Matthew 16: 24: "Then Jesus told His disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." I cannot imagine the look on the disciples faces when they heard Jesus' teaching on this subject. The cross represented a picture of a violent death and humiliation. The Lord Jesus Christ was demanding total commitment to Him, even if it meant dying a horrific death. There was no salvation without making a full surrender to Him. He had to be Lord or He was nothing. There was no middle ground to Him. There is a false teaching today that you can be saved without making Him Lord. The false teaching sounds like this: "You come to Jesus and make a decision for Him. Then in a second experience you get power, a deeper faith, a higher life, or the Baptism with the Holy Spirit. The second experience makes you ready to follow Christ all the way. That theology is necessary because the bar to salvation was set too low. However, when people are really converted, they receive a new heart and they can face all the attacks from the devil, persecution from men, or the government and they will do it without fear. Why? Because they are new creations. I was in a church for 15 years that taught the Baptism with the Holy Spirit was a second experience that gave you power to have spiritual gifts and overcome sin. Hear this and understand, the enemy wants to create false teachings to keep people from being truly born again. If you have a new heart, that heart will long desire to pick up your cross and follow your Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know what I'm writing about?
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