Since the dawn of the Church at Pentecost, people have tried to redefine salvation and faith. It’s a tragic mistake that is all too easy to make. In the modern world, the result is an impotent church and weak Christians who want the benefits of eternal life without the responsibilities of the Christian life.

In Luke 14:25-35, Jesus says something that some of you may find shocking. I’ll get into that below. For now, let me address a broad point and I’ll come back to this passage.

Let me ask you. Have you ever attended a church or gathering where there was an altar call? If so, it often goes something like this…

“Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. If you say this simple prayer with me, you can be saved and have eternal life in heaven. Once you say this prayer, you will be forever saved from going to hell.”

Studying the words of Jesus and the Apostle Paul, I have concluded this simple prayer model of salvation is one reason our churches today are looking more and more like the apostate ones in Revelation 2 and 3. Too many church leaders and members in their congregations are allowing the image of Satan to overtake the image and glory of God.

See, Jesus didn’t die on the Cross so you could go to heaven. That is an amazing benefit. 

God became flesh and was resurrected and sits at the right hand of the Holy Father so that you can have a personal, intimate, and restored relationship with Him. 

Salvation isn’t the result of a simple prayer. It isn’t a one-time event.

You were saved by Christ’s act of incredible sacrifice on the cross.

You are being saved through the power of the Holy Spirit in your life and the Church He uses to sanctify you through right teaching, good doctrine, confessions of sin to one another, and a community that continually points us individually to Christ in all things.

You will be saved on the day of Christ’s return when He resurrects our bodies without sin and in His full glory.

Still, while the Apostle Paul tells us that you are saved through faith and not of works, he isn’t saying works are not important. James 2:14-26 complements faith through grace by reminding us that faith doesn’t exist if it isn’t acted upon. If there are no works of faith, it goes without saying, is it faith?

I want to focus on a question I’ve never heard at an altar call.

Imagine what might happen if you heard this…

“If you leave your family, carry your heavy cross as Christ did, give up everything you own or is precious to you, and choose to suffer for being Jesus’ disciple, you will inherit heaven. Will you choose to participate in Christ’s sufferings so that you might have an eternal relationship with Him?”

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus makes this point over and over again.

In Matthew 10:34, He says, “Do not think I came to bring peace on Earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” In verse 35; Jesus quotes Micah 7:6, “For I came to ‘SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.” 

(Note: the bold is so you see His Old Testament quote).

That’s pretty dramatic.

In our passage in Luke, He does it again. Except this time Jesus adds another twist in this parable.

I want you to know that 3 times He references the words, “My disciple” in verses 26,27, and 33.

“25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Let’s go back to the altar call.

Jesus told those who wanted to be His disciples to “count the cost.”

If you don’t, you won’t be able to finish what you start just as a builder won’t be able to finish a project if they don’t consider all that is involved to complete his work.

Over and over again in Jesus’ parables, he challenges us to be very careful of what we ask for. Gaining access to heaven isn’t a one-time prayer deal and then you can go on living your life however you want.

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ involves a sacrifice.

If you truly seek to follow Him and ask that your eyes be opened and that ears hear, it could cost you everything dear to you in this world — which violently wants nothing to do with him.

It could cost you your family, a job, a place to live, your friends… you name it.

What you will get in return is a new family of Christ’s disciples seeking Him as well. It’s called the Church. 

This is why I’m on a rant about church life as we know it in the evangelical church. Either too many churches are apostate and seeking the things of the world and have abandoned Christ or they are following a stale routine that leaves little room for experiencing Christ through the Holy Spirit in His fullness.

Your relationship with Him now is what God wants. He doesn’t want to be used by us so we get what we want now and for eternity. If you don’t like being used by someone, why should He? Is that the true fruit of a healthy relationship?

So, let me ask you my fellow Christian whom I love… have you really counted the cost?

Have you really stepped out to embrace a faith that comes with action?

Have you really accepted Jesus’ challenge to pick up your cross and follow Him in His sufferings?

My brothers and sisters, following Christ will cost you everything, and the reward is Heaven. In our Luke passage, Jesus made it clear that you cannot be His disciple if you are not willing to accept what comes with it.

Let’s not get our priorities backward.

Blessings to you,

Father Don