Take Up His Cross Daily

Luke 9:23-27

What did Jesus mean when He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me”? There is a school of thought that says that Jesus was telling us to die out to our old man every day, but Paul said, “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him…For in that He died, He died unto sin once…” (Romans 6:8, 10). The Apostle makes it clear that when we became believers, we were baptized into the death of Christ, dying with Him to sin; and that Jesus died but once. How could Jesus die to sin only once and then require that we die to sin over and over again?

The answer to the last question is, “He doesn’t require us to die out to sin on a day to day basis”. Paul said that Jesus died once and that we should “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin” (Romans 6:11). I should “reckon” or consider myself dead to sin, just as Christ is dead to sin. Because of His finished work there is no need for me to die again every day, nor is there a need for me to re-crucify myself every day. This doctrine is very subtly teaching believers that their salvation is only as good as the day is long and that every new day requires a new death to the old man. This insults the finished work, for it claims that the finished work is only finished today, but needs refinished tomorrow.

Jesus’ statement in Luke 9:23 is two-fold: one is spiritual while the other is physical. When He made this statement, the cross had not yet happened, so no one standing there would have assumed that dying on a cross was anything more than a physical death. His statement to the disciples was the equivalent of someone today saying, “Deny yourself and be ready to die in the electric chair”. We would understand that He meant for us to deny our own selfish desires and be ready to die a martyr’s death.

The spiritual aspect is the denial of self, which every believer must perform. We all sacrifice some of the things that we always wanted to accomplish; or that we wanted to become in order to do and to be all that God wills for us. The physical side of the statement is the willingness to lay down our lives on a daily basis for the cause of Christ. Paul said as much when he said, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). He wasn’t speaking of spiritual death, for the preceding verse said that he was in jeopardy every hour (verse 30) and the following verse says that he has fought with beasts at Ephesus (verse 32).

We can be sure that this is what Jesus meant because as we read further, we find this important statement in verse 27, “But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:27). If Jesus were talking about spiritual death when He said, “take up the cross daily”, why would He now speak of physical death in the same paragraph? “Take up the cross daily” was the willingness to lay down one’s life for Christ’s sake, which He then says, “some standing here shall not taste of death”. He is referring to the Mount of Transfiguration which takes place in the next few verses, allowing Peter, James and John to see the kingdom before they die a martyr’s death.

You died to sin the moment that you were saved, so how shall we “live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:2). You need not die again every day; you simply need to trust your Jesus that He is living His life through you. The attempt to die spiritually every day will slowly lead you back into works where you will fear constantly that you are not “keeping your eyes on the cross” or that you haven’t properly crucified yourself. Relax and let the finished work do its work. Trust me; it works better than we can!

Take Up His Cross Daily

Luke 9:23-27

What did Jesus mean when He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me”? There is a school of thought that says that Jesus was telling us to die out to our old man every day, but Paul said, “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him…For in that He died, He died unto sin once…” (Romans 6:8, 10). The Apostle makes it clear that when we became believers, we were baptized into the death of Christ, dying with Him to sin; and that Jesus died but once. How could Jesus die to sin only once and then require that we die to sin over and over again?

The answer to the last question is, “He doesn’t require us to die out to sin on a day to day basis”. Paul said that Jesus died once and that we should “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin” (Romans 6:11). I should “reckon” or consider myself dead to sin, just as Christ is dead to sin. Because of His finished work there is no need for me to die again every day, nor is there a need for me to re-crucify myself every day. This doctrine is very subtly teaching believers that their salvation is only as good as the day is long and that every new day requires a new death to the old man. This insults the finished work, for it claims that the finished work is only finished today, but needs refinished tomorrow.

Jesus’ statement in Luke 9:23 is two-fold: one is spiritual while the other is physical. When He made this statement, the cross had not yet happened, so no one standing there would have assumed that dying on a cross was anything more than a physical death. His statement to the disciples was the equivalent of someone today saying, “Deny yourself and be ready to die in the electric chair”. We would understand that He meant for us to deny our own selfish desires and be ready to die a martyr’s death.

The spiritual aspect is the denial of self, which every believer must perform. We all sacrifice some of the things that we always wanted to accomplish; or that we wanted to become in order to do and to be all that God wills for us. The physical side of the statement is the willingness to lay down our lives on a daily basis for the cause of Christ. Paul said as much when he said, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). He wasn’t speaking of spiritual death, for the preceding verse said that he was in jeopardy every hour (verse 30) and the following verse says that he has fought with beasts at Ephesus (verse 32).

We can be sure that this is what Jesus meant because as we read further, we find this important statement in verse 27, “But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:27). If Jesus were talking about spiritual death when He said, “take up the cross daily”, why would He now speak of physical death in the same paragraph? “Take up the cross daily” was the willingness to lay down one’s life for Christ’s sake, which He then says, “some standing here shall not taste of death”. He is referring to the Mount of Transfiguration which takes place in the next few verses, allowing Peter, James and John to see the kingdom before they die a martyr’s death.

You died to sin the moment that you were saved, so how shall we “live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:2). You need not die again every day; you simply need to trust your Jesus that He is living His life through you. The attempt to die spiritually every day will slowly lead you back into works where you will fear constantly that you are not “keeping your eyes on the cross” or that you haven’t properly crucified yourself. Relax and let the finished work do its work. Trust me; it works better than we can!

Crucifying Jesus Again

Hebrews 6:1-6

The first several verses of this chapter have caused a lot of confusion in many believers’ minds. Since God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), the problem lies with how we are interpreting the scripture, and how we have been taught to do so.

To properly understand what the author (who I believe is the Apostle Paul) is saying, you must notice that in the last few verses of chapter 5, he breaks away from talking about the High Priesthood of Jesus to explain that some people are not maturing in their walk with God enough to handle such information. They have been saved long enough to be teaching others, but they still need taught themselves (Hebrews 5:12).

Chapter 6 is Paul’s attempt to bring them back to the foundation of the New Covenant. He opens by taking them past the “principles of the doctrine of Christ”. He is not insinuating that there is something other to preach than Christ’s finished work, for the phrase means the “word of the beginning of the Christ” in Greek. He is taking them past the Old Testament prophets, which is where many Jews were getting stuck.

He wants them to understand their perfection in Christ (verse 2), which he will further explain in the 10th chapter. He explains that they no longer need the “foundation of repentance from dead works”, this is the sacrificial system, and “of faith toward God”. Our faith is not toward God under the New Covenant, it is toward Jesus.

He ends up with three verses that have caused the grief in some, for he says that “it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6).

These verses refer to someone who was “enlightened” and have “tasted” and are “partakers of the Holy Ghost”. The phrase ‘partakers’ is from the Greek, ‘metochous’ meaning “going along with”. They go along with the teaching of the Holy Spirit but do not know His power. These are individuals who hear the gospel message but never accept it by faith. If this is the case then there is truly no way to “renew them again unto repentance” because they have rejected the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross. They have put His finished work to an open shame because by rejecting it; they are saying that it isn’t enough!

As the message of God’s pure grace is ministered to you, please do not just “go along”. Accept His love and forgiveness freely and allow Him to wash you with the water of His words. If you reject grace, there is nothing left to accept but your own works of the law for righteousness. Having viewed Christ’s sacrificial death, for you to go back to your own works is to crucify Him afresh, saying that His finished work is an unfinished work. Believer, His finished work is a COMPLETELY finished work. Rest in Him today!