June 26
“For the death that He died He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so, consider [or reckon] yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:10-11)
Today we will continue exploring some of the concepts in The Green Letters, particularly as it relates to failed ways that Christians have employed to conquer the old self.
SELF-DENIAL
When a believer begins to discover something of the awful tyranny of the self-life, or has been endlessly struggling against that tyranny, he becomes intensely concerned about the denial of self with the resultant freedom to rest and grow in Christ. Man has many ways of seeking to escape the thralldom of self; God has but one way. First then, some of these man-centered methods.
Mortification: Denying oneself certain things for a time, or even all time, is not even close to the answer since the old nature will adjust and thrive under any conditions – anything short of death to self. “There have been those who have thought that to get themselves out of the way it was necessary to withdraw from society, so they denied all natural human relationships and went into the desert or mountain or hermit’s cell to fast and labor and struggle to mortify the flesh. While their motive was good it is impossible to commend their method. For it is not scriptural to believe that the old Adam nature can be conquered in that manner. It yields to nothing less than the death of the cross. It is altogether too tough to be killed by abusing the body or starving the affections.” (A.W.Tozer)
Conquest: Probably the most drawn out and exhausting effort of all is the believer’s struggle to conquer and control this rebel self. More meetings, more Bible study, more prayer are all resorted to, but neither are these God’s answer to this problem.
Training: Here is a favorite that has been tried and found wanting down through the ages. Good Christian training and culture in the right homes, churches, and schools have been relied on to subdue the old nature and bring it into line.
Revivalism: Another failure has been the practice of holding special meetings once or twice a year. This involves outside leadership (a stranger to the individual problems), and the devastating revival routine (confession, new resolutions, etc.), in the hope that something will change – but it rarely does, and then not for long.