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Now letās go to our text and start tracing the gospel that Jesus Christ proclaimed: Mark 8:34-38 (read). Mark 8:34 indicates that Jesus summoned the people and taught them what He taught His own disciples: there is a price to pay for true discipleship. He knew that the crowds were following Him only because of the miracles and that most of the people were unwilling to pay the price to become true disciples. Jesus laid down three conditions for true discipleship:
ļ¼ we must surrender ourselves completely to Him;
ļ¼ we must identify with Him in suffering and death; and
ļ¼ we must follow Him obediently, wherever He leads. If we live for ourselves, we will lose ourselves, but if we lose ourselves for His sake and the Gospelās, we will find ourselves.
THE FIRST REQUIREMENT OF DISCIPLESHIP
IS SELF-DENIAL.
A person who is not willing to deny himself cannot claim to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Deny is from aparneomai, which means to completely disown, to utterly separate oneself from someone. It is the word Jesus used to describe Peterās denial of Him while He was being questioned by the high priest (Matt. 26:34). Each time he was confronted about his relationship to Jesus, Peter more vehemently denied knowing Him (vv. 70, 72, 74). He disowned his Master before the world.
SELF-DENIAL FOR CHRIST’S SAKE IS NOT JUST SELF-DISCIPLINE
Denying self is not the same as self-denial. We practice self-denial when, for a good purpose, we occasionally give up things or activities. But we deny self when we surrender ourselves to Christ and determine to obey His will. This once-for-all dedication is followed by a daily ādying to selfā as we take up the cross and follow Him. From the human point of view, we are losing ourselves, but from the divine perspective, we are finding ourselves. When we live for Christ, we become more like Him, and this brings out our own unique individuality.
HOW TO SPOT A LACK OF SELF-DENIAL
WHAT SELF-DENIAL IS NOT: IF WE ARE LOOKING AT EVIL WE ARE NOT DENYING OURSELVES FOR CHRISTāS SAKE!