iCrucified

LONG POST WARNING…

I know I might sound like a broken record, but I cannot escape the thought patterns that rise up out of my heart and take up residence in my mind. As I continue to read from my Bible and the ancient writings of Christians that have journeyed the path of discipleship in the ways of Jesus Christ, I learn and appreciate a deeper understanding behind the meaning of the “narrow way.” As wide and deep are the mercies and grace of our Great GOD; laser straight with precision focus and dedication must be the way of his disciple. This narrow way of laser-focus-dedication is not, and cannot be, confused with legalistic rules, programs, disciplines or programs. Nor should it be confused with maniacal fanaticism. Likewise, it is not a life journey that one enters into expecting to find balance. While I find myself using the words moderation and balance quite often on the course and path of my faith journey, realistically…balance is something that I rarely experience. This, of course, could be more attuned to my own personality, but I think unbalanced and wholehearted speak more closely to right definition when it comes to the description of a true Jesus disciple. Your mileage might vary, but this is my experience.

You might be asking; “what’s driving the thinking, Jeff?” My answer; a lot…let me share a bit of it with you.

“O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of Heaven above or on the earth below. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion.” 1 Kings 8:23

If you read this blog, you probably noticed that my blogging has been sporadic lately. I’m not prepared to share in detail why that has been, but will say that my soul has been at unrest. This is not to infer negative implications. Personally, I think what the Lord has been speaking to me is good. He is defining my path; He is guiding my steps…He is writing my destiny. As a result of this “heart conversation” with my Lord, my mouth has been silent and since this has been all that has consumed me for the past several weeks and couple months…my blogging has been minimal…feeling restricted by what I can share and what is on my mind. There are some things I feel ok to talk about, so I’ll share some of them now and maybe more over the next few days or however long it takes to flesh it all out. So, anyway, as I was saying, I have had some heavy stuff on my mind recently. For several weeks I’ve just been consumed with “dying to self” (iCrucified), new life in Christ, and what it means to follow Him with complete abandonment. I started gathering some scripture passages that were coming to my memory that specifically related to becoming a disciple of Jesus.

• Matthew 10:38 “…and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
• Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
• Luke 14:27 “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
• Mark 8:34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
• Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

I realize that interpretations may vary, but this is what I get from Jesus’ words in the above passages:

(1) Grace and forgiveness are free; the cost to be a disciple of Jesus = your life.

(2) Grace, forgiveness, and the invitation to eternal life with Jesus are free; those receiving this “free package deal” are recognized by their discipleship in the ways of Jesus.

(3) Curiosity seekers and casual followers are not disciples because they have not “denied themselves.” The implications coming with “curious” or “casual” are denoted by those who have reserved part of themselves in case following Jesus doesn’t work out for them.

(4) Discipleship is an all or nothing wholehearted effort, or it is no effort and not discipleship at all.

(5) The precursor to salvation (narrow way) is to “lose one’s life” for the sake of Jesus Christ.

(6) Curiosity seekers and casual followers are gamblers in the highest degree.

(7) In the English vernacular “believe” is often confused with disciple or people have misunderstood Jesus’ words by assuming that one can believe and be saved from eternal separation without being a disciple. Jesus’ teaching indicates this is not so; any exceptions (the thief on the cross) are not bets that I would like to hedge my eternity on…not to mention that hedging that bet in itself would expose a selfish heart.

There are some pretty strong implications in my seven points; the most obvious is there are a lot of people familiar with the teaching and knowledgeable about the person of Jesus who think their souls are secure…and they are not…secure. This is not only my interpretation, but exactly what Jesus speaks to in the seventh chapter of Matthew’s gospel. I’m not making it up and I’m not misinterpreting his words. Read them for yourself. Why do so many people struggle with this teaching? I think the answer is selfishness; self-preservation, self…period. And, it is precisely the reason why sin continues to reign in people; people who claim to be purchased and saved by the atoning work of Jesus Christ.

Do not let sin reign in you… (Romans 6:12)

First, do you believe this is possible? I know a lot of people who claim to “know” Jesus and do not believe it. I believe that we have the power through the blessing and authority of the indwelling Holy Spirit to deny sin’s power. It is always at the doorstep, but do not have to succumb to its siren call.

John Chrysostom writes; “God’s grace is all we require… Whenever God wishes, even if we are utterly alone, even if we are in desperate trouble, even if we have no hope of survival, we need no other assistance, since God’s grace is all we require. Whenever we have God on our side, even if we are utterly alone, we will live more securely than those who dwell in the cities. After all, the grace of God is the greatest security and the most impregnable fortification.” Chrysostom also writes in his Homilies Romans, “Being dead to sin means not obeying it any more. Baptism has made us dead to sin once and for all, but we must strive to maintain this state of affairs, so that however many commands sin may give us, we no longer obey it but remain unmoved by it.” Augustine, in his writings and commentary on Romans, goes as far as saying, “We become an obstacle to grace…(when we continue to sin). The work of grace is that we should die to sin.” “Whoever continues to sin is behaving in such a way that grace can do nothing in him.”

Our modern teaching on baptism is lacking in the significance of what it meant to the early church. Although baptism itself is not necessarily a supernatural act, it had profound implications. It was a public testimony of an internal occurrence. Hear the words of St. Augustine again followed by words from Ambrosiaster:

Augustine: “To be baptized into the death of Christ is nothing else but to die to sin, just as he died in the flesh.”

Ambrosiaster: “Paul says that once we have been baptized we should no longer sin, since when we are baptized we die with Christ. This is what it means to be baptized into his death. For there all our sins die, so that, renewed by the death we have cast off, we might be seen to rise as those who have been born again to new life, so that just as Christ died to sin and rose again, so through baptism is the death of sin so that a new birth might follow, which, although the body remains, nevertheless renews us in our mind and buries all our old evil deeds.”

Do you believe it? Do you believe that you can overcome the temptations of sin? Another church father, Basil the Great, writes his belief; “He is set free, he is delivered, he is cleansed of all sin, and not sin in word and deed only but also of all irrational movements of the mind.” PRAISE GOD! I believe it!!!!!

Here’s the catch…at least according to my experience. The reason so many people do not realize this freedom and deliverance is because they have not take the words of Jesus to heart. We must die to self first before we can realize this freedom and authority over sin. As long as self continues to live, sin has a foothold. Jesus tells us that if we desire to find life, we must be willing to lose it first. Hillary of Poitiers shares these thoughts on Jesus’ intent:

“After he commands us to abandon everything that is most valuable in earthly life, he adds, ‘He who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.’ This is because those who belong to Christ have crucified their bodies with their sinful practices and pleasures. We are unworthy of Christ if we do not take up our own cross, by which we suffer, die and are buried and resurrected together with him. Only by this pledge of faith in the Spirit will he triumph in new life in us.” (Hillary of Poitiers; On Matthew 10:25-26)

According to Theodoret of Cyr, we are aided by the Spirit; “…Nature is no longer struggling on its own but has the Holy Spirit to help it.” Still think we can’t rise above sin? Let me share this power packed paraphrase from the golden-tongued orations of Chrysostom and Cyril of Alexandria:

“Stand apart from the inclination to love sin and to love the flesh. Turn to deeds worthy of praise. Draw near to me, so that you may become sharers of the divine nature and partakers of the Holy Spirit. Christ not only set us free without demanding any payment for his services; he also equipped us for greater struggles in the future.”

iCrucified; this is the answer… “It is no longer I that live, but Christ who lives in me…” (Galatians 2:20). The beginning of life and subsequent abundant life comes to those who are willing to “fall into the ground” (John 12:24). As Jesus Christ was the Servant of God, so we too, must become the servants of God. When we are fully willing to submit to His leading, the Holy Spirit comes and empowers us to live rightly and fully for Him. Abundant life indeed; we are released from the oppressive bondage of slavery to sin to be joined as a servant of love to the Eternal One. Praise Him.

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