Those who reject a life of self-denial

 Those who reject a life of self-denial

 

Matthew 16:24-25 Then said Jesus to his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life (pshken ψυχὴν) shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.』

The word self is life, psyken (soul). 『Whoever loses his life (pshyken) for my sake (αὐτήν) will find it (yuresei).』 Although the word “that” has not been translated, in meaning it is the soul. am. Yuresei has the meaning of discover, have, and obtain in addition to finding. Therefore, we can see that the lost soul (Psyken) and the soul gained (Psyken) are different things.

In the Bible, this soul is expressed as either the old self or the new self. The soul that must be lost is the old self, and the soul that is gained is the new self. This old man must be crucified with Jesus on the cross. “Carrying one’s cross” means crucifying this old man. Then, the saints will receive a new person from heaven.

In Romans 6:4-6, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.』Therefore, the old self is the physical life (body of sin) that must die on the cross, and the new self is the spiritual resurrection life.

Those who have resurrection life can be seen as those for whom the kingdom of God has come. This is because this is a person who has been reborn by the power of the Holy Spirit, and a new temple has been built in the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the resurrection life that comes about on the premise of death on the cross. In the present, those who believe in resurrection life are holy, have the image of God restored, and are righteous because God is with them.

Anyone who believes in dying with Jesus and being resurrected with Christ is a new creation and new life. That is why God recognizes him as holy and calls him righteous. This is a precious gift that is not achieved through human effort, but through the grace of God.

However, it would be surprising if those who reject the life of self-denial are prevalent in today's church. This means that those who call themselves Christians are like that. They deceive us by saying that we must strive to regain the image of God, that we must achieve sanctification despite being saved by faith, that we must pursue righteousness, or that we must live a holy life. Ultimately, this results in the appearance of old people.

There will be many other cases besides the examples above. These examples are not things that humans can pursue, but things that God recognizes. However, when people try to pursue this, they end up sitting in the seat of God.

In the end, what church members pursue is, "They should try to live morally blameless lives, examine themselves to see if they are sinning through the commandments, and if they do something wrong, they should repent earnestly and receive forgiveness of their sins through the blood of Jesus." “They do well in church life, listen carefully to the pastor’s words as God’s revelation opens from the pastor’s mouth, respond with Amen, tithe well, serve diligently, etc.” Church people may ask, “What is wrong with doing these things?”

However, we must consider whether the person who thinks and acts this way is the old person or the new person. Even though church people think rationally and empirically that it is not a wrong action, believing in what God has promised is faith. Believers must believe that the old self died on the cross with Jesus, but those who make the old self appear and say that they must find the image of God again, pursue a holy life, or strive to achieve righteousness value the old self. As a person, he is not the one who died with Jesus.

It is true that all those who continue to pursue something morally or emphasize that people must live by obeying the commandments cannot be considered as being in Christ.