“And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Mark 8:34
For the sake of brevity I have only posted the “opening” of what Jesus’ Demands are for His Followers. Also, let me be clear, there are many today who would claim that these are for His Disciples, or those who have made Jesus their Lord, and not for those who He has Saved. I thoroughly Refute that View in the strongest terms!!!
Consider the rest of this Verse to the end of the Chapter. Jesus says “If ANYONE (emphasis mine) wishes to come after Me, he MUST (same) deny himself, take up his cross, follow Me, and lose his life”, and negatively, NOT “save his life, gain the world, and be ashamed of Him and His Words”!!! These are Non Negotiable if you consider yourself a Christian.
Now, I am not saying they Must be perfected in us; not at all. We All fail to live up to the Demands of these Attributes every day! But the Desire MUST be present within our hearts and the Effort to Do Them, or they Do Not Exist! Remember what Jesus has said, “The Gate is Small and the Way is Narrow”. This is one of the reasons He said this. May God pour out His Spirit on us more and more and give us this Necessary Grace!