May 20, 2026 Message: Did Jesus Tell Everyone They Need to Take Up Their Cross to be Saved?

When the Bible speaks of taking up one’s cross, it is speaking of surrendering to deny self in order to not yield to sin and follow Jesus in doing whatever His Word commands.

Though multitudes of preachers will say that you should take up your cross to be Jesus’ disciple, they also teach that this is not connected to your salvation. They rather teach that you can accept salvation from Jesus as a gift which isn’t dependent upon taking up your cross as the Bible commands. This means that, whether these preachers admit or not, they are actually saying that Christian discipleship is just an optional extra and not a requirement for being in God’s grace.

Something which many say to try to prove this is that Jesus only told those who were already His disciples to take up their cross and not the general public. However, we have clear examples where Jesus told the people of the general public that they need to take up their cross in order to inherit eternal life and be saved. Those who say that Jesus never preached the need to up your cross to the general public are not telling the truth. It is also evident that anyone who says that Jesus is not speaking of salvation in the following verses is not telling the truth.

Mark 8:34-38: “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Belief in Jesus that justifies a person cannot be separated from being obedient to Him. That is how there is no contradiction between John 3:16 and Mark 8:34-38. Jesus is called the author of eternal unto all them that obey Him in Hebrews 5:9. Believing in Him in the manner the Bible prescribes means coming under His authority. This requires embracing the entire testimony of Him which culminates in His resurrection from the dead. He shed His blood on the cross to bring us back under His authority. His resurrection from the dead testifies of His rightful authority over all and His coming return to assume that rightful rule over all of creation.

The devil’s deception of Eve in Genesis 3 was tricking her into thinking that she could partake of eternal life without being subject to God’s authority. If Eve had believed the Lord instead of the Serpent she would have not eaten of the tree which the Lord had commanded that she not eat from. The Lord had testified that she would surely die if she did so. Adam and Eve surely did die through partaking of the forbidden tree. Their fellowship with their Creator and the joy of their pure state were taken from them. They had entered the broad way to condemnation in the lake of fire. They had also set their own bodies, and creation itself, on a course of death.

Only the blood of Jesus Christ can bring anyone out of a state of spiritual death. Yet no one can be brought out of spiritual death by the blood of Christ who does not repent of deeds which oppose God’s authority and submit to His authority. Deeds which oppose His authority are sins. Sins are the transgressions of His law (see 1 John 3:4).

It was established early on in Genesis that having spiritual life from the true God cannot be separated from being under His authority. Denying oneself, taking up one’s cross, and following Jesus is equivalent to forsaking regard for sin and submitting to Jesus’ supreme authority. Those who preach a gospel which doesn’t demand this as a condition for salvation are preaching a false gospel.

Some deceitful evangelists who think they should relieve man of his obligations before his Almighty Creator love to quote Acts 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” They say “Look, it’s so easy.” They conveniently gloss over that phrase “the Lord” and/or they act like believing in the Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t involve forsaking all regard for sin and being obedient to the instructions of His Word. These deceitful evangelists are very unlikely to even mention the verses afterwards either.

Acts 16:32-34: “And they spoke unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.”

The Philippian jailer, whom the words in Acts 16:31 were directly spoken to, evidently became a disciple and began to command his household in the ways of the Lord. He did not understand this to be something he could put off for later. He obviously knew that taking up one’s cross is not optional for salvation. Note in Acts 16:32 that a lot more was said to the Philippian jailer after the general statement which is recorded in Acts 16:31.