Death and Grace

Jesus calls us to leave everything behind and follow Him. He said multiple times that we are to take up our cross and follow Him. He is asking us to die to ourselves. But is that even possible? Not for the unregenerate mind. And so as we follow the scriptures that record Jesus's commands to abandon our lives utterly, we can also trace out this doctrine through the writings of the Apostles to see how this death to self is possible and how it is enabled by grace. Our power to die to ourselves does not come from ourselves; it comes from our sharing in and partaking of the death of Jesus.

Romans 8:13
For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Notice it doesn't say "if by the flesh you put to death the deeds of the flesh." So dying to ourselves cannot be done by ourselves or in our own power. The flesh is incapable of mortifying the flesh in the power of the flesh. That is self-evidently contradictory. Even if it were possible to constrain the flesh through the mandate of religion, that still would not bring us into the presence of God; because we would be doing all of these things out of selfish motives and imputing righteousness to ourselves rather than to God.

Colossians 2:23
These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Galatians 6:14
But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Colossians 1:21-22
And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight

We are reconciled to God in Jesus's own body, through His death, and we are alive to God through the Spirit of the risen Christ Who dwells within us.

Romans 6:10
For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

Romans 8:11
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

So we receive the life of God by participating in the death, burial, and resurrection of His perfect and sinless Son. Jesus describes how we share in His body which was crucified and His blood which was shed for us in literal terms...

John 6:53
Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you."

John 6:54
"Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 6:56
"He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."

Luke 14:22-24
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, "Take, eat; this is My body."
Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, "This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many."

Every time Jesus called anybody to follow Him, He was calling them to give up their lives and take up His.

John 3:3
Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Matthew 18:3
and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven."

Luke 9:62
But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 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 it— 29 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."

Matthew 16:24
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."

Matthew 10:39
"He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."

Notice that you cannot keep your life either way. We can either yield this fleeting, temporary life to Jesus and gain everything, or we can desperately try to cling to it and lose even what little we have.

Mark 10:17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?"

18 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Do not defraud,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"

[Notice that Jesus was only citing the commandments that apply to our relationship with other people but had omitted the first ones that pertain to our relationship with God? He addressed this latter issue next when He gave the invitation for this young man to become a disciple...]

20 And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth."

21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."

22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

But this is not a story about riches, per se. It is a story about the human heart. This same picture is true of anybody and everybody who is faced with the decision to either die to themselves and follow Jesus or go on with their life and reject Jesus.

How do I know that the story of the rich young ruler wasn't about money? Because of the parallel story of Zacchaeus, which had a very different outcome...

Luke 19 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner."

8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."

9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

Not only did Zacchaeus get to stay wealthy and be declared saved by Jesus, but there is another key difference here between Zacchaeus and the rich young ruler. The rich young ruler came to Jesus in order to be justified by the Law. He did not come to Jesus to worship Jesus or to give his life to Jesus. He came in a spirit of religion and self righteousness. Zacchaeus came to Jesus knowing he was a sinner in need of a savior, and Zacchaeus recognized Jesus's divinity and immediately repented and surrendered his life to Jesus's authority and his heart to Jesus's kindness. Notice the order of events here; it is a model and was intentionally presented this way for our instruction: first Zacchaeus submits to Jesus, then receives Jesus, and in response to Jesus's grace, Zacchaeus repents of his sins, which was not the source or the cause of his salvation but the proof of it.

Notice this small detail included in Mark's account of Bartimaeus, a blind man whom Jesus called in order to heal...
Mark 10:50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.

This garment probably represented Bartimaeus's net worth, seeing as he was a beggar. I am reminded of Jesus's comment about the widow who gave two mites as her offering in the temple:

Mark 12:43-43
So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

Luke 16 He also said to His disciples: "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. 2 So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'

3 "Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.'

5 "So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6 And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' 7 Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' 8 So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.

9 "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home."

In this parable, Jesus is describing a man giving away what he cannot keep in order to receive a reward that will never fail. This is true of money, but it is also true in the broader sense of your life in this age compared to the age to come. Whatever you give to God in this life, be it money or time or attention or devotion or obedience, it will be multiplied many fold in terms of eternal reward in the next life and also in this life in terms of peace and joy and well-being and divine providence.

The only way to follow Jesus is to give Him everything and follow Him completely. But what is it that keeps us from doing this? Fear and lack of faith. Jesus addresses these issues in the sermon on the mount; He tells us that God cares for us, that He loves us, and that we are important to Him. The Lord said in the Old Testament that even if a mother might forget about her baby at her breast (unlikely), even still He will never forget about us.

Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

To repent does not mean to turn from your sins. It means to turn your entire self over to God without any preconditions. Repentance is unconditional surrender. Not out of blind faith but based on the assurance of His steadfast love and care. This is the attitude of submission to God described in James 4:7 which results in the power to make the devil flee. Your ability to turn from your sins does not come from you. It is a grace imparted into you once you turn yourself over to God. And it is a grace born of the victory Jesus accomplished in His own body on the cross. The cross of Christ is that which slays our sin.