Question 1

What did Jesus Christ surrender for me?

Accepted Answer

Philippians 2:5-11You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.Jesus’ surrender was much more than his willingness to come to earth. He came as a human. He was not functioning in the world as a visiting God but as a human being with the same limitations as the rest of us. Though he remained God, he surrendered the right to exercise his divine power and functioned in complete dependence on God the Father, modelling for us how we are called to live.Mark 14:36“Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”John 4:34Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.”Romans 5:6-8When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.Galatians 1:4Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.Colossians 1:21-22This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.1 Thessalonians 5:10Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever.1 Peter 3:18Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.Jesus Christ willingly and obediently surrendered his will to God his Father and gave his life on the cross so that we can live eternally with him.

Question 2

What does it mean to surrender my life to God?

Accepted Answer

Mark 8:34Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”Romans 12:1-2So, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.Our surrender to God is as total as seeing ourselves as a sacrifice, no longer having rights to our will and our way. The world (and we) normally live to pursue what we want. Surrendering to God means we have embarked on a life of learning to want what God wants, to love what God loves.Genesis 6:22So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.Psalm 40:8I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.Isaiah 6:8Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”Isaiah 64:8Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.Acts 9:6“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”When we surrender to God, we give up what we think is best for us in order to receive what he knows is best for us. It involves the persistent desire to hear from God and a developed determination to do what God says.Mark 8:33-35Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he [Jesus] said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.”2 Corinthians 5:14-15Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.Galatians 2:20My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.Colossians 3:3You died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.When we surrender to God, we ask Jesus to live in us and through us. What greater honor could we have than to have the Son of God accomplish his divine purposes through us?

Question 3

Why must I surrender everything? What is the paradox of surrender?

Accepted Answer

Matthew 13:44“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.”Luke 9:25“What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?”Luke 17:33“If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.”Philippians 3:8Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.The paradox of surrender is that we gain everything by giving up everything. When we give up our agenda for God’s, when we give up control of our souls to God, we gain eternal life and eternal rewards. We also gain a sense of peace and security that we could never have otherwise.Matthew 16:25“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”Romans 6:4, 6, 8We died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. . . . We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. . . . And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him.Galatians 2:20My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.2 Timothy 2:11This is a trustworthy saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him.We receive true and eternal life by giving up our lives. This is not a trade; it’s willingly removing an obstacle (ourselves) in order to receive freely God’s gift of eternal life. When we give up our temporary life here on earth to God, he gives us eternal life.

Question 4

What must I surrender to God?

Accepted Answer

Luke 14:33“So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.”Luke 18:21-23The man replied, “I’ve obeyed all these commandments since I was young.” When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich.Philippians 3:8Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.1 John 5:21Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.We must surrender anything and everything that threatens to take God’s place in our hearts. Anything that takes God’s place of top priority in our lives is an idol, a false god we have chosen to worship instead of him. If we cannot surrender to God, we are showing that we have surrendered to something or someone else.Romans 6:2, 6-7, 11Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? . . . We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. . . . So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.Galatians 5:24-25Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.Colossians 2:20You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world?1 Peter 2:24He [Jesus] personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.1 Peter 4:1So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.We must surrender our sinful desires and passions to God’s forgiveness, for we cannot live in the presence of a Holy God with the filth of sin infecting our hearts. This surrender is difficult, since it does violence to our will and our selfish inclinations, but it is easy compared to a life and eternity without God.

Question 5

How do I surrender to God?

Accepted Answer

Matthew 26:42Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.”As was true in Jesus’ experience, life will confront us with reminders of the necessity not only to surrender to God in a general way but also to surrender to him in the face of the temptation to assert our wills.Matthew 6:10“May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”Matthew 12:50“Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”John 5:30“I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.”Ephesians 6:6Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart.James 4:15What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”1 John 2:17This world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.We should ask God to help us put his will above ours. When our will takes precedence over God’s will, we are proudly announcing that we know what is best for us and therefore know more than God.John 3:16“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”1 John 1:9If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.We must believe that Jesus Christ is who he says he is—the Son of God who came to earth to show us how to receive eternal life. Then we must accept this message as true—that all people (including us) are infected with sin and need forgiveness of sin to be acceptable in God’s sight. This requires humility and surrender.Psalm 40:8I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.We must accept the Bible as the God’s Word to us. Then we will be better able to understand God’s will for us. This is a dual surrender of recognizing God as the Source of his Word and then obeying what it instructs.Luke 6:46“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?”John 14:15, 21“If you love me, obey my commandments. . . . Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”John 15:10, 14“When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. . . . You are my friends if you do what I command.”Philippians 2:13God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.Colossians 2:6Now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.Obedience to God requires that we surrender what we want to do and do what God wants us to do, for that is the way to a happy and fulfilled life. We will not be able to do this consistently without God’s help.Romans 6:12Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.Romans 13:14Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.1 Corinthians 10:13The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.Resisting temptation requires surrender. Temptation is Satan’s strategy for leading us into his sinful, destructive way of living rather than God’s holy way of living. The Bible expresses God’s desire to lead us into a totally satisfying life and ultimately eternal life. We must choose one way or the other.Psalm 143:10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.We must learn all we can about living for God. We can begin by studying his Word, reading good books, and talking to mature, godly people. This will help us stay firm in our surrender to God.1 John 1:9If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.1 John 5:14-15We are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.We should pray. Prayer requires that we surrender our desires to God’s desires; that we move from asking for things to asking what we can do for others. Prayer is bringing our life into harmony with our Creator by surrendering to his will.Matthew 22:37-40Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”We must love God with our whole being. This requires that we surrender everything we are—our hearts, our souls, and our minds. We must practice that surrender in our relationships by loving others unselfishly.Romans 6:12-13Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.Romans 8:5-9, 12-14Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. . . . Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.Romans 12:1-2So, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.1 Corinthians 6:19-20Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.Colossians 3:1-3Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.We must learn to live our lives with an eternal perspective rather than with the limited perspective of life on this earth. This will help us have the proper perspective in all that we do.Ephesians 5:2Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.Philippians 2:3Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.1 John 4:19-20We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?We must learn to love others. Love expressed is life enriched. God loves others, so if we surrender to him, we must love those he loves. We cannot bypass others and claim we love God.