03/12/2023
This morning let's consider the abandonment of things and people for Jesus. Is it a requirement of salvation, and if not, why do we abandon at all? So let's look at the things we give up along the way of faith and why we do so.
“Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.”
Mark 10:28-30 KJV
The apostles left their homes and families to follow Jesus; their sacrifice was like the one that Jesus asked the wealthy man to make, but in his case he was told to sell all he had... not just leave it behind. So was this abandonment necessary for the apostles? What was its purpose? Well, we know that abandonment isn't a requirement for salvation.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Romans 10:9-10 KJV
If leaving our homes isn't a requirement for salvation then why were the apostles asked to leave those people and things they valued? Let's look to scripture for that answer, and specifically the words of Paul...
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,”
Philippians 3:7-8 KJV
So they left their homes behind to gain "the knowledge of Christ." If we consider this in greater detail we realize that salvation is given us by believing, and grace, not by anything we might abandon... otherwise that would make us partners in our own salvation.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV
If we are saved by grace and believing, then why the promise of hundredfold gain to those who abandoned something to follow Him? Well Jesus traveled; he moved all about the holy land teaching and preaching, and He had a limited amount of time to spread His message. In order to know Him and learn from Him to the utmost, it would be necessary to follow Him. So this is what He asked his disciples to do, and if you did this it would require you to leave home and family behind... not to receive the salvation Jesus promised, but to know Him better, and if you did that then you would be rewarded.
Jesus knew that He needed to prepare, and leave behind, men who could continue what He had started during His time on earth. Peter would be the rock of His church, John would look after Mary and receive the Revelation... you catch my drift. Without these men then Christianity would have most likely remained regional or have died altogether. God had bigger plans.
It is still necessary for us to abandon things today. We don't do it to gain salvation, but like the apostles, to gain "the knowledge of Christ." Missionaries leave home and family, pastors travel from church to church, sinners leave their sins (and those they have sinned with) behind. These and many other necessary abandonments remain in the lives of Christians. But, what we must always remember is that although doing so increases our faith and knowledge of Christ, it doesn't make us partners in our own salvation... no, we are saved by believing, and the grace of God alone.
“For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
John 3:16-17 ESV
Leaving something is a hardship, but it comes with reward... sometimes on earth, sometimes in heaven, or perhaps in both places as implied in Mark 10:30. What it doesn't do is make us greater than those around us by virtue of our sacrifice... whoops... there is that word!!! Sacrifice! When we abandon things we are making a sacrifice to obtain a greater knowledge of Jesus. We don't do it to gain that salvation, but for the love of Christ. Remember this because it is a pearl of wisdom... we leave things behind out of love, and to start something new in Christ, just like we do when we marry... but marriage? Well that is a topic for another day.
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
Ephesians 5:31 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your grace and the salvation it brings me. It is by your grace, and my belief in your Son Jesus Christ that I am saved. Lord, when I abandon things in my life in order to follow you and Jesus, and to know you both better, I do so out of my love for you and not some tangible gain I believe I will be earning. Knowing you, and loving you, is all the gain I seek, and require. In you I find myself, and come to realize the man you desire me to be... hold me close Father and call me to come close when you wish to teach me. There is nothing of this earth that can compare, or is more precious, than to be in your presence, and to sit obediently at your feet.
Rich Forbes