A Fruitful Life: Dying to Self

A Fruitful Life: Dying to Self

By Apostle Felix

3  Your crucifixion with Christ has severed the tie to this life, and now your true life is hidden away in God in Christ.
4  And as Christ himself is seen for who he really is, who you really are will also be revealed, for you are now one with him in his glory!
5  Live as one who has died to every form of sexual sin and impurity. Live as one who died to diseases, and desires for forbidden things, including the desire for wealth, which is the essence of idol worship.
6  When you live in these vices you ignite the anger of God against these acts of disobedience.

Colossians 3: 3 – 6

A christian life is death to sin and the world and alive to God. Christ delivered us from the kingdom of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of light, which is the kingdom of life. That translation is a severance from a life of sin to a new life in Christ. Our God is very aware that it is impossible for one to bear the fruit of righteousness when one’s life is still left planted in sin. This is the reason why Jesus became sin, not a sinner, so that we may be made the righteousness of God.  He did not become sin because He produced the fruits of sinful acts, but He became sin because it was imputed on Him.  Man’s sin was credited to His account, though He did not sin, so that His righteousness can be imputed upon man not because man has done any righteous deed. He lived a sinless life while on earth. He made a choice to take man’s place and die the death of an offender. By so doing, He dealt with the root that feeds the branches to make them to bear fruit.

21  For God made the only one who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we who did not know righteousness might become the righteousness of God through our union with him. 

2 Corinthians 5: 21

Man’s problem is sin. It is not the practicing of sin that makes man a sinner. Man is known as a sinner before he knows what sin is. Man is born in sin, and born into this world qualifies him to be a sinner. Jesus came to deal with sin. Therefore, since Jesus dealt with sin and has given us His righteousness, not because we did anything righteous, we have been given the power to bear the fruit of God.  Since we are now born into Christ, and have been made new creation, we have every reason to live according to the new nature – the righteous nature. We have to put off the old self and put on the new man.

17  So with the wisdom given to me from the Lord I say: You should not live like the unbelievers around you who walk in their empty delusions.
18  Their corrupted logic has been clouded because their hearts are so far from God—their blinded understanding and deep-seated moral darkness keeps them from the true knowledge of God.
19  Because of spiritual apathy, they surrender their lives to lewdness, impurity, and sexual obsession.
20  But this is not the way of life that Christ has unfolded within you.
21  If you have really experienced the Anointed One, and heard his truth, it will be seen in your life; for we know that the ultimate reality is embodied in Jesus!
22  And he has taught you to let go of the lifestyle of the ancient man, the old self – life, which was corrupted by sinful and deceitful desires that spring from delusions. 

Ephesians 4: 17 – 22

Life is a seed. It can only become after the seed’s nature. A sinner cannot be expected to be holy because he does not have a seed of holiness. We cannot expect people in our neighborhood, workplaces or families who are not born of God to behave any better. Their behavior is according to the nature they are born of, which is sin. But for you as a child of God, you are expected to be like Christ, living righteous. For this reason, we have been commanded to go and preach the gospel to every creature. It is our preaching that makes men to turn away from sin and accept the Lord of glory. Our society cannot gain its sanity without the preaching of the gospel. The Europeans are known for their integrity but yet these are the same people that promote sexual perversions in their societies. They may not be petty thieves that grab cell phones from people but is a morally deprived society. This tells us that every race, tribe, nationality or ethnic group needs salvation through Christ. Saints, let us preach this gospel to every man, regardless of skin color, social status, or tribe.