Christian Fellowship Community Group
A safe place for Christians who Love Jesus Christ to meet and ask for prayer and share scriptures from the bible. We value the posting of Christian music, poems, stories and also personal testimonies. Please let us know your needs, concerns and have some fun getting to know each other. We treat each other with respect.
The wisdom of the fathers
THE OLD "I" MUST BE CRUCIFIED!
The old "I" must be absolutely crucified. That is what Paul is talking about in Galatians 2.20. NOBODY CAN DIE PARTIALLY. Either a person is dead or alive. This is much like drinking a glass of water with poison in it. That glass does not have to be filled with 100 percent poison to kill you. Even if only 1 percent of the liquid in the glass is poison, the glass is the more dangerous because the poison is less obvious.
In our Christian experience, if there is still some small shred of the old "I", the danger is great. That little bit will destroy just as surely as if the entire self were poison.
This is what Paul is talking about. The old self must go in its entirety and the new must come in its entirety. The "I" of the old self is crucified. We are dead, yet we are alive as we have never been before. It is not our life but the life of our blessed Redeemer that permeates every essence of our being. Through this crucifixion of self, the life of Christ CAN be made practical, workable and liveable in this present world in the lives of Christians.
It is "Christ in me" that makes all the difference in the world. And until the old "I" is done away with, the life of Christ cannot come.
However, MANY CHRISTIANS HANG ON TO THE OLD "I" IN DESPERATION. So fearful are they that they might lose something, they forget what Jesus taught: "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whose will lose his life for my sake shall find it". Until we are willing to lose we will never find what God has for us.
The purpose of God is not to save us from hell; the purpose of God is to save us to make us like Christ and to make us like God. God will never be done with us until the day we see His face, when His name will be on our foreheads; and we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is.
What a cheap, across-the-counter commercial kind of Christianity that says, "I was in debt, and Jesus came and paid my debt." Sure, He did, but why emphasize that? "I was on my way to hell and Jesus stopped me and saved me." Sure, He did, but that is not the thing to emphasize. What we need to emphasize is that God saved us to make us like His Son. His purpose is to catch us on our wild race to hell, turn us around because He knows us , bring judgment on the old self and then create a new self within us, which is Jesus Christ.
(from "The Crucified Life" by A. W. Tozer)
THE OLD "I" MUST BE CRUCIFIED!
The old "I" must be absolutely crucified. That is what Paul is talking about in Galatians 2.20. NOBODY CAN DIE PARTIALLY. Either a person is dead or alive. This is much like drinking a glass of water with poison in it. That glass does not have to be filled with 100 percent poison to kill you. Even if only 1 percent of the liquid in the glass is poison, the glass is the more dangerous because the poison is less obvious.
In our Christian experience, if there is still some small shred of the old "I", the danger is great. That little bit will destroy just as surely as if the entire self were poison.
This is what Paul is talking about. The old self must go in its entirety and the new must come in its entirety. The "I" of the old self is crucified. We are dead, yet we are alive as we have never been before. It is not our life but the life of our blessed Redeemer that permeates every essence of our being. Through this crucifixion of self, the life of Christ CAN be made practical, workable and liveable in this present world in the lives of Christians.
It is "Christ in me" that makes all the difference in the world. And until the old "I" is done away with, the life of Christ cannot come.
However, MANY CHRISTIANS HANG ON TO THE OLD "I" IN DESPERATION. So fearful are they that they might lose something, they forget what Jesus taught: "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whose will lose his life for my sake shall find it". Until we are willing to lose we will never find what God has for us.
The purpose of God is not to save us from hell; the purpose of God is to save us to make us like Christ and to make us like God. God will never be done with us until the day we see His face, when His name will be on our foreheads; and we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is.
What a cheap, across-the-counter commercial kind of Christianity that says, "I was in debt, and Jesus came and paid my debt." Sure, He did, but why emphasize that? "I was on my way to hell and Jesus stopped me and saved me." Sure, He did, but that is not the thing to emphasize. What we need to emphasize is that God saved us to make us like His Son. His purpose is to catch us on our wild race to hell, turn us around because He knows us , bring judgment on the old self and then create a new self within us, which is Jesus Christ.
(from "The Crucified Life" by A. W. Tozer)
MrZtwo
If God wanted simply to save us He could do it by his word or thought. A.W. Tozer is addressing something larger than simply salvation and going to heaven. A man benefits greatly by imitating the Christ. The rewards aren't all worldly things. Paul speaks of the fruits of the spirit which doesn't add a dollar to your IRA but can make a man rich. The fruits can make traveling through life joyful and rewarding. I didn't mean mirthful and wealthy. Evil persons can steal your money but they can't take away what God has given you.
SUICIDALNOMORE
Getting rid of the "I" is extremely difficult and has hindered me so many times and continues in trying to take me down. Great post and thanks for sharing it with us.
Join the Conversation