Jesus’s Challenge to Us

The death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
–Romans 6:10–11

Who do you say that Jesus is? Is He the unique Son of God who died for your sins? If so, then the most important decision you can make is to put your faith in Him alone for the forgiveness of sins. That is the foundational decision every Christian must make. But it’s not the only decision.

In Luke 9:22, Jesus prophesied for the first time that He would die and be raised again. Then He issued a challenge: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (v. 23). What does it mean to “come after” Jesus? Right now, Jesus is in heaven. So to come after Jesus means to follow the path He blazed from this life into heaven. In other words, if you want to follow Jesus, then you have to follow Jesus.

Let me explain what I mean by that. A lot of people try to separate conversion and discipleship. They claim you can follow Jesus into heaven without following Him in the way you live. But the Bible says that’s impossible. What happens at the point of conversion is justification. The moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ to save you from your sins, God declares you not guilty forever. The result of conversion is discipleship, or sanctification, the lifelong process of becoming like Christ in your attitudes, actions, and affections.

Justification and sanctification are inextricably linked. People say things like, “So-and-so became a Christian when they were young, but they never grew as a Christian. They’re saved; they’re just not obedient.” No. Jesus never gave us the option of getting our ticket to heaven and then living however we want to live. Where there is justification, there will be sanctification. Donald Grey Barnhouse put it this way: “Holiness [sanctification] starts where justification finishes; and if holiness does not start, we have the right to suspect that justification has never started.”

Our salvation is just the beginning of a lifelong relationship with God that continues into eternity. We’re not saved by anything we do, but following Jesus is the result of true salvation. If we want to follow Jesus into heaven, then we have to follow Jesus here on earth.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “Cross Walking” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2017.

Donald Grey Barnhouse, Expositions of Bible Doctrines, Taking the Epistle to the Romans as a Point of Departure, vol. 6, God’s Freedom: Romans 6:1–7:25 (Eerdmans, 1964), 12.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.