<p>9:25 <i>For what does it profit a man if he gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit his life?</i>- This threat rung in Paul&rsquo;s mind (in 1 Cor. 3:15; 2 Cor. 7:9; Phil. 3:8): If a man gains the world for Christ but does not take up the cross, or is ashamed of Christ's words and principles in this world, he will be <i>cast away</i>. Especially does Paul allude to these words in 1 Cor. 9:27: &quot;Lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway&quot;. Paul recognized his temptation: to think that his zeal for preaching excused him from taking up the cross. In essence, we must all see our own likely temptations: to focus on one area of spirituality, with the hope that it will excuse us from the cross.&nbsp;</p><p>Jesus speaks of how a person can lose their place in the Kingdom as a person losing or forfeiting their own self; He was thereby teaching that a place in the Kingdom was possessing one&rsquo;s own real self (Lk. 9:25 RV).<br />The Greek text in Mt. 16:25,26 and Lk. 9:25 can bear a re-translation and re-punctuation which quite alters the sense as found in the English translations. It shows the Lord emphasizing the evident and compelling logic of losing our lives for His sake: &quot;Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For how much a man is profited if he shall gain the whole world (in the Kingdom) and lose his own soul (now, as I asked you to do, to lose your soul for me)... for the Son of man shall come... and then he shall reward every man according to his works&quot;, i.e. the losing of our soul is through our everyday works. Lk. 9:25 makes the same point: 'How is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world (the Kingdom) and lose himself (now): <i>or</i> - be cast away, be condemned at the judgment, because he tried to keep his soul, he didn't see the logic of all this'. The point is, a man at the day of judgment will be willing to give up <i>everything</i>, even the whole world if he possesses it in order that he may find acceptance. But then it will be too late. <i>Now</i> is the time to resign all for the sake of that blessed acceptance.</p>