Do not have a mental block and say, “It is impossible to attain holiness.” For the Lord says, “Come out from among them. Do not touch what is unclean. Then I will receive you as My sons and daughters.” With the conviction that what the Bible says is true, we must truly learn to struggle for a holy life, not bound to this world. For only those who do the will of the Father—that is, those who live as Jesus lived in holiness, a life without blemish—will be received into His Eternal Dwelling. And only those who are not entangled with the world will become the bride of Christ, as pure virgins before the Lord.
Therefore, in light of this truth, we must understand and accept that if the Lord Jesus has already given His life for us, then we, too, must surrender our lives to Him. We cannot be considered redeemed if we do not give back the ransom, which is our very lives that have been redeemed—our lives must be returned to Him who has redeemed us. In the past, we may have been content simply living as Christians in name, without fulfilling the meaning of redemption that the Lord has accomplished. Now we must be willing to accept and understand that if the Lord Jesus has given His life for us, then we must also give our lives to Him.
No Christian has the right to withhold their life. If we receive Jesus as Savior, confess Him as Savior, and accept Him as Savior, then we must surrender our lives to Him. If not, we reject that redemption, which parallels those who reject living in holiness—for to reject holiness is to reject God. Sadly, the Christianity many of us have understood until now may be a Christianity that has been degraded, its value diminished. It is not pure Christianity, but a counterfeit one. Now let us return to what the Lord Jesus Himself taught.
If our glorious Lord Jesus Christ were standing here today teaching us, He would repeat what He taught 2,000 years ago: the matter of losing one’s life or surrendering one’s life. In Scripture, we find verses that record Jesus’ words about losing one’s life. But the surrender of life carries various contexts. First, it can mean separation (from family). Second, it means releasing attachment to the world. Third, it speaks of suffering or the cross—suffering for God’s plan or for His work.
Generally, people consider family as their very life. Yet when following Christ, this can become a stumbling block or a powerful hindrance, so that steadfast faithfulness to Christ cannot be realized because of family. The emotional bond between husband and wife, between parents and children, can damage the ideal relationship we should be building with God. Ironically, many sermons and family seminars even lead Christians to establish what they call a “family kingdom.” But this can undermine God’s plan to build the Kingdom Family in the new heaven and earth.
Saying this does not mean that households should be disharmonious or that families should be broken apart. However, we must remember that family can also be the most significant obstacle for someone in following Christ. For too long, it has been decorated as something so beautiful and full of flowers, as though family itself could be the ultimate source of happiness in life. But is this truly pleasing to God? The spiritual logic of the New Covenant people is different. The logic of Jesus Christ is different from the logic of religion or general ethical teachings. In Matthew 10:39, Jesus said: “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for My sake will find it.”