For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
To save life is to try to preserve it by self-love and self-interest, by putting self first and keeping one's own will and way, while to lose life for Christ is to let self-love perish, deny self and submit the will to God. Losing life is giving body, soul and spirit wholly to Him to whom life belongs, taking up the cross daily and following Him, and that very losing is the saving of it. It is freely giving life in service to God and man as grain cast into the furrow of the world's need, for the law of self-sacrifice is the law of self-preservation, as the husbandman preserves grain by casting it away. Christ Himself illustrates and fulfills the principle, for He gave His life for humanity and endured the cross for the joy of winning the world back, having seen the whole path from manger to Calvary and still chosen it in delight to do God's will. Those who surrender life for Him and share His reproach and suffering now will share His glory and be counted worthy of everlasting life when He comes in His kingdom, while those who cling to worldly life and are ashamed of Him will be disowned by Him before the Father and the holy angels.
Saving and Losing Life
Trying to save life is trying to preserve it by self-love and self-interest, by putting self first and holding to one's own will, pleasure and way. Losing life for Christ is letting self-love and self-interest perish, denying self, bearing the cross and submitting the will to God to follow Jesus through good and bad report. What saves is what the person himself must do, giving body, soul and spirit wholly to the service of the Redeemer to whom life and all that he has belong, taking up the cross daily and following Christ, for the very losing of life to the gospel is the saving of it.
Losing life is freely giving it in service to God and man, casting it like grain into the furrow of the world's need. The law of self-sacrifice is the law of self-preservation, for as the husbandman preserves grain by casting it away, so Christ the Seed brought forth fruit for God only through sacrifice.
Losing life is eagerly grasping the merits of Christ's blood, devoting oneself to God, leaving all to follow Jesus and choosing to suffer with Christ, and the same shall save life and realize the blessing of God. A person's own set, unsubdued will must die or hope of eternal life must die, because both cannot live at once, and traveling the way of the transgressor to keep one's own way loses eternal life and heaven. Gaining even the whole world is worthless if the self is lost and cast away.
Christ's Sacrifice and Example
Luke 9:24 belongs to the foreshadowing of the cross, where losing life for Christ's sake is what saves it. Christ's own self-sacrifice illustrates the principle, for He gave His life for humanity and endured the cross for the joy of winning the world back to loyalty to God. The verse is fulfilled in Christ Himself in order to save that which was lost. Even before taking humanity upon Him, laying aside His crown and royal robe and clothing divinity with humanity, He saw in vivid outline the whole length of the path He must travel from the manger to Calvary, with every pang that would rend His heart, every insult heaped upon His head, every privation to be endured and the anguish to come upon Him open to His view, and knowing it all He still chose that path in delight to do God's will with God's law within His heart.
Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice in coming to this world to save the fallen race. Life is preserved by following Christ rather than living for oneself. Those who would be co-laborers with Christ must loyally carry His work of saving souls in the same self-sacrificing way, teaching and working as He did. This faithful, self-sacrificing life leads to the life to come.
Promise Warning and Application
To share Christ's glory at His appearing requires sharing His reproach and suffering now, for preserving life by refusing to suffer for Him leads to its loss, while giving it up for Him leads to its saving. Obedience to God rather than compromise or leading others into disobedience belongs to that losing of life, since glory with Christ is promised only to those who bear reproach with Him. Following Jesus therefore means accepting suffering, reproach and shame for His name, bearing the cross and giving up worldly hopes of pomp and pleasure, with those who surrender life for Jesus sharing His glory and those who cling to worldly life and its rewards losing what matters.
Losing life for Christ means denying self, bearing the cross and following Jesus through good and bad report, rather than putting self first. Keeping His cross in view moves a person to give body, soul and spirit to God, while faith in Jesus who gave His life grants access to heaven's treasures and equips for useful service to God. That losing of life includes consecration to the Lord and service in His work of saving souls through daily self-denial and sacrifice for His sake, so that refusing self-denial or putting a price on service stands against the commitment.
Those who surrender life for Jesus and choose Christ above earthly ties and treasure will share His glory, be acknowledged by Him and be counted worthy of everlasting life as joint-heirs when He takes possession of His kingdom. The promise of being joint-heirs rests on willingness to deny self, with those who have followed Him on earth in self-denial and self-sacrifice receiving everlasting life. By contrast, those who cling to worldly life and are ashamed of Him and His words will be disowned and face His shame at His coming in His own glory and the Father's and the holy angels, losing their place in the book of life. Choosing worldly approval, convenience or reputation over Christ is the way of seeking to preserve life that ends in its loss, while denying self and enduring reproach for Christ leads to life.
The cross of Christ is a pledge of eternal life in the kingdom of glory, so choosing Christ means accepting self-denial, suffering and reproach in this life. Accepting the truth courageously and not being ashamed of His cross is connected with happiness in this life and in the future immortal life. Preserving worldly interests at the cost of faith and loyalty to God imperils the soul, while denying self and accepting sacrifice for God's sake leads to the saving of life. No temporal gain or comfort is worth losing God's presence and favor or the soul's highest interest.
Trying to build oneself up and preserve one's own life ends in loss, as repeated labor in that way loses the labor. The verse therefore applies to the stakes of conduct, for each must live as someone with a soul to save or lose. This calls for sober speech and behavior, especially before people who do not acknowledge God, and for using the voice to glorify God rather than complain or find fault. Once in grace is not always in grace, for even long workers are in constant danger and need to be reconverted, to watch unto prayer and to watch their words, lest methods of human devising govern their minds and decisions.
To save life is to try to preserve it by self-love and self-interest, by putting self first and keeping one's own will and way, while to lose life for Christ is to let self-love perish, deny self and submit the will to God. Losing life is giving body, soul and spirit wholly to Him to whom life belongs, taking up the cross daily and following Him, and that very losing is the saving of it. It is freely giving life in service to God and man as grain cast into the furrow of the world's need, for the law of self-sacrifice is the law of self-preservation, as the husbandman preserves grain by casting it away. Christ Himself illustrates and fulfills the principle, for He gave His life for humanity and endured the cross for the joy of winning the world back, having seen the whole path from manger to Calvary and still chosen it in delight to do God's will. Those who surrender life for Him and share His reproach and suffering now will share His glory and be counted worthy of everlasting life when He comes in His kingdom, while those who cling to worldly life and are ashamed of Him will be disowned by Him before the Father and the holy angels.
Saving and Losing Life
Trying to save life is trying to preserve it by self-love and self-interest, by putting self first and holding to one's own will, pleasure and way. Losing life for Christ is letting self-love and self-interest perish, denying self, bearing the cross and submitting the will to God to follow Jesus through good and bad report. What saves is what the person himself must do, giving body, soul and spirit wholly to the service of the Redeemer to whom life and all that he has belong, taking up the cross daily and following Christ, for the very losing of life to the gospel is the saving of it.
Losing life is freely giving it in service to God and man, casting it like grain into the furrow of the world's need. The law of self-sacrifice is the law of self-preservation, for as the husbandman preserves grain by casting it away, so Christ the Seed brought forth fruit for God only through sacrifice.
Losing life is eagerly grasping the merits of Christ's blood, devoting oneself to God, leaving all to follow Jesus and choosing to suffer with Christ, and the same shall save life and realize the blessing of God. A person's own set, unsubdued will must die or hope of eternal life must die, because both cannot live at once, and traveling the way of the transgressor to keep one's own way loses eternal life and heaven. Gaining even the whole world is worthless if the self is lost and cast away.
Christ's Sacrifice and Example
Luke 9:24 belongs to the foreshadowing of the cross, where losing life for Christ's sake is what saves it. Christ's own self-sacrifice illustrates the principle, for He gave His life for humanity and endured the cross for the joy of winning the world back to loyalty to God. The verse is fulfilled in Christ Himself in order to save that which was lost. Even before taking humanity upon Him, laying aside His crown and royal robe and clothing divinity with humanity, He saw in vivid outline the whole length of the path He must travel from the manger to Calvary, with every pang that would rend His heart, every insult heaped upon His head, every privation to be endured and the anguish to come upon Him open to His view, and knowing it all He still chose that path in delight to do God's will with God's law within His heart.
Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice in coming to this world to save the fallen race. Life is preserved by following Christ rather than living for oneself. Those who would be co-laborers with Christ must loyally carry His work of saving souls in the same self-sacrificing way, teaching and working as He did. This faithful, self-sacrificing life leads to the life to come.
Promise Warning and Application
To share Christ's glory at His appearing requires sharing His reproach and suffering now, for preserving life by refusing to suffer for Him leads to its loss, while giving it up for Him leads to its saving. Obedience to God rather than compromise or leading others into disobedience belongs to that losing of life, since glory with Christ is promised only to those who bear reproach with Him. Following Jesus therefore means accepting suffering, reproach and shame for His name, bearing the cross and giving up worldly hopes of pomp and pleasure, with those who surrender life for Jesus sharing His glory and those who cling to worldly life and its rewards losing what matters.
Losing life for Christ means denying self, bearing the cross and following Jesus through good and bad report, rather than putting self first. Keeping His cross in view moves a person to give body, soul and spirit to God, while faith in Jesus who gave His life grants access to heaven's treasures and equips for useful service to God. That losing of life includes consecration to the Lord and service in His work of saving souls through daily self-denial and sacrifice for His sake, so that refusing self-denial or putting a price on service stands against the commitment.
Those who surrender life for Jesus and choose Christ above earthly ties and treasure will share His glory, be acknowledged by Him and be counted worthy of everlasting life as joint-heirs when He takes possession of His kingdom. The promise of being joint-heirs rests on willingness to deny self, with those who have followed Him on earth in self-denial and self-sacrifice receiving everlasting life. By contrast, those who cling to worldly life and are ashamed of Him and His words will be disowned and face His shame at His coming in His own glory and the Father's and the holy angels, losing their place in the book of life. Choosing worldly approval, convenience or reputation over Christ is the way of seeking to preserve life that ends in its loss, while denying self and enduring reproach for Christ leads to life.
The cross of Christ is a pledge of eternal life in the kingdom of glory, so choosing Christ means accepting self-denial, suffering and reproach in this life. Accepting the truth courageously and not being ashamed of His cross is connected with happiness in this life and in the future immortal life. Preserving worldly interests at the cost of faith and loyalty to God imperils the soul, while denying self and accepting sacrifice for God's sake leads to the saving of life. No temporal gain or comfort is worth losing God's presence and favor or the soul's highest interest.
Trying to build oneself up and preserve one's own life ends in loss, as repeated labor in that way loses the labor. The verse therefore applies to the stakes of conduct, for each must live as someone with a soul to save or lose. This calls for sober speech and behavior, especially before people who do not acknowledge God, and for using the voice to glorify God rather than complain or find fault. Once in grace is not always in grace, for even long workers are in constant danger and need to be reconverted, to watch unto prayer and to watch their words, lest methods of human devising govern their minds and decisions.