In 8:35 the Lord goes on to say, “For whoever wants to save his soul life will lose it, but whoever will lose his soul life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it.” In this verse the Lord speaks about the soul life, whereas in the preceding verse He speaks about the self. Actually, these terms, the soul life and the self, are synonymous. Our soul life is our self, and our self is our soul life. We ourselves are a soul.
In 8:33-35 three matters are related to one another: mind, self, and soul life. Our mind is the expression of our self, and our self is the embodiment of our soul life. Our soul life is embodied in and lived out by our self, and our self is expressed through our mind, thought, concept, opinion. When we set our mind, not on the things of God, but on the things of man, our mind grasps the opportunity to act and express itself. This was what happened with Peter. Therefore, the Lord said that we must deny the self and not save our soul life. Instead of saving the soul life, we should lose it. To lose the soul life is the reality of denying the self. This is to take up the cross.
In verse 35 the Lord speaks of saving the soul life and losing the soul life. We may say that to save the soul life is to allow the soul to have its enjoyment and not to suffer. To lose the soul life is to cause the soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment. If the followers of the Slave-Savior allow their soul to have its enjoyment in this age, they will cause their soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment in the coming kingdom age. If they allow their soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment in this age for the sake of the Lord and the gospel, they will cause their soul to have its enjoyment in the coming kingdom age.
In verse 35 the Lord speaks of losing the soul life for His sake and the gospel’s. Many readers of the Gospel of Mark misinterpret the Lord’s word about losing our soul life for His sake and the gospel’s. Some may say, “The words ‘for My sake’ mean for the Lord’s purpose and glory. The phrase ‘for the gospel’s’ must mean for the sake of the preaching of the gospel, for the sake of the effectiveness and result of the gospel. For the sake of the Lord’s glory and for the sake of preaching the gospel, I must behave myself in a proper way.” This concept is wrong. It is not a correct interpretation of the Lord’s word here.
What, then, is the correct understanding of “for My sake and the gospel’s”? Here for the Lord’s sake actually means “no longer I, but the gospel.” We have been terminated in Christ. Now we need to apply this termination to ourselves and to every aspect of our living. Then in our living it will be “no longer I, but Christ, no longer I, but the gospel.” This means that we shall be living Christ and living the gospel. This is very different from trying to behave ourselves properly as Christians for the sake of the Lord’s glory and for the sake of the effectiveness of the gospel.
Let me illustrate the difference between living Christ and the gospel and trying to behave properly for the sake of Christ and the gospel. Suppose a certain brother is working in an office. This brother may say to himself, “My colleagues here in the office realize that I am a Christian and that I am in the church in the Lord’s recovery. Recently I have preached the gospel to them. Now I should behave myself and be very careful about what I say and do. For the gospel’s sake, I need to be careful with my colleagues. Now that I have preached the gospel to them and have told them that I am in the church, I need to be very watchful concerning my conduct.” Actually, this is a matter of the brother’s own effort. Furthermore, it is an absolutely incorrect understanding of the Lord’s word in 8:35.
If this brother working in the office has the correct understanding of the Lord’s word, he will say to himself, “As a follower of the Lord Jesus, I am a partaker of Him. I have been crucified with Him. Now it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. At work I do not need to try to behave myself. I do not have to exert myself to be so careful. Instead, I should simply live Christ day by day. When I wake up in the morning, I need to call on the Lord Jesus and breathe Him in. As I call on Him, He becomes my breath, the intrinsic and essential element of my inner being, the essence of my living. Then at the office I simply live Him. I shall not deliberately try to preach the gospel to my colleagues, and I shall not worry because of the fact that I have told them that I am in the church. I only care for one thing—for living Christ. All day long, I want to breathe in Christ and then live Him.” This is the correct understanding of losing our soul life for the Lord’s sake.
The principle is the same in the matter of living for the sake of the gospel. When we live Christ, we shall certainly live the gospel. As we live Christ, others will see the gospel in our living and not only hear it. Our living will be Christ, and this Christ will become the gospel to others in an actual and practical way. By this we see that living for the sake of Christ and the gospel is not a matter of our behavior; it is a matter of living Christ in a practical way. Regarding this, I would say once again that we need the Epistles of Paul in order to have an adequate understanding of the Lord’s word in verse 35.
In 8:27-38 we have an unveiling not only of the Lord’s wonderful Person, but also of His death and resurrection. This unveiling also includes our application of the Lord’s death and our living in His resurrection. Through the application of Christ’s death to ourselves we may live in Christ in resurrection.