Mark 8:34 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."
We should take note of the fact that Jesus was addressing more than just the twelve who had left everything to follow Him. He is addressing a crowd and He uses the term “whoever.”
Because of the whoever, this truth about following Jesus applies to anyone and everyone without exception.
Jesus just took away any option of following Him on our own terms. He set the terms and made them very clear. They appear here in Mark 8, in Matthew 16, and in Luke 9.
This is the language of salvation. Being saved means following Jesus. There is no salvation apart from following Christ.
There are no differing plans when it comes to salvation. This is about eternal life, not insurance, there is no base plan that costs less yet covers all the basics.
So we find that in these terms set by Jesus there is the issue of denying oneself, taking up our own cross, and following Jesus.
I love this particular call to follow because it defines purpose for all who follow Christ. If you ever needed a vision for life here it is. This is the essence of what it means to be His and walking with Him in life.
About The Author
- Tim Atchley
- Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
- I currently serve as Senior Pastor of Harvest Church in Knoxville, Tn. I was sent out from Trinity Chapel of Knoxville in 1993 accompanied by my wife Sheila our four children Sarah, Hannah, Josiah & Isaac and a handful of bold, brave and committed believers determined to plant our first church. Pioneering is hard work but well worth the journey. That is why we desire to make disciples of Christ who will, like us, also embrace the call to plant churches.
