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All Scriptures below are from the NKJV …
Mark 8:34-37
“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and
the gospel’s (sake) will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world,
and loses his own soul? (**) Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
(**) “and is himself destroyed or lost” – see Luke 9:25 below
“he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” – see John 12:25 below
“There is only one kind of true Christian; that is, a disciple … “You must deny yourself.” That means
that to follow Christ a person must give up his own desires and live only according to Christ’s desire.
We must deny our own pleasure, our own advantage, our own comfort … after we become Christians,
we must live completely for God … we must be ready to suffer and die for Him. Suffering and persecution will come to all who follow Christ (John 15:19, 2 Timothy 3:12). There can be no crown without the cross. … Whoever denies Christ in order to save his life (his life in this world, his pleasures, his pride, his honor and reputation, his possessions, his physical life) will lose his life (his true life, spiritual life, eternal life). But, whoever loses his life for Christ (that is, his life in this world, his pride, his honor, his possessions, his physical life itself) will save his life; he will obtain true spiritual life, eternal life. To lose one’s life for Christ and the Gospel means to deny one’s self and take up (one’s) cross and follow Jesus.”
… The Applied New Testament Commentary – Thomas Hale, 1996, ChariotVictor Publishing
(Dr. Hale is a Spirit-filled believer who served as a medical missionary with Interserve in Nepal.)
Matthew 10:38-39
“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”
Matthew 16:24-26
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Luke 9:23-25
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?”
Luke 14:26-27,33
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children,
brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
… whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
John 12:25-26
“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”
“But we all must ‘die’ to ourselves. Our old sinful self must die, otherwise we shall not be able to bear
fruit for Christ (Mark 8:34-35, Romans 6:2-6, Galatians 5:24) … Jesus didn’t mean we must actually
‘hate’ ourselves. Rather He was saying that our love for Him must be so great that, in comparison,
our love for ourselves will seem like hate (Luke 14:26). Indeed, we cannot love our old sinful self
and Christ at the same time (Matthew 6:24).”
… The Applied New Testament Commentary – Thomas Hale, 1996, ChariotVictor Publishing
The cross was the Roman method of carrying out the death sentence.
The prisoner was made to carry his own cross to the place of execution.
A Christian is called to carry his cross daily while dying to self – to receive eternal life
(reference: the NT).
