In part two of the “I’m a New Christian, Now What?” series, we noted that there are two primary ways in which we live as new creations, new people. One was through the work and person of the Holy Spirit (which we examined in our last session) and secondly through the crucified life (that we are examining now).

Understanding the crucified life will begin with the passage from Matthew 16:13-28. In this passage, Jesus takes the disciples to the pagan, gentile land of “Caesarea Philippi” – a region heavily influenced by Greco-Roman culture. Against the backdrop of this paganism, Jesus asked the all-important question: “who do people say that I am?” The disciples responded with a variety of answers, including the ideas that he was one of the ancient prophets come back to life, or John the Baptist come back to life. And against those guesses Jesus asked his disciples, “but you, who do you say that I am?” To this question Peter blurts out “You are the Christ (Messiah-King)! The Son of the Living God!” Jesus commends Peter for the right answers and also indicates that the answer is a revelation from the Heavenly Father, rather than from the opinions of man – which is the point.

And as the Messiah-King, Jesus then sets out to explain what the road to Kingship would look like. It would be a journey to Jerusalem, where the political religious leaders would conspire to have Jesus killed. But that is the plan, because on the third day, Jesus would be raised from the dead. This is not what the disciples would have been expecting Peter objected to the point of saying they would not allow it to happen. And to Peter’s response we get Jesus’ response:

23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

It is the phrase in verse 24 that we want to focus on: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”. Jesus literally went to the cross for us, and died a physical death and we go to our cross to die emotionally, mentally and spiritual to all that stuff that we are, for Him. Luke 9:23 says that we must take up our cross and die daily. This is not a one-time event, it is a daily event.

Remember, “discipleship” literally means “student”, someone who is learning, learning to be like the teacher, learning to be like Jesus. And that is the goal and purpose of the Christian life, to become like Jesus and to do what Jesus did.

Furthermore, to “deny yourself” is to “give up your way” (as it reads in Matthew 16:23 in the New Living Translation). Whichever way it is read, it means to “die to self”. When Peter objected to Jesus’ suggestion that he was going to die, it was an objection rooted in Jewish-Hebraic and personal pride. Dying to self is dying to pride and ego and all things associated with self. Here is a list of “self” issues that we must die to.

• • Being selfish
  • Self-centred
  • Self-serving
  • Self-seeking
  • Self-absorbed
  • Self-righteous
  • Self-satisfied
  • Self-pity
  • Self-appointed
  • Self-approved
  • Self promoting
  • Self-focused
  • Self-driven
  • Self-enthroned

All these examples of “self” are examples of the “I” of “pride” and the “I” of sin. There are a number of key verses about the crucified life that we have to keep in front of us. These verses come from Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

My old self has been crucified with Christ. 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)

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. (Galatians 5:24)

I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. (Galatians 1:10)

As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died. (Galatians 6:14)

From these verses we can summarize that the crucified life means that:
✓ We must be dead to self (Galatians 2:20)
✓ We must be dead to flesh (Galatians 5:24)
✓ We must be dead to others (Galatians 1:10)
✓ We must be dead to the world (Galatians 6:14)

These things are the very things that will keep us from experiencing the fullness of Jesus Christ and will prevent us from becoming like Him. All these issues of “self” originate within our hearts and that is why we are called as the people of God to always be examining our hearts, to see if there is any wickedness in us that is offensive to God. All those issues identified above are offensive to God and we need to examine our hearts to get rid of them. This is the daily discipline.

Every night you should review your day and examine every incident to see if your “self” was fighting for supremacy by how you spoke, by what you did, and how you felt. If you recall any self, pride or ego, cast it off; confess it to the Lord and ask for the cleansing power of the blood to be applied to your heart. Claim your forgiveness and submit all that you are (mind, will, emotion) to the Lord and reject the temptations of the flesh and the devil. Know that as you have crucified your “self”, you will be able to become more and more like Jesus and be His disciple.