The Cost of Discipleship
- The understanding I see here is that discipleship here is linked to
- Baptism into Christ
- Because the difficulties Jesus states here to be his disciple
- Are the same that are required to be truly and fully Baptised into Christ
- Self-Denial and the Cross are two elements that are part of Christian Baptism.
- Denial of knowledge and understanding of things that we have of our own
- And to accept wisdom and assurance which one gets via being transformed
- By the knowledge and understanding which Christ imparts
- For many of us the demands of Christ’s Discipleship is undesirable and painful to accept.
- This is the same knowledge and understanding of persons we call saints.
- Especially noticeable among the many martyrs
- Who joyfully and gladly accepted persecution, ridicule and death.
- We see this even in Paul,
- Who in 2 Corinthians, notes the various difficulties he bears,
- only for the Love of Christ.
- Which leads him to do things which he would not otherwise do.
- We pray, God’s Word instructs and lights up our path
- With understanding and wisdom
- To accept transformation into Christ and its demands
