"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a man's enemies will be the members of his own household' " (Matt 10:34-36). It is after this that Jesus speaks of loving a father or mother, a son or daughter, more than himself. In this context the words in Matthew are not essentially different from those in Luke.
Quite frequently, when I am conducting weddings, I point out that the family is the most basic of all human institutions. The family was the first school; from the education that took place in the home all other institutions of education - grade schools, academies, colleges, and vocational institutes - developed. The family was the first hospital; healing and nursing originally took place within the home. The family was the first government; from a father’s leadership in his home came patriarchal, monarchical, and eventually democratic forms of human rule. If the family stands, society stands. If the family falls, these other forms of social achievement and order will fall with it.
In order to be a disciple, I must pay the price of my own understanding of life, of what it is all about, and of what ultimately matters. I must surrender my confused and contradictory opinions to the revelation of God in Scripture. I must never attempt to correct or second-guess God. But when I bring every thought into captivity to Christ, I find true liberation. As Jesus said, "...you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).
It is not hard to be an outward Christian. A person can go to church once or twice on Sunday and pretend to be tolerably upright during the week. There is no self-denial, no sacrifice here. If this kind of mere outward Christianity is all it takes to gain heaven, then, as Ryle suggests, we must alter our Lord's words to read: "Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to heaven" (Matt. 7:13). We must imagine Jesus saying to the rich young man: "You can serve God and Money."
On what basis did the early preachers of the gospel, including the Lord Jesus Christ, call for repentance and demand a change of mind? Solely on the revelation given by God in Scripture. What Scripture condemns must be repudiated. What Scripture commends must be affirmed. No one can have sola Scriptura without paying a cost in the moral realm.
