"It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20 NLT
This verse is in conjunction with what we were looking at yesterday and, reminds us that, the whole concept of life with Jesus is to die to self. I read somewhere that Martin Luther had a visitor to his house one night. When he opened the door, the person asked to see Martin Luther. Luther's reply was 'He no longer lives here, he has died. Jesus Christ lives here now.' I have no reference to underpin this statement but, I have heard this repeated so many times that I believe it is the sort of thing Mr Luther would have said.
Dead men don't react. A person can touch a dead body but there is absolutely no reaction at all; they are dead to reaction. Do you get the point here? A body will no longer react no matter how hard you try, and this was Martin Luther's point. He had given his everything to Jesus and He no longer lived. Some may find this quite extreme but as you think about it, he had a good point. Examine this:
(1) DYING TO SELF You're dead to reaction. A decision has been made to live for Jesus.
(2) DEAD TO SELF You no longer live but Jesus Christ lives through you. You have discovered the art of surrender. There is no more self-centeredness about you at all.
To be able to live in such a way takes discipline. Everything in your old life must be dead. You can't deliberately hang on to certain sins. They must be a thing of the past. This is how Martin Luther could make his statement. However, as we saw from yesterday's study, this is not easy. If the apostle Paul found it difficult to control his flesh, we definitely will struggle. Remember, our flesh is still active and this, is where we struggle with sinful temptations. It is a matter of accepting that we are not perfect - far from it but, we have made a decision to die to self, and live for Jesus.
This is an ongoing struggle, one in which will follow us all the days of our life. But, let us remember that, 'goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.' Psalm 23;6. Yes struggles may follow us but, Jesus Christ does too and His power is mightier than any struggle. So die to self and live for Jesus!
Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.
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