11/28/20 "I DIE DAILY"

11/28/20 "I DIE DAILY"

"I DIE DAILY," is a Biblical statement that Paul made in reference to the possibility that he could physically die at any time because of his faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. The entire 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians addresses the subject of bodily resurrection. Paul was saying that he faced the possibility of being killed for his faith daily, but he was assured that he would be raised from the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:30-32
30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

"I DIE DAILY," has nothing to do with "dying to sin daily." In fact, I don't know of any passage that says we, "die to sin daily."
We are tempted daily.
We must resist sin daily, hourly and whenever we are tempted.
We must deny ourselves daily.
We must take up our cross (our association with and our alignment with Christ) daily.

BUT WE SHOULD ONLY DIE TO SIN ONCE. The Scripture does not say that we are DYING to sin daily. The Scripture does say that the believer should be DEAD TO SIN. Just as faith in Christ leads to and results in regeneration, so faith in Christ leads to and results in being crucified with Christ. Both, being born of the Spirit and being crucified with Christ are essential to the victorious Christian life. Regeneration is a continuing reality, while crucifixion is not an ongoing condition however, the results of crucifixion continue for those who walk in the light.

Romans 6:1-5
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:'Romans 6:6-10
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Romans 6:11-14
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Galatians 6:14
14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

(DLG note...) As in other passages, crucified relates to being DEAD, it does not relate to dying as an ongoing process.
We are tempted daily and we must resist daily, but we do not die to sin daily.
We live in victory, holiness, righteousness daily, as we walk in the light, as we walk in the Spirit, as we walk in Christ footsteps daily, but we do not die to sin daily.
We obey, follow, trust Christ daily, but we do not die to sin daily. We resist temptation, we resist the devil, we turn from sin daily, but we do not die to sin daily.

Salvation includes New Birth of the Spirit and it includes Death to self, sin, Satan and Satan's system., but we should die to sin once and then walk in newness of life. The Christian life is not THE CRUCIFIED LIFE, since those two concepts are actually contradictory. Our Old Man, self, Carnal Mind, sinful nature needs to be crucified with Christ, but crucifixion means death, not life on the cross. The idea of the crucified life is not New Testament living. Christians LIVE the Christian Life. We LIVE the Resurrection Life.

Galatians 5:22-26
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

(DLG note...) The underlying implication of DYING TO SIN DAILY is that Christians never come to the point of BEING DEAD TO SIN in this life and therefore DELIVERED FROM SIN in this present evil world. If you are not dead to sin then you have to struggle with inward rebellion, and inner pollution, which is not the salvation that God provides.

Our Old Man is crucified with Christ and we were crucified with Christ, but just as Jesus is no longer crucified, neither are believers continuously crucified.

Hebrews 7:26-27
26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

(DLG note...) Though I am crucified (dead) with Christ, nevertheless I live, I am alive. It is no longer my self oriented life, but my Christ oriented life.
It is the life of Christ that lives in me and it is the life of Christ that gives me life.
The good news is salvation gives us life, newness of life, eternal life, everlasting life, fullness of life, abundant life.