Mt16

I joyfully give up my "nothing" to gain everything in Christ. Jesus does not want to be "added" to our lives. He wants to totally have them! If we have everything in this life without Jesus, we have nothing in the life to come.

"Beware of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Jesus said that it just takes a little false teaching to ruin the purity of the gospel. These religious leaders were all about keeping external rules and regulations to "earn" God's favor. Jesus makes it clear in this chapter that there is nothing one can do to "merit" salvation.

Jesus said, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it." Salvation comes not through merit, but rather through yielding our lives to Jesus. We must lose ourselves to gain Christ.