<\/p>\n
\u201c. . . knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin\u201d (Romans 6:6).<\/p>\n
PRIOR TO OUR CONVERSION, MOST OF US UNDERSTOOD, AT LEAST ON SOME BASIC LEVEL, THAT WE MUST \u201cDIE WITH CHRIST.\u201d But unless we\u2019re among the few who\u2019ve truly counted the cost of discipleship, we probably underestimated the pain that would be involved in having our \u201cold man . . . crucified with Him.\u201d As we begin to discover how painful it is for our old habits to be put to death, we may back away from the process. We didn\u2019t expect that any part of being a Christian would be so painful. We\u2019re surprised by the unpleasantness of it all. Perhaps we even resent or resist it.<\/p>\n
Yet there is no such thing as a comfortable crucifixion. The word excruciate<\/em> is simply a variation of the word crucify,<\/em> and so in a quite literal sense, death by \u201ccrucifixion\u201d is always \u201cexcruciating.\u201d If our Lord chose the concept of crucifixion to describe the removal of sin from our lives, we ought not to expect that process to be entirely pleasant. Deeply rooted habits can\u2019t be easily denied or conveniently removed. Their destruction requires nothing less than the dying of the person we used to be.<\/p>\n But if we saw where sin takes people, we\u2019d be willing to make any sacrifice to be free of it. Jesus said that if we couldn\u2019t keep our right eye or our right hand and still stay away from sin, then we\u2019d be better off plucking out our eye or cutting off our hand (Matthew 5:29,30), however painful those removals might be.<\/p>\n If the crown that awaits us requires that we first go to the cross and die, then the crown is worth every bit of the cross. Paul said that \u201cif we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him\u201d (Romans 6:8). It would be worth dying a thousand times if that meant we could live with Christ. But let\u2019s not be silly. Our cross can\u2019t be any more painless than His. It\u2019s going to hurt.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we are wise, we will do what Jesus said: endure the cross and despise its shame for the joy that is set before us. To do this is to submit the whole pattern of our life to be destroyed and built again in the power of an endless life. And we shall find that it is more than poetry, more than sweet hymnody and elevated feeling. The cross will cut into our lives where it hurts worst, sparing neither us nor our carefully cultivated reputation. It will defeat us and bring our selfish life to an end\u201d (A. W. Tozer).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n