[Biblemat] A> Just Leave It All Behind

[Steven C. Harper]

From: TRUTH & REASON, a bulletin of the Glendale church of Christ, Glendale, AZ. 
Editor: Steven Harper 
August 12, 2007
Just Leave It All Behind

     One of the great challenges for every disciple is the need to leave things, possibilities, worldly pleasures, and even people behind. But it must be done if any follower of Christ seeks to please the Lord. Anything less - by Christ's own words - is not enough. Jesus plainly tells us, "So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:33). The renunciation we must make must also include what might have been had we continued down the path we were traveling before we began following Christ. 

     It is one thing to read these words, and quite another to actually apply them fully and honestly to self. Many people no doubt have read these words and many have no doubt shaken their heads in solemn approval to the clear requirements of our Lord, but then went home and ignored them in part or in total. Such behavior is useless in the effort to grow spiritually, and in fact hinders spiritual growth more than it helps! To better understand what Jesus meant when He said we must "renounce all" let us consider three important areas where we must leave it all behind if we honestly seek to be His disciples, and let us remember that if we fail to leave these things behind, we cannot be His disciple, no matter how loudly or how long we protest. It truly is an "all or nothing" proposition.

     Pride Must Be Left Behind. There is no greater hindrance to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ than pure and simple pride. Pride is what moves a man to say, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?" (Exod. 5:2) and helps us to convince ourselves that we have no need of the Lord. Pride is what leads us to tell God how great we are and what great things we have done for Him when we really should be lying prostrate on the ground and begging for mercy (Luke 18:9-14). Pride is what causes us to see the sins in others but none in ourselves and despise the mercy and forgiveness that is possible only through Jesus Christ (Luke 7:36-50).

     Even for those who are already disciples, pride may still be a problem and if it exists at all, it, too, must be left behind just as surely as the one who has not yet obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ must leave it behind. When Paul defined love for us, one of the things that he wrote by inspiration was that love does not "boast; it is not arrogant.It does not insist on its own way" (1 Cor. 13:4, 5). If we, as disciples of Jesus Christ, are to have the love He demands of us (John 15:12), then we cannot allow it to dwell in us in even the smallest measure. Pride, the wise writer said, will bring a man low (Prov. 29:23), and, "Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord" (Prov. 16:5). Only when we truly commit to leaving pride behind - honestly and completely - will we have a mind to obey the Lord and only then will we be able to have peace of mind that comes with knowing we are doing what is pleasing to our Lord.

     When we leave pride behind, let us replace it with humility and obedience to the Lord and His will. Only then can we be assured we are pleasing to Him and it is then that He will lift us up (Jas. 4:10). When we have humility, it will affect every aspect of our life as a disciple! We will treat others as though they are more important than self and we will look out for their interests and not just our own (Phlp. 2:3, 4); our worship will be a true effort to exalt the Lord's name and not just an effort to be heard by others when we sing or pray (cf. Matt. 6:5); and we will sincerely seek to do His will and not our own (cf. Matt. 26:39). That is why our pride must be left behind!

     Our Sins Must Be Left Behind. Just as importantly, we must leave our sins behind when we become a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is not an option! When Ananias met Saul in Damascus, he told him, "And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:16). While many believe and teach that Saul was saved on the road to Damascus, such could not have been the case because Saul was still in his sins while in Damascus! And when those in Jerusalem on Pentecost heard the first gospel message preached and asked what they should do, Peter told them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38). Their obedience would bring remission [forgiveness] of sins, and this was necessary if they were to become true disciples of Jesus Christ [Christians]. One cannot even be called a Christian while he or she is still in sin; one cannot be added to the church (Acts 2:47) until those sins are left behind. Paul reminds us that when we are baptized into Christ, it is then that we are "raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God" and "you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses" (Col. 2:12, 13). It is when we are baptized into Christ that we are raised by the power of God to "walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4), but not until then. We must, as Paul said, "consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (v. 11). If we are unwilling to do the very thing that removes those sins from our record, then we certainly cannot expect that we will be accepted by God!

     But what about after we become a Christian? Don't we still sin? And what must we do then? First, let us admit that, yes, we still sin as Christians. To deny this means "we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8), and "we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us" (v. 10). So, if we sin - and it is clear that we do - what must we do? The answer is sandwiched in between these two verses: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (v. 9). Even should we sin, as a Christian, hope is not all lost! Yes, we will still make some poor choices and, yes, we will sometimes fall to temptations; but if we want to be pleasing to God, we must still leave those sins behind by repenting of them that we may be forgiven.

     Our Earthly Desires Must Be Left Behind. It is good to put sin behind us, but those sins will keep recurring unless and until we also put away the desires that lead to sin. Let us not fool ourselves into thinking we can have the same fleshly desires that once led to sin and, now that we are a Christian, those same desires won't lead to the same result! James reminds us, "Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death" (Jas. 1:14, 15) - every time! If a man desires fleshly pleasures, it will inevitably lead to sin; it is foolish to think that there would be any other result, yet many times that is what we tell ourselves!

     Because these fleshly desires inescapably lead to sin [if not halted], then it follows that if we do not want the same result, the focus of our desires must be changed. This is why Paul admonished us to "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" (Col. 3:2). If we set our minds on fleshly things, we will be soon indulging in those fleshly things and "the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God" (Rom. 8:7) and "cannot please God" (v. 8).

     So, the choice is ours now: pleasing self or pleasing God. [And isn't that always what sin comes down to - pleasing self or pleasing God?] If we honestly and sincerely seek to please our Master, then we will do what pleases Him and "put to death" (Col. 3:5ff) those desires that only confuse our purpose and lead us away from Him. If you want what He has offered, just leave it all behind and follow Him.                       -- Steven Harper
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