The power that resurrected Jesus from the dead, and that allowed Him to triumph over sin is available to us today in our battle against sin. However, we have to receive and accept it by knowing Jesus as not only our Savior but also our Lord.

In Luke 9:23, what did Jesus mean when He said: “…deny self, take up your cross daily and follow me”? What was He trying to say, and why did He use these words to say it? He meant to shoulder whatever burdens we face in life and to trust Him. And beyond that, I now know He meant exactly what He said.

Romans 6:6 “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”

Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. “

2 Corinthians 5:15, “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

 

Christ’s Resurrection for Today

When we believe in Christ for salvation, we know Him as our Savior for eternity. When we give him control of our life today, we know him as our Lord. By His death He paid the penalty for our sin, He overcame sin. By His resurrection and our identification with that, He overcomes our sinful nature. He delivers us from not only sin, but also our sinful nature. We are a new creation in Christ if we will accept this. Not only do we go to heaven when we die, but we live life abundantly, and we have DELIVERANCE from sin while we are alive. Is that beautiful or what!

 

Trusting in Jesus

We can’t be good enough through works to bring about our salvation, and we can’t resist sin enough to be free of it. When we trust Christ for both of these, we have true victory! It is by faith that we trust Christ for eternity, and through faith in Him breath by breath, we are delivered from daily sin!

 

When the enemy comes after us with temptation our response should be “I give up– I’m dead (crucified with Christ). Lord Christ, please resist this temptation for me”. Childlike faith. The temptation is not sinful because we WILL be tempted. The sin is giving in to temptation and indulging. Only Christ can overcome Satan; we can’t do it.

 

Understanding Sin

Whatever bad choices or behaviors we had released endorphins in our brain and gave us pleasure. That is why we kept going to them; it felt good. Now we have burned sin into our mind, and that is why we can’t deal with it in our flesh. Until we choose to believe this, we will not live a full and abundant life. If we make bad choices long enough, we create strongholds where we have allowed the enemy to camp out within us.

 

But, there is still hope! The Bible teaches we are to take all thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5) and to pray for the renewal of our mind (Romans 12:2, Philippians 4:8,9).

 

How can we accept the beating and crucifixion Christ endured on our behalf and call Him our Savior only to continue sinning and thinking it’s okay? I know–this is who I used to be! Christ did not go to the cross for us to be “happy.” When we accept Christ as our Savior, we should also trust Him as our Lord for today. I am not bold enough to accept Christ for my salvation; go about my daily life cleaning it up here and there; but then, still indulge my flesh as I desire. He has given me forever; I will give Him today!  

 

It Takes Faith

Hebrews tells us the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years and did not enter God’s “rest” because of their unbelief and disobedience. The writer also says we are to encourage one another daily to beware of sin’s deceitfulness. When we accept that Christ lives in us and He will resist temptation on our behalf (just like He was crucified on our behalf), we may enter that rest today–and come in from the desert!  And take back our peace, hope, and joy that the enemy has stolen from Christ-followers. If the enemy continues to beat you down, read Romans 6 and ask yourself, “Am I crucified with Christ?” Don’t do it by your flesh–do it by your faith!

 

Take Up Your Cross

So what does “take up your cross daily” mean? I used to think it meant to bear the burdens we all have in our lives, but I now realize it means to die to self. In Jesus’ day when a Roman soldier said: “Take up your cross,” it meant you were to be crucified! Could it be that when we die to self and trust Christ, the enemy can’t touch us?

 

Are you ready to take up your cross?