Cost of Discipleship
Today's Three-minute Bible Study
Print, Study and Apply
Title: Cost of Discipleship ------------------- Date: 5/14/2003
Keywords:
"cross" "discipleship" "follow" "profit" "soul"
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Passage: Mark 8:34-38*
34. When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
35. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.
36. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
37. Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
38. For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
Questions
1. Is Christianity a bate-and-switch? On the one hand, we are told that it is a free gift. But on the other hand, we are told that it will cost us everything we have. Please explain.
2. Think about the questions Jesus asks in verses 36 and 37 and jot down a thought or two.
Practical help
Do you have an identity crisis? What I mean by this is, deep down, do you really know who you are? On the one hand, you dabble in porn, and on the other hand, here you are studying the words of Jesus.
Perhaps it's not an identity crisis but an identification crisis. I will be honest with you, at times, there is something in me that wants to deny Christ. Implicit in the confession of being his follower, is an admission of weakness. Who wants to admit that he or she is incapable of doing it on their own?
May I suggest to you that this thought does not come from you but from someone else? Go back and think about the Garden of Eden. Remember that Eve was enticed by a beautiful creature. His words were subtle yet very effective. In essence he told her that God is a liar and that if she would eat the prohibited fruit, her eyes would be opened. This was an invitation to be like God — to do it on her own, to be free of the constraints of needing anyone else. Sound familiar?
So let's look at the offer made here — the true cost of discipleship. You exchange your failures, your limited life, your limited knowledge and you return to the Father. It is the way back for Eve from her foolish mistake, and it works for us as well. Remember, if you were to try to get to heaven on your own, you would fail because the price of admission is absolute holiness. We do not have what it takes. But when we accept Christ's sacrifice on the cross for us, He brings us back to Himself. The cost is enormous, but we didn't have to pay it. (What I have just explained to you is the gospel, which means "good news." Now you know why).
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*Scripture taken from the New King James Version (NKJV), © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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