Dying With Christ

All Christians believe that Christ died to save us from our sins. That is a fact, but how does that death save you from your sins? It is a sad fact that many who profess to believe in Christ as a Saviour are still the servants of sin. They try as much as they can to obey God and to do what is right yet they still find themselves in sin. They understand the theory of truth but that truth seems inapplicable to their present situation. They may have memorized numerous verses, yea even chapters from the scriptures but that does not keep them from sin. They desire to do what is right but they do what is evil. They are captives to sin and like Paul, they cry out “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

Are you dear reader in such a condition? There is a solution; there is a Saviour who can make you free from the power of sin. You already know Him, His name is Jesus (Titus 2:13). But just knowing him as a Saviour will not help you unless you know how He saves. A man may have the latest smartphone, and he may boast of its superior features but unless he understands how to use it, it can never help him in any way. In the same way, unless we understand how Jesus saves, we can never be saved.

But before we proceed, what does it mean to be saved? It is to be delivered from sin and its consequences. The scripture record declares that there is none righteous, no not one for all have sinned. (Rom 3:10, 23). Therefore, everyone needs to be delivered from sin, and its consequence which is death, for the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23).

Let me give a scenario that will help us to understand how salvation takes place. Imagine that there is a prisoner who has committed a gross crime and has been sentenced to death. (That is our condition as sinners we have all received a death penalty as a result of our wicked ways). But then as he awaits the execution of his sentence, a substitute appears on the scene and says, I will die for your crime, and you shall be free. The innocent one dies, and the guilty one goes free.

That is what Christ, literally performed when He died on the cross. Up to this point, every Christian agrees with me and is ready to shout Alleluia, Praise the Lord! But then there is a problem, if the substitute dies and the prisoner is left to be free, he will definitely go back to his sins because he still loves sin. Therefore, to prevent him from going back to his sins, the substitute (Christ) invites the prisoner (sinner) to die together with him. For many prisoners, that is not good news but then that is the only way that you as a sinner and prisoner of sin can be made free from your sins.

We are saved through death and not just any death, but the death of Christ on the Cross together with Him. Christ our substitute not only dies for our sins, but He also invites us to die with Him.

Why Should We Die With Christ?

Why does Christ invite us to die with Him? Because His death is different from ours. In His death there is resurrection, there is a coming back to life. Jesus is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25), therefore death cannot hold Him captive. He says of Himself,

I am He that liveth and was dead; and behold I am alive forevermore (Rev 1:18)

Therefore, when we consent to die together with Christ, we are assured of a resurrection. That is true conversion. The old man dies, and a new man awakes with a hatred for sin, for he now possesses the mind of Christ. When we die with Christ, we die two of us but when we resurrect we come up as one.

The death is like a marriage ceremony, whereby two become one flesh. What a thought this is! He who grasps this thought will exclaim together with the apostle Paul,

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal 2:20)

How does the death take place? As you may have already realized it is not a literal crucifixion with Christ, for Paul was never crucified on a literal cross. Instead, it is a spiritual operation; it is the renunciation of every sin that the Spirit of God reveals. And that is why few are willing to die with Christ, He requires that we conscientiously (knowingly) surrender every single habit and practice that is opposed to the principles of truth. But the majority of the Christians are still in love with sin and they do not desire with all their heart to cast away sin.

O! that we may realize what utter loss we are subjecting unto ourselves when we refuse to die with Christ when we still cling to our cherished sins.

The prophet Isaiah says “Ye have sold yourselves for nought” you may think that you are following the dictates of your own heart, you may speak of freedom, but you are in abject slavery. You are under the control of the prince of darkness, for whoever commits sin is the servant of sin. But then in the same passage Isaiah says “you shall be redeemed without money” (Isaiah 52:3)

Christ came to make you free, without charging you anything, and for Him to do this He bids you take up your cross and follow Him. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for Christ’s sake shall find it. (Matt 16:25)

This is what Christ meant when He said to Nicodemus, Ye must be born again. This is the exceeding greatness of God’s power towards us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead.

And you (dear reader) hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 1:19-20, 2:1) It is such a wonderful offer, but the sad fact is that many of the professed followers of Christ are unwilling to die together with Christ. Death is such an unpleasant affair that wherever it appears people are not ready to receive it. To make it even tougher, this death does not happen once, it is a daily process, Paul declares “I die daily” (1 Cor 15:31).

Every day we need to renounce sin and accept to die with Christ. It is a blessed death, for it cuts off the degrading elements of sin and unites us with Christ. Is there anything more blessed than to be united with Christ? To let Christ live out His life within you? To let the old things pass away and all things to become new?

What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and then lose his soul? May you lose yourself this day, yea this very moment, to Christ and die with Him on the cross. This is the true dying to self. Now that we have known how to die with Christ, our next discourse shall look into the mystery of the resurrection. And we shall see how we are also saved by his life. Until that time, may the good Lord bless you and keep you.