Put Your Self to Death

Putting your self to death is a significant and challenging doctrine of Christianity.  Paul speaks of it most directly, particularly in his epistles to the Romans, Galatians, and Colossians (Rom. 8:13; Gal. 2:19-20; Col. 3).  The difficulty with this concept is due to the intensely metaphoric language as well as the personal accountability the doctrine places on believers.

At the onset, parameters of dying to self should be laid out to guide this discourse.  The death of self can be reduced to the intentional separation from our fleshly self, in which we previously lived, for the expressed purpose of drawing closer to our renewed and reconciled spiritual self in Christ.  This should be the framework that guides our understanding of dying to self.

There are two basic parts of ourselves that we are putting to death.  The first part of self to be put to death is our previous self.  When we become Christians, through confession and belief in Jesus, we put to death our previous self in repentance and faith in order to turn to God.  This is so fundamental to the Christian life that if we have not taken this first step of putting our selves to death we should seriously examine the state of our salvation.  This part of the self that we put to death includes every previous bit and iota that had previously filled and dominated our life.

The second part of our self that needs to be put to death is our future self.  When we give ourselves to Christ, we are to place our plans, our dreams, and our desires into His hands.  This can be a very challenging proposition, particularly in a society that so values goal orientation but it is so utterly necessary for us to grow to be the people that God desires us to be.  We need to place everything in His sovereign, loving, and omnipotent hands, knowing that He is the God of all creation and the Lord of our lives.

Once we have accepted the reality and necessity of putting our old self to death, then we will be prepared to take the next steps of growth: putting on our new self.  Paul speaks of this concept very directly in Colossians 3, indicating that we are taking off our old, fleshly self and putting it to death and putting on the new self.  The new self is found and defined only in Christ.  It is in Christ, by Christ, through Christ, and for Christ that the new self is all about.  A correct term for the new self is "God-obsessed."  After we die to self and are risen anew to the Spirit, we should strive to live God-obsessed in every manner, word, and deed.  Let us then press forward to put our selves to death to be made new in Him!