There is a saying that I hear many Christians say, “I die daily.” It comes from 1 Cor. 15:31
“I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”
The sad part about this is that people put it in the context of sinning. I read a comment today where someone said Paul “died daily,” and had to “repent daily,” which then makes Paul a sinner because that would mean he’s “sinning daily.” This makes Paul a hypocrite of all hypocrites, because he told people, “Awake to righteousness and sin not.” If he can’t stop sinning, why tell others to do so?
People miss the surrounding text that has nothing to do with sin, but with his life being in jeopardy every hour. (1 Cor. 15:30) It has nothing to do with “dying to sin.” If we are “dead to sin,” how can we be dying daily? A dead person is dead, not dying. We have been crucified with Christ, the old man is dead. We are new creatures in Christ. We have a new life, living a holy life.
On the other hand, Jesus said to:
1. Deny Yourself
2. Take up YOUR Cross
3. Follow Me
This means making Jesus the center of our life. When we make Jesus the center of our life, we are denying self. When we deny self, it means we are putting others before ourselves and sometimes that can mean being abused, misused, and even misunderstood. We have a willingness to do what is right even up to the point of death because we obey Jesus, and when we obey Jesus, we are following Him. He is our example to follow of how we are to live.
More later….
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