1You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, 2in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. 3We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; 8for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, that no one would boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
11Therefore remember that once you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “uncircumcision” by that which is called “circumcision” (in the flesh, made by hands), 12that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of separation, 15having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace, 16and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility through it. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. 18For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. 19So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, 20being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; 21in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
Much has been written about this declaration of Jesus. It sounds like such a strange thing to “take up one’s cross.” But what could it mean? Must we go looking for it to pick it up? Some have interpreted it to mean that works are needed for salvation. This is not speaking to salvation. This is speaking to discipleship. You see, salvation is the free gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9). Yes, salvation is free, BUT discipleship is costly. It is what comes after knowing Jesus. After salvation (when a person puts his or her faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord), the believer begins a lifelong process of becoming more Christlike. This is sometimes called the process of “sanctification”. Because when you came to faith, even while you are made into a new creation, the old sin nature still resides within you. If you don’t like that nomenclature, you might think of it merely as those fleshly responses you used in your “before Jesus” life to fill your three basic needs: 1) To be loved and accepted, 2) To have value and worth, and 3) To fit in, or have an identity. Those needs are embedded in the soul of every man and woman who is born.
The process of sanctification entails allowing the Holy Spirit to have increasing rule in one’s life. This is allowing the Lord to take first place while placing self, that old sin nature, the “old man” in second place. Jesus calls us to “deny” our own self, our fleshly appetites and attitudes, and to let them be crucified in Him. With self out of the way, we are free to follow. It doesn’t always mean that we are to suffer because of our faith, but the reality is that we will. Scripture tells us that we, too, share in some of the suffering Jesus experienced. This flies in the face of the “health and wealth” preachers who teach nothing but that a bed of roses awaits the believer. That is a canard. It is a primrose path. Suffering will come, so you don’t need to go looking for it.
Are there parts of your life and your attitudes that need some crucifying? Give them to Jesus. Ask Him to take them and to deal with them. He will. He is faithful. He will displace your agenda with His own. As you lose your own life (your own agenda and priorities), you will gain everything else. If you try to hang on to your own life, you’ll just end up losing it all. It is a paradox presented to each and every believer. You must lay down your worries to take up His peace. You must lay down your hurts to experience His healing. You must lay down yourself to experience all that He wants, desires, and has planned for you. Reader, if you’ve been following your own agenda and doing life on your own, simply confess that to Him and ask Him to set you back on the right course. He will do it, and your life will steadily become more and more abundant in ways you had not imagined. He came so that you and I might have an “abundant” life. 10 The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. (John 10:10 WEB)