"Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him" (2 Tim. 2:11, NIV).
"...' If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me'" (Mark 8:34, ESV).
"For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3, NASB).
It has been said that Christ didn't come to make bad people good, but dead people live! Paul says in Ephesians that we were dead in trespasses and sins and He made us alive in Christ (cf. Eph. 2:5). We have to die to sin to become a believer and exchange our life in the flesh for one in the Spirit. Missionary Jim Elliott was admonished not to go to a mission field because he "might die." He replied that he had already died when he became a Christian. Jesus did say that we have to die to self and deny ourselves to become disciples. We know that we died because we have come to life! "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ..." (Col. 2:13, NIV).
Someone was polling people if they wanted to go to heaven. He couldn't get any answers in the affirmative. He later found out that they thought he meant right now. It seems people are interested in heaven but are in no hurry to go there. Paul was looking forward to heaven and knew his reward would be great: life was Christ, but to die was gain. The strength of testimony is its ability to put one's life on the line for it. People won't die for something they don't have faith in. And most people aren't willing to die or even live for any cause or person. The witnesses in the tribulation "did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death," according to Rev. 12:11, (NIV). You cannot be a disciple if you love your life more than Jesus, period. Saying "Yes" to Jesus implicates saying "No" to self!
The Christian life is not so much a changed life, though that is a sign and the point of conversion, but the idea fulfilled is an exchanged or substituted life, in which Christ lives through you, as it is written: "...which is Christ in you, the hope of glory," in Col. 1:27 (NIV). Paul expresses this truth plainly in Gal. 2:20 (NIV) as follows: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God...[emphasis added]" We must not so much as just imitate Christ or wonder what he would do, but let Him live through us doing His will as we walk in the Spirit by obedience.
We must die to self, and this doesn't mean denying ourselves certain things such as candy that have no inherent evil, but denying the "me" in ourselves (our ego), i.e., living selfishly for self. Jesus wasn't looking for sidekicks nor admirers, but devoted disciples who counted the cost! Living for Christ is the only way to live and we must orient our whole life to reflect Christ's will. We must count ourselves dead to sin, but alive to Christ as Paul says in Romans 6:11. Should we, who have died to sin, live in anymore in it? We have been freed from sin's dominion and are no longer its slave; we are not free to live in sin but to live in God's will. When we do sin we show our slavery, not our freedom. We're not free to live in the flesh but empowered to live in the Spirit. We need a faith we'll die for, not one we can live with!
In summation and practicality, what do we need to know? We crucified our old sin nature at salvation and exchanged our life of sin for a life in Christ, and the only way we will be joyful as believers is in being in His will and in seeking Christ. The closer we are to Him the more fulfilled we are, and the believer in sin is very miserable and needs to know that his life is in Christ, not the world and what it has to offer--the more we are filled with the things of the world, the less room we have for Christ.
Dying to self is not a one-time act, but a progressive venture in Christ. That is why it is written in Isaiah 55:6 (ESV): "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near." David sought the LORD often according to Psalm 27:8 (ESV): "You have said, 'Seek my face.' My heart says to you, 'Your face LORD, do I seek.'" Soli Deo Gloria!
"...' If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me'" (Mark 8:34, ESV).
"For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3, NASB).
It has been said that Christ didn't come to make bad people good, but dead people live! Paul says in Ephesians that we were dead in trespasses and sins and He made us alive in Christ (cf. Eph. 2:5). We have to die to sin to become a believer and exchange our life in the flesh for one in the Spirit. Missionary Jim Elliott was admonished not to go to a mission field because he "might die." He replied that he had already died when he became a Christian. Jesus did say that we have to die to self and deny ourselves to become disciples. We know that we died because we have come to life! "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ..." (Col. 2:13, NIV).
Someone was polling people if they wanted to go to heaven. He couldn't get any answers in the affirmative. He later found out that they thought he meant right now. It seems people are interested in heaven but are in no hurry to go there. Paul was looking forward to heaven and knew his reward would be great: life was Christ, but to die was gain. The strength of testimony is its ability to put one's life on the line for it. People won't die for something they don't have faith in. And most people aren't willing to die or even live for any cause or person. The witnesses in the tribulation "did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death," according to Rev. 12:11, (NIV). You cannot be a disciple if you love your life more than Jesus, period. Saying "Yes" to Jesus implicates saying "No" to self!
The Christian life is not so much a changed life, though that is a sign and the point of conversion, but the idea fulfilled is an exchanged or substituted life, in which Christ lives through you, as it is written: "...which is Christ in you, the hope of glory," in Col. 1:27 (NIV). Paul expresses this truth plainly in Gal. 2:20 (NIV) as follows: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God...[emphasis added]" We must not so much as just imitate Christ or wonder what he would do, but let Him live through us doing His will as we walk in the Spirit by obedience.
We must die to self, and this doesn't mean denying ourselves certain things such as candy that have no inherent evil, but denying the "me" in ourselves (our ego), i.e., living selfishly for self. Jesus wasn't looking for sidekicks nor admirers, but devoted disciples who counted the cost! Living for Christ is the only way to live and we must orient our whole life to reflect Christ's will. We must count ourselves dead to sin, but alive to Christ as Paul says in Romans 6:11. Should we, who have died to sin, live in anymore in it? We have been freed from sin's dominion and are no longer its slave; we are not free to live in sin but to live in God's will. When we do sin we show our slavery, not our freedom. We're not free to live in the flesh but empowered to live in the Spirit. We need a faith we'll die for, not one we can live with!
In summation and practicality, what do we need to know? We crucified our old sin nature at salvation and exchanged our life of sin for a life in Christ, and the only way we will be joyful as believers is in being in His will and in seeking Christ. The closer we are to Him the more fulfilled we are, and the believer in sin is very miserable and needs to know that his life is in Christ, not the world and what it has to offer--the more we are filled with the things of the world, the less room we have for Christ.
Dying to self is not a one-time act, but a progressive venture in Christ. That is why it is written in Isaiah 55:6 (ESV): "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near." David sought the LORD often according to Psalm 27:8 (ESV): "You have said, 'Seek my face.' My heart says to you, 'Your face LORD, do I seek.'" Soli Deo Gloria!
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