The Cost of The Cross

 

        Jesus said, And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:38). Each must consider how costly this proposition truly is in light of the Scripture. Upon consideration, we understand that New Testament Christianity is an active religion abounding in commitment to the Christ. Shall we consider the cost of taking up our cross to follow Jesus?

It will Cost Your Confession

Leading up to this command, the Lord made statements to show the prerequisites of carrying the cross. He made it clear in Mathew 10:32-33 that one cost would be confession of Christ before men. The Greek word for confess used here is homologesei, which means to speak the same thing. When we speak the same thing as Christ, we will affirm His doctrine and those of His apostles We cannot devolve into synthetic sectarian doctrine, but rather we must speak the message of Christ and Him crucified (cf. 1 Cor 1:23). Failing to do so is to deny Him. The Greek word for deny paints a picture of the exact opposite of speaking the same thing. Arnesetei means to contradict, repudiate, or even disown. To confess Christ is to confess and carry the cross. 

It Will Cost a Greater Love of Christ

The Lord continues in calling to our minds that another cost of carrying our cross is a greater love for Christ. The Lord explained in Matthew 10:34-37 that true love of Christ is of the utmost cost. A full love of Christ must overrule all. The Lord stated that His mission was not a peaceful coexistence with the world; he came to overcome that evil with a sword. This spiritual sword is the only offensive weapon listed in the panoply of God (cf. Ephesians 6:17). The Christian must reject peace with the acts of darkness and launch a full-scale offensive with the Word of God. Paul additionally wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:6 that (love) rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth. 

Sadly, this can put us at war with even those with whom we have close family relations. The Lord assured His disciples that this was the result of His ministry. The Lord was direct in saying that He came to set variance or to make hostilities between the members of His own household. Our greatest and most devoted love goes to the Lord. We all care deeply for our loved ones, but, if it comes to serving Christ or making peace with error, we must love Christ more. Loving Christ more is what makes us worthy of Him. When we think about our worthiness, there is nothing that we can do to deserve the grace of God (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9), but we are made worthy through faithful obedience (cf. James 2:18-26). That worthiness is dependent on our uncompromising love of Christ overall. 

It Will Cost Your Life.

The cost of following Jesus is your life. The cross of which He speaks is the cross beam of the cruel instrument of death that was reserved for the most vile of offenders. In the first century, this cross was a vessel of shame that provoked repulsion in the normal man. Today we are surrounded with sanitized forms of the cross on hillsides, t-shirts, and jewelry. Paul said that Jesus did that which was deemed a curse for us (cf. Galatians 3:13). If Christ was willing to bear the cross for us, we must bear our own for Him. 

We cannot bear His cross when we refuse to lose our own lives. Before Christ, we sought our own way. Some might say, I am trying to find myself. Jesus said, He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it Matthew 10:39. We must consider the cost of a life for Christ. We will lose all that is contrary to the Word of Christ. Radical life change is not optional; it is mandatory. Certainly, we gave up that former life for the purpose of gaining eternal life. 

The Cost Recounted

A Dutch proverb says What costs nothing is worth nothing. King David expressed a similar sentiment when he purchased the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. “And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for Jehovah, nor offer a burnt-offering without cost” (1 Chronicles 21:24).  David expected to incur cost and thus he paid. Yet there is a conspicuous abundance of those who believe the Christian life is of no cost. To live in this manner is to make the cross of Christ inconsequential and worthless. Have you considered the cost lately? Have you considered the agreement made when you obeyed the Gospel? 

The confession of Christ costs us our own doctrine in order to receive the doctrine of Christ revealed in the Holy Scripture. “Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).  The love of Christ costs us a greater love for the Christ who loved us greater.

“This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” 

(John 15:13-14) 

A life designed for eternity in Christ comes at the cost of our old life. 

“Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new”

( 2 Corinthians 5:17).

The cost of the cross is shown through the life of Christ, and we can fulfill the cost like Paul who said so aptly.

“ For I know that this shall turn out to my salvation, through your supplication and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing shall I be put to shame, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” 

(Philippians. 1:19-21)

Grace and Peace, 

R.D. Beavers