Dying to Self to Live for God

The Doctrine of the Cross for a Believer 

Jesus does not call His followers to a life of ease and comfort. Throughout Scripture, Jesus emphasized the costliness of following Him. He often employed extreme language to convey His point. Jesus likened following Him to hating one’s father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even one’s own life.1 He warned potential followers to count the cost.2 Jesus referred to discipleship as denying oneself3 and carrying one’s cross.4 

A believer’s cross does not necessarily refer to a specific burden, such as a long-term physical illness, ongoing temptation, or a strained relationship. Political rebels in the first century often received a sentence of death by crucifixion. Executioners forced the condemned individuals to carry their crosses to the execution site. The degrading display of carrying one’s cross symbolized an offender’s complete brokenness in submission to the authority one had transgressed. 

Similarly, the believer’s cross represents total surrender to Christ’s authority. Following Christ wholeheartedly requires deliberate surrender of personal plans and ambitions in complete obedience to Him, no matter the cost. Discipleship involves intentionally disowning “self” as the primary motivation in life. However, denying self does not mean ignoring, neglecting, or disregarding self. God purposefully uses the believer’s cross to restore us in His image and fashion us in the likeness of Christ. As we grow in Christlikeness, we become more fully the people who God created us to be. 

To live without appropriate regard for God and others leaves us wanting. With self as the driver for our dreams and desires, we fail to flourish as the people God created us to be. Inevitably, disappointment follows when our own wants and needs become our primary obsession. Living in a world dominated by self-interest reveals only brokenness and competing agendas. 

Jesus demonstrated a better way. Every word Jesus spoke and every action He took fulfilled His Father’s plan. He always sought the welfare of others. When we live for Jesus and seek to be like Him, our focus dramatically widens beyond the narrow attention centered on our little worlds. Self-denial never comes easy. However, life presents no higher calling than giving up our agendas for the Lord’s. In Christ’s kingdom, to die is to live. Death to self represents spiritual victory. 

1. Hate family and one’s life: Luke 14:26 

2. Count the cost: Luke 14:25-35 

3. Deny self: Mark 8:34 

4. Carry your cross: Luke 9:23; 14:27

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 16, The Gospel of John