Life on a Cross is a Process
By · CommentsJesus’ crucifixion was an event, but it was also a process. Crucifixion was a long ordeal and Jesus moved through five stages or steps in the process of being executed. Spiritual truth can be seen in each step of His crucifixion and we can use that truth to better understand how to crucify our self-will. I certainly do not claim that these truths are the ultimate truth of the cross and the only way to view Jesus’ crucifixion. The complete theology of the cross is a great mystery and no doubt God speaks to us in diverse ways through the Holy Spirit and His revealed word. However, I have found the five steps of the crucifixion process to be a powerful analogy and a practical model that helps me understand how God changes me from within. In the days ahead at The God Wall I will discuss each of the steps in Jesus’ crucifixion and how we can apply them in our daily walk.
Life on a Cross
By · CommentsWhile I have no problem accepting the spiritual truth that my old sinful self died with Christ on the Cross, it is obvious to me that my practical acceptance is flawed. My old man still rumbles around and the seven deadly sins of self are a reality in my everyday life. My old sinful man refuses to roll over and give up. Scripture teaches that the cross is the way that I am to overcome my sinful nature and it is the cross that provides the way for me to be conformed into the image of Jesus. I have always struggled to really understand the practical application of that truth. How do I use the cross to crucify self?
Living my life on a cross is the way to crucify the old many daily. Understanding what that means is the key to having the “Peace that passes all understanding”.
I Must Die Too!
By · CommentsThe crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus are the foundation of the Christian faith and the theology of God living in us. If there was no resurrection, then Jesus was simply a man who lived and died just like every other man. If Jesus does not live today, there is no resurrected life to indwell us. The accounts of the apostles assure us that He was raised and that He lives eternally. Scripture teaches that by our repentance and faith in Him as Lord, He will come to live within us. His life becomes our life as we accept that our old fleshly man of sin died with Jesus on the cross. That is the central truth of real Christianity. We died with Christ and are raised with Him into eternal life. Every Christian must understand that. People who have received the life of Christ will be with Him in eternity and somehow be like Him. Eternity is a done deal. My problem has always been how to live on earth until I get there. The point is that “I Can’t” but “He Can”. I have to die so that He can be raised in my life.
The Death of Self
By · CommentsThe Bible only offers one prescription for the problems presented in the seven deadly sins of self and that prescription is the death of self! The Apostle Paul presents the issue clearly in his letter to the Galatians:
For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. (Gal 5:17)
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. (Gal 5:24-25)
And in his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote:
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. (Rom 6:4-7)
It is only by the death of self that the risen life of Christ may be revealed in us. Only by the death of self may His Spirit fill us. Jesus says we must take up our cross and follow Him. Paul says we must crucify our flesh and die to sin. The cross is the most powerful instrument of Christianity and crucifixion is a bloody business. Most of the modern church has lost the view that the cross is an instrument of death. Worse, most Christians have no idea how to use it for the purpose of learning obedience by faith.
The heart of real Christianity is found in the crucifixion of self and allowing the risen Christ to live through us. That is the only ground upon which the Holy Spirit may trod and invade our spirit. It is by the death of self that we are filled by the Spirit and the death of self only occurs when we bring the seven deadly sins of self to the cross of Christ for crucifixion.
Trapped in the Self Sins
By · CommentsAs long as we continue to believe that we can define truth, define God and define right and wrong we will be trapped in self love, self seeking and the other deadly sins of self. The Three Holy Lies are Satan’s most powerful tool of deception and a major barrier that blocks Christians from being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit defines and reveals the truth of God and provides discernment of good and evil. When we believe and demand the right to practice the Three Holy Lies, the Holy Spirit will not fill us. Unless the Spirit fills us we will not grow spiritually. If we do not grow spiritually we will not be able to reflect Christ in our lives. If we do not reflect Christ in our lives we are in rebellion against God’s great purpose for every believer, which is to be conformed into the image of His son.
The Sin of “Self-Defense”
By · CommentsWhen Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they acquired the awareness of right and wrong. They did not learn how to discern the truth of right and wrong, but they became aware that the two conditions existed. All of Adam and Eve’s descendents have been struggling with issues of right and wrong ever since. Individually we resist accepting that we might be wrong about something. There is some mysterious force that takes over a person when they are accused of being wrong. That is where self defense kicks in and it is a most insidious sin.
God’s judgment of humanity is that all men have sinned and fallen short of His glory. Man resists this judgment and fights tooth and nail to justify himself before God on the basis of fleshly works. We do this until we reach the absolute end of ourselves and our excuses. Wringing a sincere, heartfelt apology out of someone is one of the most difficult tasks in the world. In our flesh, few of us are willing to admit we are wrong about anything until we have been boxed into a corner by undisputable facts that convict us. Even in the face of such evidence we may continue to defend ourselves and justify what we have done. Penitentiaries are largely populated by innocent people.
The Holy Spirit seeks to convict us of being wrong so that we may voluntarily see our rebellion against God and surrender it. On the way to spiritual maturity there are untold thousands of thoughts and things the Spirit will deal with that we must agree to change or release. To grow in the Lord and be filled with the Spirit we must be repeatedly convicted and found guilty concerning our unrighteous thoughts and motives. Our fleshly compulsion to declare ourselves not guilty and to defend and rationalize our error blocks the Holy Spirit from doing this mighty work in us. Self defense in the presence of truth represents continued rebellion against God and the Holy Spirit will not fill a person who continues to rebel against Him.
The Sin of “Self-Pity”
By · CommentsWhen people can’t get what they want, or feel they have been denied something they were entitled to receive, self pity is the next step. In self love we always want a good outcome and the best for ourselves. When it doesn’t happen we are tempted to indulge in self pity. Self pity opens the door to resentment, despair and an unwillingness to accept our life in the light of God’s objective truth. Self pity is the crutch of those unable to face the truth about themselves.
The Holy Spirit cannot fill a Christian who pities himself, because the Holy Spirit fills those who persevere in suffering and find joy in their misfortune. Consider this scripture:
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (Jam 1:2-4)
Clearly, self pity is a major block to spiritual growth and I believe there is nothing more grievous to the Spirit of God than a whining Christian. We are to be about allowing the Spirit to conform us into the image of Christ, which means we are to be changed in thought and deed to think as He thinks and do as He would do. There are no passages in the New Testament that present Jesus complaining about or bemoaning His experiences. Jesus just accepted the will of His Father and was obedient by faith. Christians involved in self pity can’t be filled by the Spirit and the ability of Christ to live out His life through them is thwarted.
The Sin of “Self-Enhancement”
By · CommentsSelf enhancement involves the things we do to telegraph our importance. Self enhancement comes in many forms and most of them are obvious and irritating to the people we are trying to impress. A polished self enhancer dominates conversations with tales of their travels, the important people they know, their accomplishments and overall wonderfulness. They are obsessed with things of the world and the things that impress. Self enhancers are into acquiring things they believe will impress others. They spend their time, money and effort creating an image they hope will impress others.
Self enhancement in Christian circles is as prevalent as in secular society. Christians just enhance themselves under a spiritual cloak. We talk about all the witnessing and work we do for the Lord. We brag about how some wonderful thing we said led someone to the Lord. We point out that so and so celebrity attends our church and they are a personal friend of ours. A Christian involved in self enhancement is proud and haughty. The Holy Spirit will not invade such a will as this and the possibility of such a person being filled with Holy Spirit is nil. It is only when we hear and yield to the words of Jesus about the meek, the humble and poor in spirit and begin to allow God to produce those qualities in us that the Holy Spirit can show us the way to actually become a person who is meek, humble and poor in spirit.
The Sin of “Self-Righteousness”
By · CommentsSelf righteousness involves making judgments about what other people need to do, based on decisions we made for ourselves. Because something was good for us, we righteously believe others need it too. Our good becomes another man’s duty! I quite smoking, therefore all smokers should be forced, intimidated and coerced into becoming like me. I quit eating meat so those who eat meat are a danger to society and cruel to animals. I found a church that seems to agree with everything I want to believe, so all other churches are wrong! The examples of self righteousness are endless. The command from Jesus is ‘judge not lest you be judged’ and the Apostle Paul said this in Romans 2:1
Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
Self righteousness is a huge block to the filling of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Spirit is to judge us and lead us into truth. If we are involved in judging others this vital work of the Spirit can’t be performed because we believe we have become righteous in our own thinking and in our own flesh. The Holy Spirit urges us and convicts us to change and to be humble and meek in attitude. A self righteous person resists change and resists information that conflicts with what they believe. The self righteous believe the are a source of truth unto themselves and they have all the answers they need for themselves and for everybody else as well.
The Sin of “Self Confidence”
By · CommentsOh my goodness! How can self confidence be a sin? Well, self confidence is a sin because Jesus said we are incapable of doing anything apart from Him. The sin of self confidence is the sin of pride and an inflated ego. Self confidence from the sin perspective involves believing we are superior and better than others. Self confidence embraces an attitude of entitlement and claims to have many rights that supersede the rights of others.
My guess is than most Christians believe they have the right to be happy and that making us happy is God’s main priority. It would shock most believers to learn that such an idea can’t be supported from scripture. God is only interested in making us like Jesus and along the way He promises that we are going to suffer! It is true that mature believers eventually experience the ‘peace that passes understanding’ but that is not the kind of happiness most people pursue. They pursue happiness for the flesh. The peace of God comes only after a believer has learned they must have no confidence in their flesh.
Faith and dependence on Jesus Christ is the only basis Christians have for confidence from a Biblical perspective. If we believe we can do anything on our own we are not allowing Jesus to live His life through us. On that basis, self confidence is a serious sin and it blocks the Holy Spirit from filling us.
