Christ calls us to walk the Narrow Road in order to enter eternal life. He called this road “the hard way.” This is how Jesus described life on the Narrow Road, and why it’s called “the hard way”:

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. . . . If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. . . . [And] any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple (Luke 9:23-24; 14:26-27 and 33).

The one who would follow Jesus is told to:

Deny himself.

What does this mean? It means that I set my longings, my very life aside for His higher calling. Denial of self is what Paul had in mind when writing, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). Our old nature was crucified with Christ and is dead. What’s left is the flesh, that part of us that seeks to live independently of God. Because the way of the flesh is so deeply ingrained in us, when we deny the longings of the flesh, it truly does feel as though we are denying our most basic nature. However, this is an illusion of the flesh, since we are new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Take up his cross.

This is often misread and misunderstood to say, “Take up Christ’s cross.” Yet a mortal human could never bear the cross that Christ bore. We die to ourselves; He died for all. While we often feel the weight of guilt for our sin, He bore the guilt and weight of all sin. No, this is our cross. When we take up our cross, we voluntarily submit to share in suffering as Christ suffered. Crosses are heavy and uncomfortable (there are no padded ones, sorry!) We take all that comes at us from life as His tools to refine us and transform us into the image of Christ. Lest anyone should misunderstand, we are not to seek out suffering, but we are to embrace that which comes. We are to keep our eyes fixed on Christ.

Renounce all he has.

This is a particularly difficult concept in the West, with the focus on materialism, power, wealth and status. The truth is, however, it is just as difficult for those who have little. The reason this is so is that this command goes deeper than just mere outward appearances. It extends to everything, including relationships and family. What does this mean? It means that we voluntarily say, “I have nothing, You have everything. You are everything, without You I am nothing.” Does it mean that we must sell all we have? Absolutely (if He commands you to do so). He did command the rich young ruler to do that (Luke 18:22), but there is no suggestion that He commanded everyone to do that. (We know, for example, that Peter had a home and a wife.) What this command requires is that we not hold onto things and people. The popular saying, “Hold things loosely” does not apply here. We are not to hold onto it at all!

What do we find at the end of this road, having forsaken all for Christ?  In Jesus’ own words:

Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life” (Luke 18:28-30).

In short, we receive eternal life, both for this time, and for eternity. We receive many times more in this life because we are brought into a new family. We have fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters. A larger family than we could ever imagine. The Body of Christ is all one family. We receive unspeakable joy and unshakable faith in this life. We experience the excitement of seeing what God is planning and watching it come to pass. And that is what the Gospel is all about.

[Much of the material in this post is adapted from my book From Blessed to Transformed: Moving Beyond the Blessed Life. You can find it here to order.

Now that we have discussed the Gospel and what it means, we must also discuss the cost.

“Cost? I thought salvation is a free gift of God!” It is indeed a free gift of God; one can never earn it by doing good deeds or keeping the law. But there is a cost that those who follow Christ must be willing to pay. Over the last 150 years, we have cheapened the Gospel, you see. Today we talk about, “If you died tonight, are you sure you would go to heaven?” As important as that question is, it is actually not what Jesus focused on. He focused on having life (there’s that word again). Life here and now. Salvation is not the end; it is only the beginning. He calls us to more than just waiting for our ticket to heaven to be punched.

Christ gave specific requirements for those who would be His disciple. Read His words here carefully.

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matt. 7:13-14).

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. . . . If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. . . . [And] any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple (Luke 9:23-24, 14:26-27 and 33).

Christ calls us to first “enter” by the narrow gate and walk the Narrow Road. He classifies all of humanity on one of two roads: the Wide Easy Road (that leads to destruction) and the Narrow Hard Road (that leads to life). Why is the Narrow Road described as the hard way? Because of the cost involved.

What is the cost to follow Christ? My life. Jesus calls any who would follow Him to give up all they own. Why is this required? Because holding onto anything or anyone else will cause our loyalty to be divided. Christ did not give us a middle ground. The phrase, “Hold things loosely” does not apply here. Christ calls us to not hold onto it at all! God promises that we will find Him, “When you seek Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). One cannot seek the Lord with all his heart if his heart is divided. Let our heart be undivided.

In the next and succeeding posts, we will look closer at these passages to learn what they mean for us of the 21st century.

[Much of the material in this post is adapted from my book From Blessed to Transformed: Moving Beyond the Blessed Life. You can find it here to order.