{"id":49192,"date":"2016-10-03T21:37:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T02:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=49192"},"modified":"2022-07-02T21:40:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-03T02:40:26","slug":"does-god-expect-us-to-do-our-part","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-expect-us-to-do-our-part\/","title":{"rendered":"Does God expect us to do our part?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

When Simon helps carries Jesus’ cross in Mark 15:21, does it have any special meaning? I remember a pastor talking about how Jesus told Christians to deny ourselves and take up our own cross (such as in Luke 9:23), but He could not carry His own cross. Simon had to carry it for Him. The pastor said the meaning of this is that we cannot achieve salvation alone. That the difference between the world and Christians is that the world tries to achieve it themselves, but Christians merely surrender to God and let God work through them.<\/p>\n

I know that you cannot achieve salvation on your own, but when Jesus tells his disciples to deny themselves, repent of sins, take up their cross, and also consider the cost of following Him, do the disciples merely have to surrender to God, and God will work through them? Or does God still expect them to do their own part?<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

The preacher took a story from the Bible to illustrate a belief of his, but his use of the story does not prove his point. Illustrations are not proof, they only help you understand the point better.<\/p>\n

When Jesus said to take up your cross, he was indicating that choosing to be a Christian comes at a cost that may include hardships. We have to be willing to bear those hardships to follow him. We cannot let hardships be an excuse to give up following Christ. See:\u00a0What did Jesus mean when he said to take up his cross daily and follow him?<\/a> When you are deciding to be a true follower of Christ, you need to realize that it is a life-long commitment. You need to realize what you are committing to so you are prepared to stay the course until the end.<\/p>\n

When Jesus stumbled under the load of his cross, it shows that he was not super-human (Hebrews 2:9-15). He suffered, just like you and I. Not long before he had been scourged and beaten. He suffered a large amount of blood loss. Of course, he was weak at that moment.<\/p>\n

Of course, no one is saved by their own efforts. It required God coming in the flesh to die on man’s behalf. “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. … Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted<\/em>” (Hebrews 2:9-10,17-18). But this does not mean that God expects men to do nothing. In surrendering ourselves to God, we become servants of God.<\/p>\n