Those who are
Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. —Galatians
5:24
The natural life
itself is not sinful. But we must abandon sin, having nothing to do with it in
any way whatsoever. Sin belongs to hell and to the devil. I, as a child of God,
belong to heaven and to God. It is not a question of giving up sin, but of
giving up my right to myself, my natural independence, and my self-will. This
is where the battle has to be fought. The things that are right, noble, and
good from the natural standpoint are the very things that keep us from being
God’s best. Once we come to understand that natural moral excellence opposes or
counteracts surrender to God, we bring our soul into the center of its greatest
battle. Very few of us would debate over what is filthy, evil, and wrong, but
we do debate over what is good. It is the good that opposes the best. The
higher up the scale of moral excellence a person goes, the more intense the
opposition to Jesus Christ. “Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh….”
The cost to your natural life is not just one or two things, but everything.
Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself…”
(Matthew 16:24). That is, he must deny his right to himself, and he must
realize who Jesus Christ is before he will bring himself to do it. Beware of
refusing to go to the funeral of your own independence.
The natural life is
not spiritual, and it can be made spiritual only through sacrifice. If we do
not purposely sacrifice the natural, the supernatural can never become natural
to us. There is no high or easy road. Each of us has the means to accomplish it
entirely in his own hands. It is not a question of praying, but of sacrificing,
and thereby performing His will.
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