You state,..."only that we be willing to if it came to it".
I believe Jesus did say,.....whoever DOES not renounce ALL that he has, cannot be My disciple.
Whoever DOES, not whoever is willing.
Renounce definition, .....
Formally declare one's abandonment of a claim, a right or possession.
to abandon definition, ...
to give up with the intent of never again asserting or claiming an interest in a right or property.
If we indeed have a RIGHT to live our lives, if we indeed POSSESS free will,
if then we declare our abandonment to the right to live our own lives , or if we declare the abandonment
to the right to possess our free will,
have we then renounced All (everything we possess, including free will)?
Is this meant by losing OUR life, right to live our own lives and abandoning all possessions including
free will and to never go back to it again?
Is this what Jesus meant, that you cannot be His disciple unless one renounce ALL that he HAS?
Can one be under the complete Lordship of Christ, and still control his own life?
If we renounce ALL and submit to the Lordship of Christ, would this be what Paul spoke about.....
It is no longer i that live but Christ that lives in me.
The life i live now , I live by faith....
And if we live by faith, we indeed become obedient as Christ leads us.
We have to lose our life with all its rights and possessions, to gain His life.
Our old man, former life has to be crucified, dead and buried before we are raised to newness of life.
Deep down , do we really want to be Christ's disciples, or do we just come to the cross for forgiveness and
then just keep on living the way we are?
The good news is that Christ did not just come to forgive sins, but came that we might be free from SIN.
But in order to gain this freedom, this new life, WE have to die.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Oh , dear people to die is not easy at all, to give up total control of your life is the hardest we will ever
do in this realm, but yet it is the only way to have real life.
1 Peter 4, 1-2
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered
in the flesh has ceased from sin,
so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer by human passions but by the will of God.
How did Christ suffer in the flesh? By His death on the cross.
How do we suffer , by our old man dying on the cross with Him.
As we suffer and die on the cross with Him, we cease from sin, as the old sinful man died,
and we are raised a new man, to newness of life, so that now we can live by the will of God.
A walk of faith and obedience. Living and walking in the Spirit.
Oh, Father , give us a desire to seek you with all that is within us,
to renounce All, to give up our free will, and to live by your will alone.
Bring us to the end of ourSELVES, and completely surrender to your rule in every area of
our lives, so that indeed we may have your everlasting life.
Praise your Holy Name.
May God bless you.
