving Up Your Life for Christ
Is Mandatory
It was laid upon my heart to write copy/paste these verses for everyone who may be reading my walk with Christ, because the Bible is clear that no man can be saved if he holds to his life. Christ came to free us from death, from fear, from slavery to sin and disobedience to God by sending His own Son to die for us on the Cross and enable us to have a one-on-one relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ. This article follows the one above it called Christ Died For You, But Will You Die For Him?
 
Christ gave His life for us all in the Father's name-- He did not merely believe the Father, but Christ acted in faith and set the example for us all to follow. In the same way where Christ's faith would have been insufficient to save us all from sin if He chose not to act on it by dying on the Cross according to the Father's will, so also our own faith is insufficient unless we also set aside our own lives for Christ's will for us. There must be action that goes with your faith.
 
When you want something, you act on it. When you need something, you go get it. You must do what is necessary to survive, yet so many people are starving spiritually and do nothing about it. They pursue things that matter nothing in the end. What is life without Christ? What is marriage even when the bonds of matrimony are dissolved when we die and either go to heaven or hell? But Christ persists in us now and after we die. And when you pursue comforts and fun and that nice house and a life of ease, later in life you will still die and when you look back on your life, what did all those days of ease and comfort and fun mean now that you are dead without Christ? And if you had Christ but pursued Him without vigor, what then do those comforts and that life of fun and ease add up to? In the end it is a stumbling block. This is why Christ demands that we empty our hearts of all earthly wants and flesh, because the life of a man and his wants will always be at odds with Christ's wants for you life. Nothing matters but Christ in the end, which means nothing can compare to Him now or at the beginning of your life, and this is the attitude that you must wield! This is the fear of God and the love of God at work in you now. To pursue Christ is to pursue freedom from desires This is Christ in your heart. 
 
And the same principles apply with following Christ, for the man whose life has been saved by Christ will respond to the Shepherd's voice and not stand there idly thinking, "Yes, I believe that is my Shepherd's voice..." No, a true lamb in Christ will both hear Him and then follow. 
Matthew 10:37-39, Luke 9:23-26, Psalm 23:1, Luke 6:43-49, 1 Peter 2:21-25
15[Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.”

24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

            1 Peter 2:21-25
21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us,[a] leaving us[b] an example, that you should follow His steps:
22 “Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; [c]
23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer[d] of your souls.

            John 13:4-15
[Jesus] rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”...
12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.

27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

            1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body[a] and in your spirit, which are God’s.

            Luke 9:23-26
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,[a] and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your[a] works, and I will show you my faith by my[b] works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?[c] 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”[d] And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
 
            Matthew 10:27-32
Jesus Teaches the Fear of God
27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Confess Christ Before Men
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
 
Those who think and think about following Christ often get no where fast because the battle of the mind cannot be won without the heart belonging to Christ. Our minds are a battlefield for Satan, but our hearts belong to God, so live by your heart and you will be saved. For if you do this by your heart then your every doubt will add up to nothing and fail to make you stumble when you stop to consider Christ's love and sacrifice for you just to live. Then when the time of testing comes your heart will be strong enough to guide you when you feel the whisper of the Holy Spirit pushing you in the directions of righteousness, and your worries and doubts will not hinder you to achieving communion with Jesus Christ and the Heavenly Father.


This link is very helpful to explain many things about abandonment for Christ. I liked it. I also LOVE Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost For His Highest" and John Eldredge's "Waking the Dead."
 
Peace and God bless!