Take your Cross and follow Christ to reach the world with grace and Forgiveness

Before Jesus went to the cross himself, he said to his disciples “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me, for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” Matthew 16:25-28.  When Peter writes to the Jewish Christians about what took place on the cross, he teaches “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” 1 Peter 3:18. Brethren, what an amazing teaching: Jesus suffered once for my sins to bring me to God!

Now I want to encourage you to consider that the “taking of the cross” is the starting point for our discipleship with Jesus and that our cross is the place from where we share grace to a broken world, keeping in mind what Peter teaches in 1 Peter 3:18. But do not limit yourself to just what I discuss in this paper, but I hope this encourages you to study for yourself what Jesus meant in His command to take up the cross and follow Him.  

Let’s start by examining what happened on the cross and apply that to our walk with the Lord. What do we learn from this command of grace to “deny himself [ourself] and take up his [our] cross and follow me [Him].” Peter says that on the cross the righteous suffer and pay for the unrighteous. The righteous did it all to bring the unrighteous to God. The righteous die in place of the unrighteous but are made alive in spirit. The same thing happens when we who believe are made righteous by Christ, we take the cross and die to bring the unrighteous to God through Jesus Christ and His work on the cross.   The cross is the place from where the grace of God was display in its maximum expression and from where we, the righteous, start following Him.  We are righteous because he made us righteous (1 Corinthians 1:30, Romans 3:22-26), and while being transform by the work on the cross, we become the people through whom this broken world is reached with the grace of God, to find forgiveness and be made close to God.

In Matthew 16:25 we are commanded to follow Jesus; we are commanded to follow Him by carrying our cross. These two are inseparable. To follow Jesus is inseparable from taking up our cross. We take the cross because our Lord has commanded, and we take the cross because we follow Him.  Taking the cross is the starting point for us to become His disciple. We are not following Him if we have not taken up our cross. Now the question is what is my cross?

Many times, we wonder what is our cross. Attempting to help answer this question, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “if you don’t know which one is your cross, start following Jesus and you will find out.” And I add, if you do not know what your cross is, look around at the situations that you are in. Find it where you have to forgive and die to your own interests. There is your cross, love from there, forgive from there, from that cross share the grace of God and bring many closer to God. Remember we are not on our cross alone, we are being crucify there with Jesus, Galatians 2:20.  There is no discipleship without taking the cross.  The cross is not a person but a place in your walk with Christ where God command us to die to our self.

Our discipleship training starts here, on our cross where we die to ourself and practice forgiveness to bring many close to God.  Taking the cross we also lead others to experience repentance and forgiveness. We take the cross so others don’t lose their life but find it in Christ.  We take the cross by carrying others’ burdens created by sinful patterns and sinful struggles (Galatians 6:2) praying for them to experience repentance (“father forgive them”Luke 23:34) and freedom in Christ (John 8:32 and Romans 8:2). While they find their lives in Christ and begin to grow, we die to ourself and grow as well in our walk with Jesus who is with us on the cross. 

On the cross we die to our sinful patterns and grow in obedience and the fear of the Lord (Ecclesiastes 12:13).  On the cross we die to comfort and learn do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:12-13).  We die to pride, we die to control, we die to personal dreams. But dying to this world and the flesh, we experience a true meaningful life; we find a life of purpose. While we are dying God is exalted granting repentance to sinners (Acts 5:31 and Acts 11:18). Through watching us die, God might grant repentance to others (2 Timothy 2:25) remembering that God’s kindness leads many to repentance (Romans 2:4). And yes, to be kind I need to die on the cross and forgive others.

Through taking up our cross, God is also dealing with our attitude.  He doesn’t want us to waste our lives by trying to save ourself but to find our lives by dying to our self.  Through history we observe that the disciples of Jesus take up their cross to die to themselves and bring others close to God.  We are called to do the same with a humble attitude, to humble ourself and take the cross in obedience to the Father in Heaven (Philippians 2:5-8).  Christ prayed from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  This should also be our attitude and prayer when we take up our cross for the unrighteous. In forgiving others, we are not claiming our rights but seeking others to experience the grace of God in Christ.

When we die to our self, from our cross we pray for those that we want to bring close to God. We pray for them to repent that they might experience the freedom in forgiveness.  From our cross we become channels of grace and life for others. We continually die so others can experience life in Christ. Taking the cross to die, we the disciples learn to forgive even when we have not been asked for forgiveness. Through forgiving others we are also made free from all bitterness and GRACE flows even greater in us for the praise of God. 

After reading this essay, write three main points you learned and share with your spouse.

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Question to pounder in our hearts: what value is there for the sinners to receive forgiveness without repentance?