What Did Jesus Really Mean When He Said Follow Me?

by David Platt

Ultimately the call to follow Jesus is a call to die—to die to ourselves and to die to the things of this world. But at the same time, it is a call to live—to experience unbridled joy as we follow Jesus wherever he leads in this world. The four fishermen knew this, and they gave their lives to follow him. Have you answered the call?

Our problem is that we are all—at the very core of our being—rebels against God. This rebellion is what the Bible calls sin, and it keeps us from God.

We naturally view sin through man-centered eyes. We cannot imagine responding this way if the offenses were against us. When people do something we have asked them not to do, we don’t conclude that they should die. Yet the penalty for sin is not determined by our measure of it. Instead, the penalty for sin is determined by the magnitude of the one sinned against. If you sin against a log, you are not very guilty. On the other hand, if you sin against a man or a woman, then you are absolutely guilty. And ultimately, if you sin against an infinitely holy and eternal God, you are infinitely guilty and worthy of eternal punishment.

Does God hate sinners? Listen closely to Psalm 5:5-6: “The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors.” And this is not an isolated statement in the Bible. Fourteen times in the first fifty psalms alone we read of God’s hatred toward the sinner, his wrath toward the liar, and so on. In John 3—that chapter where we have one of the most famous verses about God’s love (John 3:16: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”)—we also have one of the most neglected verses about God’s wrath (John 3:36): “Whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

Our sin is not something that exists outside of us. Sin is ingrained into the core of our being. We don’t just sin; we exist as sinners. So when Jesus went to the cross to die, he was not just taking the payment of sin, as if it were separate from us. He was not just dying for our lusting or our lying or our cheating or our other sins. Instead, he was paying the price that was due us as sinners.

Meanwhile, God is holy, possessing righteous wrath toward sin and sinners alike. Yet God is also merciful, possessing holy love toward sinners. So how can God show both righteous wrath and holy love toward sinners at the same time? This is the climactic question of the Bible, and the answer is the cross of Christ. At the cross of Christ, God shows the full expression of both his wrath and his love as Jesus is stricken, smitten, afflicted, wounded, crushed, and chastised for the sake of sinners.

Does God hate sinners? Absolutely. Look at the cross. Jesus is enduring the punishment we are due. But does God love sinners? Absolutely. Look at the cross. Jesus is saving us from the punishment we are due.

Speaking to people who used to be characterized by sin-saturated lives, Paul says, “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Definitive sanctification! I describe it as a big leap in sanctification that occurs at conversion. "How can those who died to sin still live in it?" And Jesus told his disciples they were already clean, but they needed to wash each other's feet until he returns.

Faith is the realization that God’s pleasure in you will never be based upon your performance for him. Instead, God’s pleasure in you will always be based upon Christ’s performance for you.

I need to care more about this. I'm afraid I always desired sanctification but never desired justification until now.

Repentance is a rich biblical term that signifies an elemental transformation in someone’s mind, heart, and life. When people repent, they turn from walking in one direction to running in the opposite direction. From that point forward, they think differently, believe differently, feel differently, love differently, and live differently.

Comprehensive! This is so good!

Jesus’ predominantly Jewish audience believed that their family heritage, social status, knowledge of specific rules, and obedience to certain regulations were sufficient to make them right before God.

Nowadays such things are presented as evidence someone is already saved

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. . . . I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” The meaning behind these words is mind-blowing. When you come to Jesus, he puts the source of his life in the center of your life.

Jesus died for you so that he might live in you. Jesus doesn’t merely improve your old nature; he imparts to you an entirely new nature—one that is completely united with his. Everything that belongs to him becomes yours. His righteousness replaces your unrighteousness. His Spirit fills your spirit. His love becomes your love. His joy becomes your joy. His mind becomes your mind. His desires become your desires. His will becomes your will. His purpose becomes your purpose. His power becomes your power. The Christian life thus becomes nothing less than the outliving of the indwelling Christ. This is the essence of what it means to be a Christian—a follower of Christ.

LETTING GO OF SIN and dying to ourselves is costly. When Jesus approached those four fishermen by the sea, he beckoned them to leave behind their professions, possessions, dreams, ambitions, family, friends, safety, and security. He bid them to abandon everything. “If anyone is going to follow me, he must deny himself,” Jesus would say repeatedly. In a world where everything revolves around self—protect yourself, promote yourself, preserve yourself, entertain yourself, comfort yourself, take care of yourself—Jesus said, “Slay yourself.”

Slay yourself!

In Jesus, these men found someone worth losing everything for. In Christ, they encountered a love that surpassed comprehension, a satisfaction that superseded circumstances, and a purpose that transcended every other possible pursuit in this world. They eagerly, willingly, and gladly lost their lives in order to know, follow, and proclaim him.

Inexpressible joy, surpassing peace, overflowing comfort, abounding hope, etc