The Non-Negotiable Terms of Following Christ

In 1978, nearly three hundred evangelical scholars gathered in Chicago to draft the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy. They understood something that many in our therapeutic age have forgotten: truth is not negotiable. You cannot soften the words of Scripture to suit the preferences of the listener. The text says what it says.

Luke 9:23 is one of those passages that resists every attempt at domestication. Jesus does not say, "If anyone would like to consider following Me, here are some suggestions." The Greek is blunt and commanding. He says deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. Three imperatives. Three non-negotiable terms of discipleship. As John MacArthur has rightly observed, Jesus never lowered the bar to attract a larger crowd. He raised it, and the crowds thinned.

Consider what Christ is actually demanding here. Self-denial is not skipping dessert during Lent. It is the utter renunciation of self-sovereignty. The cross is not a metaphor for mild inconvenience. In the first century, it meant one thing only: death. And "daily" means this is not a one-time decision but a perpetual, moment-by-moment surrender.

We must not reinterpret these words to make them more palatable. The authority of Scripture demands that we take them at face value. Genuine discipleship costs everything because the One who calls us gave everything. Will you accept His terms as they actually stand in the inspired, inerrant Word of God?