13. Denying Yourself - I am crucified with Christ

Denying Yourself

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’” Matt. 16:24.

“Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’” Luke 9:23.

We see that it cannot be taken for granted that a person is following Christ just because he is converted. On the contrary, it is a big question even after a person has become His disciple. But, if someone really wants to follow Him, he can receive clear instructions as to what he must do if he is to succeed.

As long as we live, the big question is and always will be: What do we do with our self-will? Everything depends on this. We all have an enormous and complex self-will that always resists God’s will. It is evident that these opposing wills cannot be carried out simultaneously! If I do my own will, I transgress God’s will; if I do God’s will, then I go against, or deny or crucify, my own will.

If I want to walk the same way that Jesus walked, the way which he consecrated, then I must deny my own will daily and take up my cross onto which my self-will is to be nailed, because that is what Jesus did. There I will find His steps.

The sufferings of Christ and the sufferings of His followers are threefold:

1. Physical sufferings.

2. The suffering you experience when you deny your self-will. “He suffered being tempted.” Heb. 2:8; 5:7.

3. Suffering over all those who will not receive His Word and salvation.

Christ lived His entire life as One crucified. Heb. 12:2. He is the Master in this, and now He is teaching His disciples the same thing. When the Scriptures say that God condemned sin in the flesh (Rom. 8:3), we understand that Jesus denied His self-will so that it was never carried out.

To be crucified with Christ also means that a person in the practical situations of his daily life always, without exception, says “No” whenever he is tempted. To agree with temptation would be the same as coming down from the cross.

We enter into life through all sorts of temptations. That is the same as constantly saying “No” to our self-will. We must be faithful in this and make no exceptions whatsoever. We must never get tired of saying “No!”