Do You Die to Yourself? (Matthew 16:21-27)

Is Jesus inviting you to die? Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me" (Mt 16:24).

• "(T)he center of salvation is the Cross of Jesus, and the reason it is so easy to obtain salvation is because it cost God so much"? Oswald Chambers.

1. Why did Jesus need to explain that he "must go to Jerusalem" to suffer and die (Mt 16:21; 20:17-29)?
2. Why did Peter strongly object (Mt 16:22)? Why is it so easy to proclaim who Jesus is (Mt 16:16), but so hard to accept how he works?
3. Why did Jesus call Peter "Satan" (Mt 16:23)? How would a Christian be "a stumbling block" (Phil 3:18)? What are the "merely human concerns" that you might prioritize that become obstacles to God's will?
4. 
   What does denying yourself look like during the week (Mt 16:24)?
• How do you interpret and practice taking up your "cross," which is a one-way walk to your execution?
• Do you die to yourself (Gal 2:20)? Die to the world (Gal 6:14)?
• Do you practice detachment to what you love--People? Pleasure? Possessions? Popularity? Prettiness? Prestige? Power?
5. How do you personally resolve the confounding massive paradox of losing your life in order to find your life (Mt 16:25)?
6. How do people [How might you] "gain the whole world, yet forfeit their [your] soul" (Mt 16:26)? Is this an ongoing temptation?
7. What have you done for which God "will reward" you (Mt 16:27; Rom 2:6-7)?
8. Do you "taste death" (Mt 16:28)?

• “In every Christian’s heart there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne till he puts himself on the cross. If he refuses the cross he remains on the throne. ... We want to be saved but insist that Christ do all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king ... but we doom ourselves to ... weakness and spiritual sterility.” A. W. Tozer. The Radical Cross. Living the Passion of Christ.