“I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of G-d, for the salvation of EVERYONE who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the Gospel, a righteousness (justice) from G-d is revealed, a righteousness (justice) that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, “The righteous will live by faith.”
[Romans 1:16]
i am no longer a prisoner, a slave to sin, but a slave to righteousness.
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But G-d demonstrated His own love us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
[Romans 5:6-8]
“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin: how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ were raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again: death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died to sin once for all: but the life He lives, He lives to G-d.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive in G-d in Christ Jesus.”
[Romans 6:1-11]
A lot of you have probably read these verses at some point and there are some of you who may have never read this. No matter how many times you’ve read through this, it should hit you square between the eyes because it is the freedom of the Gospel.
IF you call on Jesus to be your King and believe in who He says He is, He said you will have eternal life with Him. Now on that same note, He also says, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” [John 14:15] Which means, you surrender everything, your past, present, and future and say Jesus, forgive me and help me to live like you have called me to live.
If we love Him, we will obey Him.
If we obey Him, we will know Him.
& If we know Him, we will be close to Him.
No longer a spectator, an ‘observer’, but a friend.
Jesus says, “You are my friend IF you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know His master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
So for a time Jesus considered His disciples servants, NOT FRIENDS, but the more they sought Him, the more they got to know Him, and obey Him, things changed. They no longer became an observer of this faith, of this religion, of this man Jesus, but they became His friend and in turn, He shared Himself with them.
So i ask you, are you a servant or a friend? or neither?
i want to be a friend of G-d. Not bound to sin, not bound to my old selfish, prideful self, but walking in step with a man that is ALIVE and as He is man, He is G-d, unexplainable, but truth.
i want to know the secrets and mysteries of my Creator. However i can’t until He considers me friend, just like you can’t until He considers you friend.
Just like friendship takes time with those around you, just like trust takes time to build with those around you, so does it with Christ.
& How do you earn that trust or build that friendship with people around you? You spend time with them. You get to know them.
Do you know G-d? Do you know the One who created you?
Do you know the One who died for you?
i’m not asking these questions to condemn you, i’m asking these things to stir your spirit, because just like you, i needed to be stirred and questioned.
Now if you have come to your answer, yes or no, the question is now, “How will i get to know Him more?”
“What am i willing to do or surrender to get to know my Creator?”
The cost will be great. The disciples gave up everything and followed Him. These men had families, had jobs, had lives before He came to them, but a realization happened.
Eternity.
Jesus was proclaiming a very hard principle and it turned a lot of people away. It says,
“From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.
“You do not want to leave to, do you?” Jesus asked the twelve.
Simon Peter answered Him, “L-rd to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We believe and know you are the Holy one of G-d.”
[John 6:68]
“…He has also set eternity in the hearts of men: yet they cannot fathom what G-d has done from the beginning to end.”
[Ecclesiastes 3:11]
The cost of knowing Jesus Christ, the cost of becoming trust worthy, being called His friend is nothing short of full surrender at His feet. It may not always be comfortable or glamorous, but it is completely and undoubtedly – WORTH IT.
We need to pick up our Bibles and get to know the One who created us. Get to know His plan and purposes, to understand what truly living is all about. Not the way we think we ought to live or have the right to live, but the way He has called us to live.
“Then He said to them all: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever wants to lose his life for Me will find it.”
[Luke 9:23-24]
Full & Complete Surrender.
Here’s a few more examples of what Jesus says the cost of being a disciple of His:
Luke 9:57-62
Matthew 10
Luke 13:22-30
Luke 14:15-35
Mark 10:24-29
Matthew 19:21-30
