“According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 3:10-11. All building activity that does not have Jesus Christ as its foundation is destined to perish. History shows us that kingdoms have arisen and then perished. They did not have Christ as their foundation. This also applies to the life of each individual person. Quite often we see how people’s plans and undertakings unravel. It does not succeed for them simply because they do not have Christ as their foundation. Many people say, “No one must lay another foundation than the one that is laid, namely, Christ,” as if Christ was laid as a foundation in their lives as a matter of course. Unfortunately, that is far from the truth for most of them. Paul said that he had laid the foundation as a wise master builder. In other words, it takes wisdom to lay Christ as a foundation, and Paul did not want to build on another man’s foundation. Rom. 15:20. Most people have a good foundation for their faith when it concerns the forgiveness of sins. In that case they build on Jesus’ work on Calvary. However, when it concerns victory over sin, it becomes apparent that there are very few who have a proper foundation for their faith; it is shaky. If they do succeed for fourteen days, they fail on the fifteenth. Consequently, most of them have given up building a victorious life. They have not had Jesus Christ laid as a foundation for their faith. If there is to be victory, the old man has to be put off or crucified. But do we have any foundation for our faith in this? Yes, just as surely as Jesus bore our sin, and consequently you can be set free from your burden of sin, so your old man was crucified with Him so that you no longer have to serve sin. In Romans 6:6 Paul says that we know this; however, the majority of Christians are ignorant of it. Therefore they are never finished with the old man, and as a result they never come to a life of victory over sin. The old man cannot but sin no matter how much you train him and make him appear good. However, it becomes a question of how you have been taught in Christ. Eph. 4:21-24. Once in a while you hear it said from the pulpit that we shall die with Christ, and that we shall take up our cross daily and deny ourselves and follow Jesus. Yet at the same time they teach that Jesus had nothing to deny. No one doubts that we have something to deny if we want to follow Jesus; but whom should we look to as our example if Jesus did not have anything to deny? On what shall we build our faith that it is possible to deny ourselves? Who is our forerunner? Who is the first one to have overcome anger, greed, honor-seeking, etc.? Was it Paul? If it was, then he was the one who finished the work and became the foundation of our faith on which we shall build our lives. But no one can lay any other foundation than Jesus Christ. Jesus is our forerunner. Heb. 6:20. Listen to what He says: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23. Then we follow Jesus. When Jesus denied Himself, He also denied both you and me. It was the same will. If we want to follow Jesus, we must acknowledge the sentence of death that Jesus brought over Himself, over you, and over me. Then it is true that if One died, we are all dead. 2 Cor. 5:14. Jesus finished this work; He is the foundation for our faith. For this reason the dying of the “I” is called the dying of Jesus. This dying was first active in Him which is why it is named after Him. It was active in Him every day while He lived. Therefore the Father was revealed in His life. Now we are to bear this dying of Jesus in our bodies, so that the life of Jesus might also be revealed through our bodies. Can it be revealed through a body such as we have? Yes, Paul says so! But wasn’t it necessary to be revealed in someone before me with the same body? Yes, God be praised for His work in Jesus Christ, that He sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and condemned sin in the flesh so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. Rom. 8:3-4. Since then this has occurred in the lives of many others. Paul says: “Follow me as I follow Jesus.” “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” 2 Cor. 4:10-11. This is the narrow way to life, the way that few find. Note how the apostles lay Jesus as the foundation for his faith and his life. 1 Pet. 2:21-24; 4:12-13. No one doubts the fact that it is our “I” that hinders the life of Jesus from being revealed in our bodies, and that it is our “I” that must be mortified in Jesus’ death. So what do these people mean who say that we shall die with Jesus, but at the same time teach that Jesus did not have a self-will to mortify? Do they mean that we should die on a wooden cross like Jesus died on Calvary? We realize that all their talk about denying ourselves and being crucified with Jesus is only empty words. They have not had Jesus Christ laid as a foundation for their faith; consequently, their whole work comes to nothing—it does not result in true sanctification. Jesus offered Himself through the eternal Spirit without spot to God. Heb. 9:14. We were all offered in the power of this Spirit in and through Jesus’ sacrifice. This was the same Spirit that Jesus sent into the world on the day of Pentecost. Through this Spirit we shall be clothed with power from on high. If we want to follow Jesus, it is not sufficient to look up to Jesus; we need to receive the same power in which He walked. What shall we do with the Spirit once we have received Him? Paul says that we, by the Spirit, shall put to death the deeds of the body so we will live. Rom. 8:13. We must do everything for Jesus’ sake if we are to build with gold and precious stones and receive a reward. Matt. 19:29; 10:40-42. We need to serve Christ the Lord. Col. 3:17, 23-24.Sigurd Bratlie