Count the Cost

Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ is costly. In fact, it costs us our life. One cannot claim to be a born again christian without surrendering all and making Jesus LORD of their life. We must make a willfull decision to become slaves of Christ. If the Lord isn't Lord of ALL He isn't Lord at all. You can't make Jesus your Savior without making Him your Lord. Have you surrendered all?

Your reputation, your time, your dreams, your money, your spouse, your children, your "rights", your comfort, your heart?

In no way does the act of surrender save us. It is Christ's work on the cross, His sacrifice for sin, that is our only means of forgiveness and salvation. But His death is the provision that frees us from sin and enables us- yes, compels us- to surrender ourselves wholly to God. The person who has never acknowledged Christ's right to rule over his life has no basis for assurance of salvation. He may claim to be a Christian; he may have walked an aisle or prayed the sinner's prayer, he may know how to speak "Christianese"; he may be heavily involved in Christian activities; but if he thinks he can have a relationship with God by retaining control over his life and somehow trying to fit Jesus in with everything else, he is deceived and is still at war with God. Sadly, for the past 150 years or more, evangelicalism has developed a theology that offers assurance of salvation to almost anyone who prays a prayer or "makes a decision for Christ," even though he may still be cliniging to his rights, holding on to his sin, and bent on running his own life. The Scripture does not recognize such a profession as genuine. Jesus warned, "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Matthew 7:21 Surrender to the will of God is a mark of the truly converted. Nancy Leigh DeMoss from her book Brokenness, Surrender, Holiness.

Philippians 2:13

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.

So what are the costs of being a follower of Jesus Christ?

EVERYTHING you have!

What can you expect from living a life completely surrendered to His Will?

Persecution
When you are following Jesus you will experience persecution from men. You will be hated by many because of the name of Jesus. People that were once your friends will become your enemy. Even those of your own household can turn against you. Are you ready to give up friendship with the world to be a follower of Jesus Christ?

Death

God's Word says we must be born again to inherit eternal life. To be born again we must first die to self. What this means is that your life will be hidden in Christ. To be a true follower of Christ you have to die to the flesh and live by the Spirit. This cannot be done apart from God's Grace.

Joy, Peace, and Eternal Life!

Only through Jesus can we experience true joy, peace, and hope in times of despair.

Just remember... it will be worth it all when we see Jesus! For what good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? Matthew 16:26

Deuteronomy 30:19

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.

Deuteronomy 5:32

Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

Luke 14:33

In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

Romans 8:13
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

John 15:18-21
18"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me .

Matthew 10:34-38
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
" 'a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
36a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'[a]
37"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.


Galatians 2:20
20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Luke 14:25-33
25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

John 12:25
25He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.