In Mark 8:34–38, Jesus Christ calls those who desire to follow Him to a life of true surrender, not a comfortable or convenient faith. J. Mark challenges listeners to move beyond the idea of “cheap grace” and embrace the reality that discipleship requires denying self, laying down personal identity, and choosing God’s will above all else. Through honest reflection and practical examples, he urges each person to examine where they may still be holding on to a self-centered life and invites them to begin taking up their cross, trusting that true life is found only in fully following Christ.
Transcript
It is an honor to be with you today as we open the Bible and learn from the best teacher who ever lived. Jesus had 12 men he worked closely with while he was here; we call them disciples. The 12 disciples were specific men, but being a disciple of Jesus is possible. To be a disciple of Jesus today means we are learning, obeying, and living out His teaching. In short, His disciples are more like Him.
If this is a goal for your life, then you are a disciple. Today, our lesson follows this topic, and our title is The Cost of Discipleship. As we sometimes do, this lesson is divided into two parts. Today, we will cover the first part, and next time, we will finish the topic of discipleship.
Before we go to the teaching with J Mark, be encouraged by these testimonies we received from others who have also listened to this program. “Good evening, this program blesses me every day. I can see a lot of transformation happening in my life, and I am very grateful.” Another listener shared, “I have been blessed by the teaching today and encouraged to know God more and seek His kingdom, for with this, I can see God’s glory in my life.”
Two short testimonies from listeners being discipled by this program. Praise God, we are thankful we can use this medium to share Christ and encourage listeners in their walk with Jesus. We pray that, through this program, you will also be encouraged and become a better disciple of Jesus.
Now, let’s go with our Bible teacher to Mark 8 and think about the cost of discipleship.
When I need to purchase something, one of the first things I do is look at the price. I know how much I’m prepared to spend. If the item I want costs more than that amount, I don’t buy it.
We need to count the cost in spiritual matters, too. The Bible teaches us that every person must realize their need for a Savior. The Gospel message is simple, but accepting it is not easy. Unfortunately, many today have embraced what one theologian called “cheap grace.” This concept of ‘cheap grace’ is urgent and requires attention.
He wrote, “Cheap Grace is the deadly enemy of our church. It is grace without price: grace without cost! … Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine … an intellectual assent … Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner … Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession … Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
People are often given the impression that if they accept Jesus as Savior, their troubles will vanish. They’re not told of His lordship, or that cross-bearing is part of what it means to be a follower of Christ. They were counting on adding Jesus to their lives and going on their way. When they learn that Jesus demands total surrender, many become disillusioned.
Cheap grace substitutes the fear of the Lord for a fear of the world. Cheap grace hides our light under wonderfully pious lampshades, and cheap grace renders the salt of the earth as just so much tasteless landfill.” He concludes by adding, “Every semester, I tell 36 wonderful students in this class: ‘Salvation is a gift of God’s grace earned by the work of Jesus Christ alone. And this gift will cost you everything.’”[1]
In light of this, I’ve titled my teaching, “The Cost of Discipleship.” Here is 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.”
Jesus explains the ACTIONS you and I must take to accept “The Cost of Discipleship.”
The First ACTION is:
Give Up Your Identity
Every person born into the world has an identity. We identify by name, nationality, race, or physical characteristics. We cannot change most of these things; God decides for us. As we grow into adulthood, our identity is partly established by what we do.
In verse 34, Jesus said that the first factor you must consider when you decide to follow me is the cost of giving up your identity. His words are, “Let him deny himself.” The word means to deny utterly or disown completely.
Denying self is not primarily about denying ourselves certain things, although it can express itself that way. Instead, denying self involves forsaking our will to fulfill God’s will. It means making conscious choices to live for His sake rather than our own. This will often include ridicule, rejection, and loss.
But something important must happen before we can give up our identity. We must first accept it. To accept our new identity in Jesus Christ, we must first define our fleshly, human identity and understand clearly what we must lay aside if we are to live out of our true identity in Christ. If we want to know the joy and blessing of our new identity as dearly loved children of God in Christ, we must first surrender our fleshly, sinful identity.
Have you defined your identity based on positive performance-based acceptance, pleasing others, or using your wit, talent, or skills to impress them? For a disciple of Jesus, that is a part of your past identity. But you have to accept it before you can give it up and receive Jesus Christ’s identity.
At Heralds of Hope, we receive letters from people who have come to know Christ as Savior. Do you know what happens to many of them when they do that? Their families disown them. They say, “You are no longer my son or daughter!” Threats of death often reinforce the reality of this separation. That is the idea Jesus uses here: our denying and disowning of self. It completely rejects my will, my way, and my wants.
I believe Jesus is highlighting the importance of our choices. He said, whoever will, that’s a conscious decision, follow in my way, let him reject what pleases him, and choose what pleases me. We must consciously renounce ourselves and subject all our works, interests, and enjoyments to the sake of Christ.
I struggle to accept that message. My culture surrounds us with the idea that I deserve certain things. Yet God’s Word says I deserve to die for my sins. The world says look out for number one. God says, “Don’t have any other gods before me.”
So much of what you and I do is based on what we want, what makes us feel good. Christian homes break up because husbands and wives focus on their desires instead of denying themselves and honoring their commitment to love unconditionally. Teenagers rebel against their parents instead of denying themselves and heeding God’s command to honor and obey. Church members leave because they claim they’re not getting fed, instead of denying themselves and recognizing that you only get out of the worship service what you put into it. It’s this ME-first mentalitythat Jesus says we must disown completely.
If you and I want to be Jesus’ disciples, we must understand it’s not about us but HIM. The only thing that matters is what He wants. That’s painful, and I don’t like it. You will find it that way, too. But we have no other option. We must DIE to ourselves!
The patriarch Abraham modeled this truth beautifully in his willingness to offer Isaac on the altar. All the promises God made to Abraham were wrapped up in this young man. And God said, “I want you to offer him to me.” God was testing Abraham to see if his trust was in the promise God had made or actually in the God who made it!
There was no way Abraham could obey that command until he first died to himself. He had to give up his plans, hopes, future, and identity. The deed was done in Abraham’s mind, will, and emotions. He had died to Isaac emotionally. His identity was lost, gone.
It is the same with us. Everything that makes up our identity must be laid on the altar. We must disown them. We must give up our identity. This is the first action we must take as we embrace the cost of discipleship.
The Second ACTION is:
Take Up Your Cross
Have you ever heard anyone talk about a grumpy neighbor, an ungrateful spouse, or a co-worker who is irritating and then say, “I guess that’s just my cross to bear?” Or maybe it’s an illness or a physical limitation referred to as a cross. Is that what Jesus is talking about?
Sadly, we have trivialized the cross in many ways, removing its rough edges. Jesus lived under the Roman occupation of Israel. Their primary form of capital punishment was crucifixion.
The condemned were flogged almost to the point of death and then compelled to carry the heavy crossbeam of their cross to the place of execution. Once at the crucifixion site, they were stripped completely naked and tied by cords or nailed to the crossbeam.
Then, the crossbeam was hoisted into place in a notch on the upright and secured. The victim’s feet could then be nailed, one on either side of the upright.
Death was slow but usually came within 36 hours. Sometimes, the bodies were left to decay and be devoured by scavengers. When Jesus mentioned the cross, the disciples saw an instrument of the cruelest form of death. They knew that those who “took up” the cross never returned!
Why did Jesus use this terminology to describe following Him? You’ll need to join me next time for our continuing study, when we will address this question and what it means for anyone who follows Him.
Thanks, J. Mark, for this teaching. Think back to his introduction. Cheap grace compared to a gift that costs you everything. One is easy and won’t demand a life change. Why would it? You might not like that. The other demands everything! No exceptions or changes. J Mark is doing a good job of explaining what this means. As you remember, the first two points were to give up your identity and take up your cross. Join us next time as we finish taking up our cross and look at the third action: follow up on your commitment, each clarifying what it means to give it everything. Thanks again for listening, and we hope you were encouraged to be a disciple by today’s lesson.
If you have any questions about today’s lesson, you can contact us by email or online. Our email address is hope@heraldsofhope.org, and our website is heraldsofhope.org. There you will find “contact us,” under the partner tab on the top right. Click that to message us directly. We look forward to hearing from you.
In Luke 6, Jesus says, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” This is exactly what we are after when we think about discipleship: all the followers of Jesus living and acting as Jesus would act. Go now and be His disciple.
[1] Robbie F Castleman, The Skim-milk Gospel of Cheap Grace, Themelios, Vol. 30, Issue 1
