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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