The Call to Die

The life of a believer is a call to die to self. The bible teaches that we are dead with Christ, therefore, the old man has died and the new man has resurrected in Christ. We no longer live for ourselves, but for us to live is Jesus Christ.

From the beginning, God’s desire for mankind is a people utterly dependent on Him. The kind of relationship founded on love and surrendered to God. However, after sin, we see man living to fulfil every lustful desire and evil intention that seems good to him. Sin corrupted man’s understanding, heart, and imagination with evil. This perverted state of being caused our dissociation with God, our Maker. Thus, there is a need to go back to the beginning and submit under God so man can once again live harmoniously in God’s love and under His instructions. We must unlearn to relearn how to die to self so we can live for God.

We need to die to the corrupted soul-ish self which is the part of us that responses to what we see, hear, and feel. It is the sensual part of us made up of our mind, will, and emotion. We die to self when we deny the flesh the ability to react as we ought to. We die to self when we see Christ before we feel our feelings. That old perception of life and understanding must die so that our new understanding, mind, and heart can live. This new understanding can only be founded on and in Jesus Christ.

Therefore, the prayer every believer must pray is for the grace to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. James 1:21 “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” Our souls must go through a process of cleansing, healing, and purification. This kind cleansing can only be done through the word of God and with the transformational power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that washes, cleanses, and transforms our soul. This submission to the working of the Holy Spirit is the gateway for God to use us.

God cannot use us if we have not killed our flesh. God cannot commune with us if we have not shifted from the old path. For on the new path, one is under the absolute guidance and direction of God. The bible says in Romans 8:14 “for all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” We disqualify ourselves as sons when we become led by our emotions, environment, or the patterns of this world. What are you led by?

God challenges us to feel the emotion and remain unmoved. By denying the flesh, we exercise the spirit’s authority over the flesh. If we cannot be disciplined about our emotions, how can we decipher things of the spirit? We cannot hear God’s voice of instructions when our emotions speaks louder. He cannot send us when we are still slaves to flesh.

God is calling us to be transformed and quickly so, that we may be useful in His hands while it is still day. God is calling us to exalt His leadership, His voice, His word above our flesh, ourselves, and our own ingenuity. It is a call to die to our flesh and to be alive in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.