In our study of Mark last time we left off in Mark 8:33; with Jesus rebuke of Peter with the words " "Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's."

Peter is not Satan but Peter expresses satanic viewpoint that has become human viewpoint when he rebukes Jesus with the objective of having Him to by-pass the cross. Peter expresses the mental attitude held by all twelve of the disciples. The desire that the crown must come before the cross.

Jesus therefore immediately and strongly repudiates this idea by comparing Peter's comment to Satan's statement in Matt 4:9-10; where Satan tried to get Jesus to by-pass the cross with the statement: "I will give you all the kingdoms of the world if you will fall down and worship me,"

Satan's offer was legitimate because he is the ruler of the world. He was trying to get Jesus to by-pass the cross but Jesus told him to get lost and He did the same thing to Peter.

Peter unwittingly became the spokesman for Satan because he had set his mind on human and satanic viewpoint. The Greek word "phroneo" that is translated "mind" means, "to have a mental disposition for".

Peter has a mental disposition for the things of men, human values and viewpoints human sentiment rather than the truth of the decree of God that in Jesus case required the cross and Jesus refused to abandon the cross because it was God's destiny for His life.

Mark 8:34; In the context of these mutual rebukes, the disciples are standing there in shock and Jesus calls the crowd to Him along with His disciples and says:

"If" anyone (first class condition: and people will do it. And the way you do it is through knowledge of doctrine) "anyone will come after me." We have two verbs here: will and come. The word "will" means if anyone desires, and the desire is a present active indicative, so it means keeps on desiring.

This is a positive volition statement; to "come after" is an aorist active infinitive. The aorist tense is a point of time; the active voice: you do something yourself in that point of time: believe in Christ. "After me" starts us with the cross, so Christ illustrates the principle of the cross before the crown and, at the same time, applies it to His disciples.

The plan of God the Father is for God the Son to go to the cross before He receives the crown but. Peter has suggested that Jesus ignore the plan of God and follow the satanic suggestion and emotional human sentiment to bypass the cross.

"he must deny himself" - aorist middle imperative. Net note 53 The aorist tense is the point of time when you are operating under human good. The middle voice: you must chose to function under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit and Bible Doctrine in order to do it; imperative mood: this is an order.

To deny or disregard self means the renunciation and rejection of human good. It must be rejected; the imperative mood makes it an order. The only way you can get rid of human good is to be under the control of the God the Holy Spirit rather than under the control of the old sin nature, and that means the application of the principle of 1John 1:9.

"Take up his cross" refers to the execution of divine good. "Take up is an aorist active imperative, it means "pick up", and it doesn't have anything to do with Jesus' cross. It refers to Peter's cross after salvation, and it also refers to the cross of every believer after salvation.

The Roman custom of crucifixion was a custom of condemnation and humiliation. It was a sign of disgrace.

The issue on the cross was the self-denial of Jesus to the point of death on behalf of the human race. Phil 2:8; The issue for those who follow the Lord is self-denial even to the point of death in service to Him. Phil 1:29;

So the cross actually indicates the willingness to set aside what the world believes is important that can be used as a substitute for God's plan for the believer after salvation.

In this passage "his cross" refers to the believer's willingness to set aside his human talent, energy of the flesh, and inherent or acquired ability that can function on the basis of human good.

The idea of picking up your cross involves self-discipline. To pick up the cross is to follow a course of action that is contrary to public thinking. So taking up your cross means the self-discipline of attending Bible class regardless of any factor, it is the principle of not letting anything to distract you from taking in God's Word.

This involves the discipline and training that is revealed in the Word and the discipline and correction that is necessary for spiritual growth. 2Tim 3:16; When you have maximum doctrine in your soul and doctrine dictates your decisions in life you become spiritually self-sustaining. Eph 4:13;

Doctrine on the pages of the Bible cannot control you, you must transfer the word (rhema) that is communicated by a pastor-teacher into your soul through genuine and enforced humility under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

When you have taken in Bible doctrine to the point where it becomes your standard of reference for thinking it becomes your dictator and conveys to you what you should do on any given occasion. Paul refers to this principle in 2Tim 2:15;

"Follow me" emphasizes divine good. It is a present active imperative. Keep on performing divine good. Keep on following me. Get into My plan and stay in My plan. God's plan for believers is to reject human good and produce divine good.

Peter in particular is challenged here. The invitation to follow the Lord requires self-denial and the willingness to put one's life on the line for Him.

Peter was quick to verbalize loyalty to the Lord but when that loyalty is put under pressure he fails. These failures are explained by the fact that although Peter indicates by his words that he "follows" the Lord, his mental attitude and his actions reveal that in his heart or thinking he really does not understand what it requires.

Verses 35-38 amplify this in four steps. Each verse begins with the Greek word "Gar" that is translated "For".

Mark 8:35; Step one: "Whoever will save his life (soul)." The word "life" isn't life but soul. Net note 55 Whoever means anyone can be saved. "Will save" are two verbs: "will" expresses positive volition, whoever keeps on desiring. And then in a point of time positive volition toward the Person of Jesus Christ becomes salvation.

The word "save" is aorist tense. This indicates that there is positive volition and then at some point positive volition receives the correct information under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit, and when it does (aorist tense) salvation takes place immediately.

So, whoever will save his soul is actually entrance into eternal life by faith alone in Christ alone. Acts 16:31;

Step two: "shall lose it." "Losing it" is analogous to picking up your cross. It is a future tense because this is the logical result of regeneration. You should lose it as a result of regeneration.

The future tense is a logical progression. To "lose it" means to give up your personal agenda. In this case the soul refers to the soulish man who is controlled by the sin-nature So when you accept Christ as saviour you "lose it." What do you lose? You lose human good that is not acceptable in the plan of God.

Step three: "Whoever shall lose his soul for my sake (or because of me)." This loss is the believer setting aside all categories of human good.

Step four: "shall find it." Find what? Find divine good. You discover there is something far greater than human good.

When believers understand the complete sufficiency of divine good they have no time to waste on human good because they recognize its complete insufficiency. Paul expresses this in Phil 3:7-14;

In four steps Jesus describes the dynamics of the Christian life as the power of the Spirit producing divine good through the application of Bible Doctrine, and that human viewpoint and human good must be rejected.

He shows why anything the unbeliever can do is not the Christian way of life because it is simply human good.

Jesus is also making a play on words using the terms "lose" and "life" (soul). The soul on one hand is one's natural physical life but it also refers to one's true self, the essential person that goes on living even after we die physically. John 11:26;