The Cost of Discipleship

‘Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’ (Mat 16:24).

  

One day Abraham Lincoln was in a slave market and saw a beautiful young slave girl being auctioned. Lecherous men were bidding on her, so Lincoln began to bid. Finally, she was sold to Lincoln. He took the certificate of sale and handed it to her saying, “You’re free.”  She asked, “What do you mean free?” He said, “You are free.” She said, “Free to do what I want to do?” He said, “Yes.” “Free to say what I want to say?” He said, “Yes.” “Free to go where I want to go?” He said, “Yes.” She said, “Then I am going with you.” Friend, Jesus made you free. You have been redeemed by His precious blood, and in gratitude, your life is to be devoted to Him.

The central truth of today’s study is that salvation is a free gift but discipleship comes at a cost. In the words of Jesus, "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’ (Mat 16:24).Self denial is the primary cost of discipleship, and that is the focus of this study. Without self denial discipleship cannot be a reality. Salvation is a miracle of a moment but discipleship is a costly life long journey. Self denial means forfeiting ones will, losing something or suffering for the good of others or one’s own future good. Self denial and love are the direct opposite of self centeredness. Self centeredness is the origin and cause of all sin (Isaiah 14:12-15, Gen 3:4-6), the lust of the eye, lust of the flesh and pride of life all have their root in self. Consequently Jesus said that love is the greatest commandment and that those who want to follow Him must first deny them self.

Self centeredness means focusing on oneself and desires, regardless of the will of God and the needs of your neighbors.  Love cannot be practiced without self denial. Selflessness is an important measure of one’s spiritual maturity. Love is the key to self denial, in love lies the power of self denial. It takes love, the nature of God to overcome the sinful human nature of self centeredness (Phil 2:1-5).Through love and self denial, a born again Christian is able to surrender his will and life to God allowing God to disciple and transform him through His word and the church. One might ask, ‘is it possible to deny one’s self without loving? The answer is yes, Paul taught that self denial is useless if it is not rooted in love (1 Cor 13:3).

Acts 7:59, 60 is a classic example of self denial. Stephen who was being stoned to death was so full of love for his murderers that he was able to deny himself; ‘Then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. When he had said this, he fell asleep’. Through this selfless prayer by the dying Stephen, Paul the Apostle who partook in his murder was saved later on. Through love and self denial the world will experience the resurrection power of Christ and many disciples shall be made for the lord. When one person dies to self, many are raised unto everlasting life (Mat 16:21-26, Mat 6:24-30, Titus 1:15-16). Other examples of self denial in the Old and New Testament can be found in the following scriptures (Gen 12:1-4, Phil 2:3-11, Rom 8:13, 1 Cor 15:31, Phil 1:1-8).

Today, may Christ’s love be seen in you as you yearn and learn to know Him more, as a faithful disciple. Tomorrow’s topic of study is ‘the power of discipleship’.