New Year’s is a perfect time to consider the basics of how salvation works. New Year’s Resolutions in particular are a perfect target for consideration in how salvation works. Each new year typically on January first, we announce to our family and friends, a set of goals or ideals we wish to accomplish in the new year. It is completely arbitrary why the ticking of the clock from one second to another, and the movement of the calendar from one year to another should provide “the motivation” we need to accomplish these goals but so be it. But no matter what we announce, or what we set out to accomplish, it just does not seem to get done. Logic dictates that if we were actually going to reach these goals, they would already be done and historical. The fact that they remain open is a pretty good revelation they are going to stay that way. But none the less, many Americans repeat this tradition year after year never seeming to account for an audit of how good they did against previous goals, nor coming up with a new way of attacking the new ones that might lead to a more successful outcome. The problem in a nut-shell … is you and me.
Call it higher priorities, insufficient funding, circumstantial prohibitions, or just good old “lack of will power”, it is nearly certain that all the declarations we set for the new year are likely to come up short. The one constant in any new year’s resolution … you and me. At the base of every declarative, is the person who declares it. That person cannot control fate, cannot control his environment, ultimately has little control over his or her own health (given the pollution we are all subject to). So given a complete lack of control over all the factors one would need in order to accomplish a particular goal, how could we possibly think we would do it? Shifting priorities might be a kind way of saying our species shares the attention span and discipline of a nat. We move from one obsession to another with the frivolity of ancient Romans (and with the same destiny as well). Even if control over environment and circumstance could be fully achieved, control over the discipline-of-self is an even greater mountain to climb. So why bother? The best resolution I ever made, was to quit making them. It seems that one, I have had the “discipline” to maintain.
But where it comes to salvation, often the same approach is taken, with ultimately the same result ensuing. We pursue a path to perfection powered by our own declarations. When reality sets in, and we realize how far from perfect we are, we determine “perfection” is not worth pursuing, and resign that however, and whoever we are today is simply “good enough”. We rationalize that perfection must not be required by God, and that the love He extends for us in our sinful condition is big enough to leave us there. The problem at the base of this form of salvation is no different than the culprit at the base of our New Year’s Resolutions … it is you and me. Declaring we are perfect is not the same as actually being so. And performing the actions of a perfect person without the underlying motivation of a perfect person is not really any better. If you don’t sin, but you want to sin, you lose. But people who are truly free from sin, are hard to find, and the path to get there must be to quote Oliver Stone … “a mystery, wrapped in an enigma”. If it were easy, seems to me everyone would be perfect already, so since there are few, it must be hard. This is sound logic, but wrong logic all the same.
It really only took Christ 5 verses in the whole Bible to explain the entire process. But like dolts with the IQ and attention span of Homer Simpson, we skim over these passages and write them off as being “too hard”. But perhaps you and me could take just one more look, and find it might be easier than we thought. The revelation is mostly quoted directly from Jesus Christ, as remembered by Peter, and transcribed by John Mark in the gospel with Mark’s name, chapter eight, and picking up near the end of the chapter in verse 34 saying … “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Spoiler Alert … everything you really need to know is completely contained in this verse alone, the remaining four verses are only added for further clarification of what He said right here.
Let’s begin by looking at the context. Jesus calls the people to Him as well as His disciples also. What Jesus plans to reveal is the most important thing we could ever know and so He wants as wide an audience as possible for this one. He opens with the declarative, then with the goal … “Whosoever will come after me”. Whosoever might be the most hopeful word ever uttered because it lacks any kind of qualifications. In essence, this offer is open to everyone, to anyone. It does not matter what state of sin you find yourself in when you hear it, you can come too. It does not matter how old you are from as young as it gets to hear Him, or so old you can barely still hear Him. There are no boundaries around race or skin color. It does not matter what culture you come from. It does not matter what sex you are, or for that matter what sex you prefer; in fact it covers single people, married people, or divorced people (good thing for all us heterosexuals). Jesus could have qualified His offer. He could have said, everybody but these kinds of people. He could have said, that you had to believe these particular doctrines first, but you will note, he does not. This offer is for everyone, and it is not pre-qualified by any condition at all.
Next, is the goal … to come after Him. If we would like to be like Him, live like Him, serve like Him, go where He goes, do what He does, be like He is. That is the goal. To be a different person, that is more like Jesus, than the person we are right now. If that sounds appealing, it should. Imagine having no addictions to pleasing self, and in its place, having a burning passion for loving others, and a sense of fulfillment and purpose that no one else can barely understand let alone attempt to take away from you. Imagine having a relationship so close with God the Father, that health concerns are gone cause you simply heal everything (no exceptions). Imagine hearing God the Father’s voice audibly in your ears, and knowing His will, and being overwhelmed in how pleased you are to carry it out, finding that one person in need, and meeting that need. Imagine having no desire to sin anymore, and so spending no time thinking about sin anymore, instead free to think about things you never had time to consider before. This is the goal Jesus is laying out without a single precondition, doctrinal study, conversion kit, or monetary donation in order to achieve.
Next Jesus lays out the mechanism for how to get this goal … now careful cause this is the part we usually get wrong. Jesus says … “let him (or her) deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” So there are three parts to this, and everybody zooms in on #2, but slow the train down, and let’s look at #1 first. The way this offer is achieved BEGINs by denying that “you” can give it to “you”. So instead of every tradition in the world you know about; Jesus. Instead of studying the Bible till you memorize it, and can quote it backwards; Jesus. Instead of adhering to a particular set of doctrines, in a particular denomination, and in a particular local church; Jesus. Instead of being celibate, single, married, divorced, or just confused; Jesus. The problem with every competing religion is that they ALL teach you that salvation, or nirvana, or enlightenment, or perfection, are achieved by what “you” do or don’t do. The problem with most Christians, is that they take this philosophy and bring it right into our churches and believe that “you” are responsible for your salvation. Whether in partnership with Christ, or in full on your own, either way does not “deny” yourself, and instead look ONLY to Jesus.
If your perfection relies upon you to achieve it, it might as well be one of those New Year’s Resolutions that you will never achieve. The only way your motives will ever match your actions, and be in complete harmony with God the Father, is if Jesus MAKES you that way. If He recreates and restores in you, a new creation He intended you to be. It will be Jesus that MAKES you free from sin, not you who finds some way of doing it on your own. If you do not understand the #1 thing Jesus says must be done to obtain His free offer, nothing else is going to make sense either. But if you understand that you submitting your will, your desires, your actions, and your decisions to Jesus Christ is going to result in Him making you a new creation, then what follows makes much more sense as well.
Once the process of salvation begins (that is, Jesus saving “you” from “you”) you will quickly realize that the life you were living before is not the one you want. “Who” you are today, is nothing next to “who” you can be after Jesus makes you a new person. What you want today, will change completely after Jesus gets a hold of your life. How you love will change, who you love will change from only you loving you, to you loving others completely. You will love more passionately after Jesus. You will sympathize and love more people than you ever thought possible after Jesus. Your desires to sin will fade away, until you cannot believe you ever had them at all. In short, the life you have today, will come to be a life you no longer want, or could ever imagine wanting again. The new life Jesus creates for you will be the one you want. At that point, only after that realization, will you be able to “take up your cross”. The cross is the symbol of death, in this case, the death of who you were. We take it up freely, because we no longer want the old life, but the new one. That becomes our testimony, our witness. This is not some sort of death cult, but it is a gospel of new birth, of re-birth, of recreation.
Once we realize that Jesus alone saves us, and we are letting Him do that replacing our life with His new one, we begin to follow Him as the easiest road we ever walked. Sure sin, and Satan are going to try to bring us pain while we remain on this side of heaven, but the intimacy with God the Father, can overcome anything this world can throw at us. Following Jesus, is easy once the process He laid out is the one we are following. Trying to follow Jesus, or pick up your own cross, without denying yourself; is the hardest thing a man or woman could ever attempt to do, and is doomed to failure. What Jesus says beginning in verse 35 is … “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. [verse 36] For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? [verse 37] Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” These verses are meant for someone who still thinks that his current life is better than something Jesus could give him.
For the sinner who is still firmly in the grasp of Satan, he is not so sure he wants to be a different person altogether. He might have to leave his significant other, or stop having that affair, or quit cheating and becoming rich by it. The temporary “pleasures” of this world might have a hold on the heart deceived by Satan. Everything he invested in his current life looks like a lot, and the rewards might actually be significant; but Jesus is saying its entire value is nothing next to what He is offering. Losing someone we “love” might be the result of submitting fully to Christ. But learning how to really love others, will make the right union be all the richer in the future. Losing the wealth of this world will cause hardship here, but abject poverty here for a short time is nothing next to the ability to give everything to others and find purpose and fulfillment we have never known before. The cement is gold in heaven for a reason, it is worthless. The people on the other hand are priceless.
Some sinners have a hard time when they consider what their “friends” and family might think of them if they pursue this course. Jesus has council for them as well in verse 38 saying … “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Those sinners who remains ashamed of changing into who Jesus would make them, will embarrass Jesus when He returns, for He will be unable to take them home with Him. Jesus does not force you to accept Him. He does not take control over you, unless you give it to Him. Jesus can take you from whatever state of sin you are in today, and make you an entirely different person. But if you choose to stay where you are, He cannot make you change. Love does not force its will on another.
In these texts are the secret to perfection. Where you have always failed at changing yourself, Jesus can change everything about you that needs it. Where you might define yourself as the chief among sinners today, Jesus can turn your life around so you do not even recognize who you used to be. This is why doctrine does not matter. This is why sexual orientation does not matter. Because Jesus will fix, what needs to be fixed, in His time, and in His manner, and no one else has the right to judge. It is not who you are today that matters at all, only that you are willing to let Jesus’s love fully transform your life. When He is done with you, you will not regret it, you will dive into it, embrace it, and be so thankful for it. The process might be long. The people who are supposed to be supporting you along the way, may throw rocks instead. But the end product is so worth the journey. To have your motives and actions aligned with God the Father is the ultimate prize for humanity, and that is what is offered freely, and is achievable in our reality. This is way different than every New Year’s Resolution you have ever heard about, and way better, cause it works. What do you want? Who do you want to be?
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