The Law Part 5 -- Separation of the Elect from Themselves (Part 2)

Salvation is not something which historically happened; it is a continual process. Grace is a dynamic action given to us by God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, there is nothing static in the salvation that grace gives to those chosen by God. The recipients are aggressive, impetuous, and conversational about spiritual things. Thus, in this way, a dynamic is power with a purpose.

There is a difference between “power” and “dynamic.” Power is not necessarily a useful or blessed thing to possess. Consider the power of energy! However, when it is harnessed in obedience to the will of man for good, it becomes a dynamic. There is no promise that we may lay hold of on power to use it for our own purpose.

The time of persecution is a time of great trial to all Christians. Power, public opinion, and intellectual progress are all enlisted against the truth of the gospel. The early Christians were not only exposed to martyrdom, but they were excluded, or at least obligated to exclude themselves, from extensive departments of public life and of general culture. This brings us to an interesting Biblical account of two contrasting preachers—Simon Magus and Philip.

Simon preached himself, but Philip never mentioned himself (Acts 8). The sin of Simon assumes many forms. He desired to obtain power and office, but not according to the Divine method. Money was his way because it was the one thing he valued and offered. He wanted a quick way to success; therefore, he had a low conception of high things. It has been said, “The stream rises not above the spring.” Peter saw through him, and he drew him out into the light. Simon’s sin was the desire to possess power for personal profit. (Read Acts 8.) What is the difference between Simon buying power and preachers getting advanced degrees in order to get big powerful churches? It is not wrong for a person to get all the education he can, but he must not forget that the call to preach is the gift of God. Very few will listen to God-called men preach Christ today. Most people want men who have made names for themselves, rather than men who lift up the NAME which is above every name.

Self cannot overcome self by self alone. Self is the first law of nature, and denial of self is the first law of grace. Christ said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:23-27 NASB). Christ Himself gave the terms of discipleship. There is something to be denied, something to be taken up, and something to do—deny self, take up the cross, and follow Christ.

Self is an idol. The center of love is either self or God. Paul said, “For men will be lovers of self…” (II Tim. 3:2 NASB). Subsequent to His parable, Christ said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. For life is more than food, and the body than clothing” (Luke 12:22, 23 NASB).

The self-loving person murmurs at God’s providence, because he is disturbed in his enjoyments. He is easily offended, because his self-esteem has been wounded. He thirsts for flattery, because he indulges in self-love. This proves that human personality is depraved, because judgment has lost its proper estimate of values. Affection seeks things below, and the will is wrapped in self. Martin Luther said, “I am more afraid of my own heart than I am the Pope. I have within me that great pope, self.”

Self-denial is not a mere negative attitude; it is a positive redirection of the total being. It has been said that a man is no fool who will give up what he cannot keep for that which he cannot lose. Believers are sharers in Christ’s glory, but we must not forget that we cannot share in His suffering on behalf of the elect. Christ alone can pay the sin debt against the elect. Our subject is discipleship. Christ said, “…If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste death until they see the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:23-27 NASB).

There is something to be denied, something to be taken up, and something to do in Luke 9:23. The first thing is to deny “self” which has many names—flesh, carnal mind, will, wisdom, confidence, filthiness, warring, glorying, etc. The verb “to deny” is an aorist middle imperative of arneomai, meaning to deny, disclaim or disown. Self-denial is not a mere negative attitude; it is a positive redirection of the total being. A great example of this is King David in the cave of Adullam (Ps. 57). It is a practical law, that men who are most to be trusted in prosperity are those who have stood firmly in the day of adversity. These are the ones rewarded in the day of adversity. Never were there purer days in the Christian faith than when the Christian faith was persecuted. Thus was it with David and his faithful followers, because they looked not to the present adversity, but to the future glory. Three of David’s chief men came to the cave of Adullam while David was in the stronghold.

We are told that David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem… So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem, which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David; nevertheless David would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD; and he said, Be it far from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives? For at the risk of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did” (I Chr. 11:17-19 NASB).

David has given us some tremendous spiritual help in Psalm 57. Our experience of human helpers has been a checkered experience. Many that began with us have not continued. Some from whom we expected much have either departed from us during the battle, or were not willing to go with us to the work. A personal exposition of this Psalm, by G. Campbell Morgan’s son fifty years ago, was a tremendous help.

The fact of God makes a blessed Christian experience possible. The greatness of God makes a believer humble. His greatness is a mystery. “For the Lord Most High is to be feared, A great King over all the earth. He subdues peoples under us, and nations under our feet. He chooses our inheritance for us, The glory of Jacob whom He loves. [Selah” (Ps. 47:2-4 NASB).

The fact of faith trusts not only in the God of grace, but in the God of providence. Providence manages the most minute and ordinary affairs of our lives – not against us, but for us. Providence must be judged as a whole, not by little pieces. Christ said to His disciples in the upper room, “What I do you do not realize now, but you shall understand hereafter” (John 13:7 NASB). Solomon said, “The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, Even the wicked for the day of evil” (Prov. 16:4 NASB).

Since Proverbs 16:4 has been so controversial, let us look into the text further. The word “made” is not “created.” It is used in the sense of “do” or “perform.” Thus, Jehovah has performed all things for Himself. The principle of the text applies to His work of redemption. Scripture is filled with God’s pleasure and choice, of choosing fallen sinners out of depraved mankind to become His sheep. The wicked people referred to in Proverbs 16:4 were not created as such. Sin is essentially the problem made by the man God created. Sin came from the fall rather than from creation. God’s foreknowledge of the reality of oncoming sin does not make God the author of sin. Sin in anticipation and sin in actuality are two different ideas.

Denying self is the upward life—loving what God loves, and hating what He hates. We see endurance in the statement, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily…” (Luke 9:23 NASB). It is not difficult to make a great sacrifice once, but it is far more difficult to make a smaller sacrifice daily. It is the daily sacrifice that is the test of discipleship. Paul said, “I die daily” (I Cor. 15:31 NASB).

The motive for self-denial is “for My [Christ’s] sake” (Luke 9:23 NASB)—literally, “for the sake of Me.” If we are doing it for Christ’s sake, there will be seen in us denial of self, devotion in service, and delight in suffering. Last, but not least, it is important that we face three imperatives in Luke 9:23—“let him deny himself,” “take up his cross daily,” and “follow Me” (NASB). The most frequent use of the imperative mood is found in God’s commands.