9.62 Dying to self the New Covenant way
Today, we move on to discuss another popular topic - dying to self. We will contrast between the approaches under the Old Covenant vs. the New Covenant.
I have been a Christian for the last 28 years. The impression I got growing up in church is that the Christian is a sinner and the sin nature is in his body. As a result, he needs to put his sinful nature under – he needs to die to self.
How does he do that? He tries to keep God’s laws. He denies himself through fasting and prayer. In some extreme cases, they even beat themselves and kneel on rocks. He keeps the demands of God almost legalistically – his Bible study, his evangelism efforts, his church attendance, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, a lot of these things are good i.e. prayer, studying the Bible, sharing your faith, etc. But there is a better way to accomplish these under the New Covenant. There is a different source, and a different cause-effect relationship. We want to share from the New Covenant which is built on better promises.
What we have described above is really dying to self under the Old Covenant way. God knew that the people were sinners. But the people did not know it. That sinful nature came from Adam. So God gave them the law to keep, in order to prove if they could overcome that sinful nature through their self-effort in keeping the law.
They had to put that sinful nature under, and strive hard to keep the law of God. But they failed. The law gave its verdict that no man could die to the sinful nature of self. There has to be another was. God would send His Son Jesus to deliver mankind from that sinful nature.
Today, most people are still trying to approach God the old way. They still believe they are sinners trying to be righteous, and they still fail. People get burnt out, discouraged, and some even give up because the Christian life is impossible.
Let’s be frank, have you felt that way before? Can you identify with what I have described? I went through that journey for many years until I realized that God had provided a better way after the cross. The finished work of Jesus changed everything.
For the next few lessons, we will explore this topic through the Word of God.
I have been a Christian for the last 28 years. The impression I got growing up in church is that the Christian is a sinner and the sin nature is in his body. As a result, he needs to put his sinful nature under – he needs to die to self.
How does he do that? He tries to keep God’s laws. He denies himself through fasting and prayer. In some extreme cases, they even beat themselves and kneel on rocks. He keeps the demands of God almost legalistically – his Bible study, his evangelism efforts, his church attendance, etc.
Don’t get me wrong, a lot of these things are good i.e. prayer, studying the Bible, sharing your faith, etc. But there is a better way to accomplish these under the New Covenant. There is a different source, and a different cause-effect relationship. We want to share from the New Covenant which is built on better promises.
What we have described above is really dying to self under the Old Covenant way. God knew that the people were sinners. But the people did not know it. That sinful nature came from Adam. So God gave them the law to keep, in order to prove if they could overcome that sinful nature through their self-effort in keeping the law.
They had to put that sinful nature under, and strive hard to keep the law of God. But they failed. The law gave its verdict that no man could die to the sinful nature of self. There has to be another was. God would send His Son Jesus to deliver mankind from that sinful nature.
Today, most people are still trying to approach God the old way. They still believe they are sinners trying to be righteous, and they still fail. People get burnt out, discouraged, and some even give up because the Christian life is impossible.
Let’s be frank, have you felt that way before? Can you identify with what I have described? I went through that journey for many years until I realized that God had provided a better way after the cross. The finished work of Jesus changed everything.
For the next few lessons, we will explore this topic through the Word of God.
posted by Joshua Lye @ 11:31 PM
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