"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever
will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
(Matthew 16: 25, KJV)
In some Christian circles the topic of surrendering to the
Lord has to do with more of an outward show, such as being slain in the spirit,
speaking in tongues, or some other showy gift as a so called witness to all who
watch that you have supposedly surrendered to the Lord. Then the next group of
Christians think surrendering to the Lord means living under the yoke of rules
and regulations in a legalistic manner. They do this with very little to no joy
at all. Lastly, there is the group of believers who think doing a lot of good
things for people is surrendering to the Lord, but do it rather for themselves,
instead of doing it unto the Lord. I am sure there are exceptions to the rule
here though.
So what can we draw from today's text on what it means to
truly surrender to the Lord? Today's text says, "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever
will lose his life for my sake shall find it." (Matt. 16: 25). The
phrase "save his life" does not necessarily imply one preserving his
life physically. However, some of God's children have been called to lay down
their physical lives for the sake of the Gospel. The problem with a lot of
God's people today is that they count their lives too precious to give up to
God for the cause of the Gospel. Chapter 10: 39 corresponds to Matthew 16 : 25Matthew 10 : 39
"He
that findeth his life shall lose it. Whoever counts his life of so much
value that he will preserve it by sacrificing his Christian integrity, or will
renounce his religion to save his life, will find in the end that he has lost
his soul forever for the sake of a few fleeting years; while he who gives up
all things, even life itself, will find an abundant reward in the life eternal.
All self-seeking is self-losing. The
Divine law is always to give in order to receive."[1]
Matthew Poole adds this thought:
"Ver. 39. Joh 12:25, giveth us a
commentary upon these words thus, He that
loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall
keep it unto life eternal. He in this text is said to find his life, who
thinks that he hath found, that is, saved it, who is so much in love with his
life that, rather than he will lose it, he will lose God's favour, deny the
Lord that brought him, deny the most fundamental truths of the gospel. The man
that doth thus (saith Christ) shall lose it; possibly he shall not obtain the
end he aims at here, but if he doth he shall lose eternal life. When, on the
contrary, he that is valiant for the truth shall sometimes be preserved,
notwithstanding his enemies' rage; but if this happens not, yet he shall have
life eternal, his mortality shall be swallowed up in life."[2]
As one can see, discipleship is serious business, when it
comes to following the Lord. There is no room for half-hearted Christianity. It
is either all or nothing. Either we live for ourselves or for the Lord. There are three things to consider about surrendering your life to God. They are...
1. The Condition of Our Surrender.
The condition of our surrender to God is to be absolute. We cannot surrender to the Lord on our "terms," for the "terms" that we are to surrender by, are God's terms, and His terms alone! It is the Lord who has written the terms, not man! We are required to surrender our "whole person" to the Lord. This is nonegotiable. The Apostle Paul gives the terms in Romans 12: 1: "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship" (NASB).
2. The Cost of Our Surrender.
What is the cost of our surrender to God? It will cost you everything that you hold dear that will get in the way of the absolute devotion and fellowship the Lord expects of you and I. It means death to the self life and life to the life we have in Christ! "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me" (Gal. 2: 20, NASB). In context to this truth here in Galatians 2: 20, three times the word "crucified" is mentioned: We are to be "crucified with Christ" (2: 20); we are to "have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (5: 24); and lastly, we are to understand that "the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (6: 14). Concerning the "cost" Paul writes: "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,..." (Phil. 3: 7-8, NASB). See the truth being conveyed here by Paul. To put it simply: cost is almost always associated with loss. Without "loss" there is really no "cost." And a so called "surrender" one makes to God that costs him or her nothing is really just that, "nothing." Let our attitude in our surrender to God be that of David's "I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing" (2 Sam. 24: 24; 1 Chron. 21; 24). So may it be said of our life as well.
3. The Commitment of Our Surrender.
Our commitment to our Lord is also to be absolute. It is never to be done half heartedly. Paul's commitment in his surrender to God was uncompromising: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil. 1: 21, NASB). In the same letter to the Philippians, Paul says this about the purpose of his commitment to Christ: "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Phil. 3: 10, NASB). Again, Paul writes, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3: 14). Oh to be all the more committed in our daily surrender to our most precious Lord. Let us daily love and praise Him in our resolve to follow Him.
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