Self-Denial — Is it a requirement of following Jesus the Messiah?

Tags

1 Peter 2, Acts 21, Cross, Jesus, Jesus Manifesto, Lust, Matthew 16, Matthew 5, Reward, Self-Denial, Soul, Teachings

There is much to be said about self denial and the scripture repeats this theme over and over.

Jesus is clear.

The Apostles and their letters are clear.

Do I get it?

Self-Denial — Is it a requirement of following Jesus the Messiah?

Commitment to the Messiah means taking up my cross daily, giving up my hopes, dreams, possessions, even my very life if need be for the cause of the Messiah. Only if I willingly take up my cross may I be called His disciple (Luke 14:27). The reward is worth the price.

Jesus followed His call of death to self (“Take up your cross and follow Me”) with the gift of life in the Messiah: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:25-26).

Matthew 16:24 — Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Acts 21:13 — Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Master Jesus.”
Philippians 3:7 — But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of the Messiah.
1 Peter 2:11 — Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.
Matthew 5:29 — “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.