Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
This passage of scripture describes for us the essence of the Christian's life, which results in continuous growth in grace, a life that involves self denial at its core, by which the crucifixion of self is facilitated. The Christian's life is one of self-sacrifice at every stage of development, and without it none of us can ever grow up to spiritual maturity in Christ. Some of us prefer an easy-going, carefree Christianity which allows us to follow the natural inclinations of our fallen natures, without any sacrifice on our part in the eradication of sinful habits and propensities. But this cannot result in any permanent or eternal good, because Jesus expressly stated that if anyone desires to follow Him, we must deny self, since the path that He trod always leads to the place of crucifixion. Let's read:
Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
Believe it or not, our greatest enemy is not the devil, although we are cautioned in the scriptures to be sober and vigilant about his snares and agents who are on our track every day. Our greatest battles are against internal foes, which are engaged in a military campaign to get us to surrender our hearts and minds to the clamors of the flesh which strive for the mastery. When we by faith accept Christ into our lives, a new heart and mind is given to us, but it must be carefully cultivated and protected, lest we allow it to once again become subject to feelings, emotions, and the lusts of the flesh which are located in our members.
That's why we are cautioned not to buy into the doctrine of cheap grace, which does not require self-sacrifice, but we should rather be presenting ourselves to God every day, so that the work of salvation, which is derived from the word "Salvage", can continue uninterrupted in our lives from day to day. Being crucified with Christ will accomplish this, and as we submit to this process of restoration and renewal, Christ will become more and more manifest in us, until He alone will be seen, and not we ourselves.
But the process takes cooperation on our part, and we must choose to submit our ways unto God in order that we may live unto Him. During the upcoming holiday season, we will be once more be tempted to diverge from the path of truth and duty by the clamors of our internal foes to indulge in what we know is not right. That bottle of rum that has been hidden in the closet, and that fire water that is standing all alone in our cupboards will certainly be a temptation to us not to deny self. And many others will be tempted with intemperate eating and drinking, just because it is the spirit of the holidays, and if we do not choose to deny self, we will have our work cut out for us at the gym and at the altar starting on January 1st next year.
All of these unnecessary and unfavorable results can successfully be avoided if we allow ourselves to be crucified with Christ, for when this process takes place daily, our renewed minds are put in control of our feelings and lusts, and not the other way around. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which encourages us to surrender our lives to God each and every day, so that Jesus, the hope of glory may shine radiantly in and through us, as we interact with our fellowmen. Let's read:
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
May God add His blessing to the study and practice of His every word. God bless!