I’ve often heard or read Christians talking about the desire to put self, or the self – life to death. It always comes from a sincere desire to walk more faithfully with the Lord, and I honor that longing. It brings pleasure to the Lord whenever a believer wants to go “further up, and further in.” The problem is, even though that longing represents a sincere desire, it represents a lack of understanding of what Jesus already accomplished for us in his finished work at the Cross. Without clarity about what God already did on our behalf in Christ at the Cross, we will find ourselves striving, out of sincerity, to make something happen, or to earn some fresh touch from God, when what we long for has already happened in Christ. Let’s look at what the Word tells us. “Those who are Christ’s, have already experienced crucifixion. For everything connected with our self – life was put to death on the Cross and crucified with Jesus.” Galatians 5:24.
Though the longing to put to death the self-life comes from a pure place, the reality is, God has already taken care of it. The fallen, false, independent self that seems to be the source of all of our struggles was crucified in Christ and buried 2000 years ago. The moment you said yes to Jesus and were born again, you were born into the spiritual reality that you are no longer the old fallen self. Instead, you are Christ’s, one with Him, and He is your new life. Colossians 3:4.
Look again at the familiar verse Galatians 2:20; “My old identity has been co-crucified with Messiah and no longer lives; for the nails of his Cross crucified me with him. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that he gave himself for me, and dispenses his life into mine!”
So what do we need to do in light of a sincere desire to walk more faithfully with Jesus? Colossians 3:10 says that you have “put off the old self,” and that happened personally and experientially the moment you were born again because when you were born again, you said yes to what Jesus accomplished for you at the Cross. All you have to do now is simply come into agreement with what He says about your true identity in Him, and start walking one step at a time, no longer believing the lie that you are the old self, that you once were, and that the enemy has deceived you into believing you still are.