Three Steps to Christ - Part 1
Luke 9:23-24; “And He said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him {1.} deny himself, and {2.} take up his cross daily, and {3.} follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it.” Mark 8:34-35; “And when He had called the people unto Him with his disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”
The definition of deny is to refuse to grant; to withhold, not to afford; to disown; to refuse or neglect to acknowledge. 1828 Noahs Webster. Not allowing yourself to have or do things. Cambridge dictionary Denying Self. How do we deny self before we take up our cross? Many people think they know what it means to deny self. But what our denial is, isn’t in God’s sight. For our denial is to ourselves what we think makes the approval of God truly isn’t denial of self. How can we be sure that our denial is what God wants and accepts. We must pray every day for the Lord to show us how to deny ourselves. Denial is putting off the old man and allowing the new creature in Christ to take over. So how is that done? Let us dip into the Word and see what it is to deny self.
He who would confess Christ must have Christ abiding in him. He cannot communicate that which he has not received. The disciples might speak fluently on doctrines, they might repeat the words of Christ Himself; but unless they possessed Christlike meekness and love, they were not confessing Him. A spirit contrary to the spirit of Christ would deny Him, whatever the profession. Men may deny Christ by evil-speaking, by foolish talking, by words that are untruthful or unkind. They may deny Him by shunning life's burdens, by the pursuit of sinful pleasure. They may deny Him by conforming to the world, by uncourteous behavior, by the love of their own opinions, by justifying self, by cherishing doubt, borrowing trouble, and dwelling in darkness. In all these ways they declare that Christ is not in them. And "whosoever shall deny Me before men," He says, "him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven." DA 357.2
Mark 8:36-37; “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” When we deny self, we must deny our worldly passions, our worldly language, our worldly thoughts, our worldly lusts. We must give up all that we know and love of the sinful world, and give all ourselves to Christ, to God the Father. Denying self is a very hard and long process. We must confess and acknowledge our particular sins. When we confess we bring them to God only. Not another man, not a priest, but to God. If our sins have hurt others, then we must confess and repent to that person also. While we confess our sins, they must be to the point, every sin of which we are guilty of.
Because when we wander from God, we suffer the consequences of those sins. Our faith must not be lost of God, we must keep our discernment of the power God has in His purpose and cause for our lives and gain that confidence that God is who He is. Without sincere repentance and reformation God will not accept our confessions. We must solely decide to change the ways of our lives, and put away all offenses to God. This is called genuine sorrow for sin. If when we pray and we just pray the same thing over and over, to forgive us, it turns robotic and it turns into just a prayer of forgiveness. There is no heart into it and God rejects it.
In Isaiah 1:16-17 it says; “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” When we walk in the statues of life, and restore the pledge, and give back what we have robbed of God, without committing iniquity; we shall be as Ezekiel said in 33:15; he shall surely live, he shall not die.”
We do not discern our defects of our character when the sins have deadened our moral perceptions. We don’t realize the enormity of the evil we have committed against God. When we go against the Moral Laws of God, we are only evil in our hearts always. We err and never see the injustice we have done. There is said of a true messenger and prophet of God; “True character is not shaped from without, and put on; it radiates from within. Our profession of faith may proclaim the theory of religion, but it is our practical piety that holds forth the Word of Truth.” DA p. 307
So what is practical piety? Good works; in our dress, in our diet, music, and obedience to all the commands of God. “Perfection of character is a lifelong work, unattainable by those who are not willing to strive for it in God’s appointed way, by slow and toilsome steps. We cannot afford to make any mistake in this matter, but we want day by day to be growing up into Christ, our living Head.” 5t p. 500
To deny self is to give up the pleasures of sin, to give up self indulgences, to be separate from the world for Christ’s sake, to get away from idolatry against God, and solely give all of yourself and your life to Christ. If you harbor one bit of sin, like, appetite, worldly pleasure, worldly gain, trusting in man over God, have greed, jealousy, spite, bad language, bad thoughts etc., and you have not submitted all to God by confessing these things and asking for forgiveness and reform from it, He cannot help you when you still hold on to one grain of sin. Because you do not trust God enough of His forgiveness to not continue in them. It is a willingness to sacrifice of all of the worldly things we love and to remove them from our lives, to be able to give all to Christ.
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35. His promises will never pass away. He promises us peace, and peace and love is what we need in our souls. When we confess our sins, and in our hearts put them away, we resolve to give ourselves to God. Ask Him to wash away your sins, an give you a new heart. Stop holding on to the things that cause you to be separated from God.
We cannot atone for our past sins; we cannot change our hearts to make ourselves holy. But God promises to do all this for us through Christ Jesus. Believe that promise! Confess your sins and give yourself to God. When you will to serve Him, God will fulfill His word to you. Believe in His promise and believe you are forgiven and cleansed. Don’t wait to feel that you are made whole, but believe it, for it is so, not because you believe it but because God has promised. Once you change your character, and you have denied self by giving all to Christ and giving up all of the worldly desires and lusts of the flesh, because that is the first thing we must do before picking up the cross to follow Him; then you will be ready for the next step.
“ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and a contrite heart, oh God, thou wilt not despise.” Psalm 51:17