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The Surrender of Self
Romans 6:13
Would you look into your heart right now and respond to a very
personal and important question? Do you judge yourself to be
stronger in the things of God than you have ever been before? I hope
so, because that is exactly the way it is supposed to be. Every day
with Jesus should be sweeter than the day before. Each moment should
find us moving up in our experience with a deeper sweeter faith than
we had the moment before.
Yet I hope no one is satisfied that God has finished His work of
growth and sanctification in the life. This very moment He wants to
lead us out deeper into the waters of surrender and consecration.
There are still victories to be won; there are sins to be put away,
and there is a drawing together that needs to be accomplished by the
Holy Spirit. And it needs to be done right now. Let me ask you a
question. Does God really mean what He says in the fantastic
promises of Romans six? No other chapter of the Bible is so lavishly
excessive in giving assurance to a struggling Christian. Consider
these extravagant phrases for example:
"Shall we continue in sin? ... God forbid." Verse 1, 2.
"We that are dead to sin." Verse 2.
"Henceforth we should not serve sin." Verse 6.
"Freed from sin." Verse 7.
"Dead indeed to sin." Verse 11.
"Let not sin therefore reign." Verse 12.
"Being made free from sin." Verse 18.
There is certainly nothing ambiguous about any of those texts. But
is there some secret meaning or perhaps some hidden reservation
which might not apply literally to us in these promises? We are
tempted to believe so because of the almost fanatical element of
certainty in every verse and line.
Some people are frightened by the book of Romans simply because it
describes the perfect work God wants to do in sanctifying us from
our sins. Many people are also afraid of that word "perfect." They
are fearful that God will ask them to do something that they are not
willing to do.
Before proceeding further, let's settle this question once and for
all. God will never do anything in our spiritual lives that we are
not willing for Him to do. He never coerces the will or pressures us
into any actions to which we have not given consent. So we can
totally disabuse our minds of being forced into any life choices
which are not free and sovereign.
But now we come face to face with the basic root weakness which has
led millions into discouragement and defeat. They simply have not
been reconciled to giving up the enjoyment of their sins. There is a
certain shallow, short-lived pleasure in sin which dances over the
emotions and seeks to capture the mind through the sensory pathway
of the flesh. In every case there must be a decision of the will to
forfeit those temporary physical "pleasures of sin for a season."
Until that choice is made and acted upon, there can be no real
victory over sin in the life.
Let me ask you right now whether you are resigned to the stripping
away of all your darling indulgences. Are you prepared to accept all
the results of a complete surrender to Christ? The mortifying of
every fleshly evil? I am convinced that there are only two possible
reasons for a person holding back and failing to gain the victory
over sin. Either he is not willing to give up the enjoyment of the
sin or else he does not believe that God will give him deliverance
from it. Being willing, of course, is our problem, but seeing it
done is God's part alone. We must be willing, but we can never be
able. Let us now look at these two great mental blocks which have
stolen the victory from so many of God's people.
Self-The Greatest Enemy
I think it has probably already been revealed to most of us that
self is the greatest enemy we face. Once we have settled it with
that old man of the flesh who seeks to rule over us, all the other
victories will come in their course.
God has given every one of us a powerful personal weapon to use in
combating the self-nature. The will is our only natural reserve
weapon, and absolutely everything depends on the right action of
this resource. The ultimate sin in the eyes of God, the final factor
that will cause a soul to be lost, is to deliberately say no to the
will of God. We become whatever we choose to be. We are not what we
feel, or what we might do or say in a single impulsive moment of our
life. We are what we will to be. We cannot always control our
emotions, but we can control our will.
Feelings have nothing to do with the truth of God. It is not your
feelings, your emotions, that make you a child of God, but the doing
of God's will. Perhaps you had a headache or arthritis pain when you
woke up this morning, but does that change the fact that God loves
you? Does it alter the truth that the seventh day is the Sabbath?
Whether you feel good or bad, the truth remains exactly the same.
Some people can feel wonderful during an evangelistic crusade or a
special revival weekend, but when the meetings are finished, their
faith plummets to rock bottom. It is a yo-yo effect with everything
tied to emotions generated by circumstances.
We must recognize the fact that our will and God's will, at some
point, must come into violent collision. Either we let Him have His
way or we choose our own course. And when it happens, most people
are not willing to admit the true cause behind the raging conflict.
They do not see the battle as primarily linked to the self-nature.
In evangelism I have listened to hundreds of "reasons" for not going
all the way with Christ. They tell me it is because of Sabbath work,
or doubts about the Bible, or opposition of relatives. But none of
those things are the true reasons. It goes much deeper than the
words they are uttering. There is a basic nature problem behind
their lack of commitment. They talk about twigs and leaves when the
real problem is the roots. The truth is that God wants something
that self is not willing to give up. They love something more than
they love God.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus made that strange statement in
Matthew 16:24, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me"? Why didn't the Master finish
the sentence by spelling out the thing to be denied? "Let him deny
himself"-what? Drugs, alcohol, tobacco, Sabbath-breaking? No. Just
deny himself, period. Jesus knew that self was behind every angry
battle against the truth. Once that victory is gained, all other
victories will be won also.
Multitudes are outside the will of God and outside the church
because they are not willing to give up something that they love
more than they love God. Thousands are in the church and are
perfectly miserable because something in their life has been
fighting the will of God for years. What I am trying to say is this:
to be a true Christian requires surrender above everything else.
Do you recall the time that your desire and God's will met in
fearful conflict? There was a titanic struggle. The old self-nature
hardened itself and resisted every impulse to turn away from
rebellion and sin. Under deep conviction you wrestled and agonized
against the powers of the flesh, but to no avail. Then, finally, you
surrendered your stubborn will and the battle was over. Peace
flooded into your heart, and glorious victory was immediately
realized.
What happened to change the picture? Did you finally manage to drive
back the devil? Definitely not. Your battle was with self, and when
you became willing, God gave you the victory over that carnal enemy.
"Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57.
It may sound foolish, but it is still true: before you can have, you
must give away; before you can be full, you must be empty; before
you can live, you must die; and before you have the victory, you
must surrender.
I don't believe anyone ever felt so defeated, depressed, and cheated
as eleven men did on a Friday night almost two thousand years ago.
Jesus had promised them the world. They were going to sit on thrones
and rule kingdoms. Life would be marvelous for them. They were
important. Then, suddenly, Jesus was arrested, tortured, and
crucified. The world had come to an end for them. Nothing will bring
us as low as the cross brought them. Not even crippling disease,
financial failure, desertion of friends, death of dear ones, or
injustices of life. But was it defeat? On the contrary, it was the
most glorious moment of victory this world has ever known.
Is Trying the Answer?
But now let's come back to the question of your sin and mine. We
have to admit that we fight an enemy who is stronger than we are. In
the weakness of the flesh we find ourselves bound in mind and body
by the superior strength of our spiritual enemy. We resolutely
struggle to extricate ourselves from the bondage, but the harder we
try the deeper we sink into the mire. At last, when we are totally
exhausted from the effort, a well-meaning friend comes by and says
"I know what the problem is. You need to try harder."
Listen, if that is the only answer we have to the sin problem, we
should stop sending missionaries to India. I've never seen anyone
try harder to be saved than the Hindus. I've watched the wretched
penitents prostrating in the hot dust, painfully measuring their
length, mile after mile, as they inch toward some sacred river
rendezvous. There they will dip under the filthy water, look up at
the blazing sun, and pray-then repeat the process again, and again,
and again.
Millionaire businessmen will give away all their wealth, take a
beggars bowl, and spend the rest of their life feeding on scraps of
shared food-all in an effort to earn salvation. Never have I seen a
Christian try as hard to be saved as a Hindu does. Yet, I have never
met a single Hindu seeker who had found any assurance or peace of
mind-not even among the Brahmin brotherhood of the highest caste.
Do you know why "trying" will not break the chain of sin? Because
sinful propensities are deeply embedded in the very nature of every
baby born into the world. We are brought into this life with
inherent weaknesses which predispose us toward disobedience.
Furthermore, we have all yielded to those propensities. Jesus, born
with the same fallen nature, is the only One who never gave way to
those weaknesses. He lived a totally sanctified life of obedience.
We do not need instruction in theology to acquaint us with the facts
about our fallen nature. All of us have struggled with memories of
failure and compromise. We have desperately tried to blot out scenes
of unfaithfulness from our minds, but every such effort has ended in
utter defeat.
I heard of a holy man in India who traveled from village to village
laying claim to special creative power. As a result of his Himalayan
pilgrimage, this sadhu professed to hold the secret for making gold.
He would fill a large caldron with water and then stir the contents
vigorously while uttering his sacred incantations. But in the
process of stirring he also slyly slipped some gold nuggets into the
water without being detected.
The head man of one village wanted to buy the secret for making gold
and the holy man agreed to sell it for 500 rupees. After explaining
the stirring and the prayers to be repeated the priest took his 500
rupees and started to leave. Then he turned back and gave a final
word of warning, "When you are stirring the water and uttering the
prayers you must never once think of the red-faced monkey, or the
gold will not come!"
As you can imagine the headman never could make the formula work
because every single time he stirred the water, there was the
red-faced monkey sitting at the edge of his mind, grinning at him.
We have absolutely no natural ability to keep the thoughts and
imagination under control for the simple reason that they are rooted
in our sinful natures. Only when the mind has been regenerated
through the process of conversion can the individual subjugate the
lower, physical powers and bring them under the effective control of
the Holy Spirit. Only in this way may the very intents of the heart
be sanctified and brought into harmony with Christ. Without the
transforming grace of the new birth, "the carnal mind ... is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Romans 8:7.
For three years I studied the language in India under the tutelage
of a Hindu priest who came to my house daily on his bicycle. This
gave me the opportunity to ask questions about various aspects of
Hindu worship. Only after many months of classroom camaraderie did I
feel clear in asking my teacher about one puzzling feature of his
ancestral religion. "Why," I asked, "did most all the temples have
obscene carvings all over the front of the buildings?"
My pundit seemed genuinely shocked by the question and vociferously
denied that any such carvings existed. Whereupon I invited him to
walk down the street a block or two where a new temple was being
constructed. I had watched the builders placing the obscenities by
the front entrance door, so the teacher could not deny they were
there. But once again he professed surprise and stated categorically
that he had never seen anything like it before. He would find out
the reason for it and tell me the next day.
On the following afternoon as he was mounting his bicycle to leave,
I asked him about the carvings again. "Oh yes," he said, "I found
out why they put them on the front of temples. You see, when the
people go in to worship the gods they are not supposed to think of
those evil things, so we place the carvings to remind them not to
think of those things while worshipping inside.
I chuckled at his novel explanation, realizing that none of us need
reminding about the intrusion of such thoughts. Without the
restraining power of God they are ever with us. What we need is the
panacea of divine grace to subdue and conquer them. The renewed mind
holds the answer to both the inside and outside factors which lead
to transgression.
Controlling the Inner Spirit
Have you noticed, though, that it is always easier to deal with
external actions than with internal dispositions? Well-disciplined
people can force themselves to act correctly on the outside, even
when the inward desires are at war with the outward conduct. The
Bible teaches that this conflict must cease between how we think and
how we act. A true Christian will be the same in both mind and body.
All of us have seen drivers dutifully slow down to fifteen miles per
hour through the school zones. They appear so submissive and
law-abiding as they creep along in front of the uniformed traffic
patrol lady. Yet those drivers are usually seething with internal
anger and rebellion because of missing an appointment. Self is
behind that angry battle, and the stubborn will has simply not
yielded to the idea of obedience. Here is where the desperate need
lies for those who claim to be in the family of God. Almost anyone
with minimum acting skills can force conformity to the rules
(especially if they think someone is watching) but almost no one can
force himself to be sweet about it. We can try till our dying breath
and we will never be able to alter the unconverted disposition by
dint of determination. Such a major shift requires the creation of
new attitudes and thought patterns.
Many are convinced that they are Christians just because they act in
a certain way and conform to certain biblical rules and principles.
In other words, their lifestyle and behavior identifies them as not
of this world. Or does it? Can we always recognize a true child of
God by his conduct? Perhaps we can over a period of time, but
pretenders are able to deceive most of us for a good while.
Eventually the nature behind the good works begins to appear and the
charade is seen for what it really is.
Isaiah wrote, "If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good
of the land." Isaiah 1:19. Some people are obedient without being
willing, and their fruit is soon exposed as artificial. What does
this teach us? It teaches us that two mistakes can be made
concerning those who keep God's law carefully. We might wrongly
assume they are legalists because they look so seriously upon the
slightest disobedience, or we might wrongly assume they are true
Christians just because they show zeal for conforming to the law.
Judging the Outward Actions
No one can read the motives of another. Therefore, it is a
dangerous, judgmental attitude to deprecate the apparent caring
concern that a fellow Christian has for keeping the commandments. If
his works indeed are based upon principles of self-effort and
do-it-yourself salvation the truth will be exposed soon enough. But
if he has a genuine love relationship with Christ which constrains
him to be meticulous in obedience, then he deserves commendation
instead of criticism.
So we must conclude that it is a fatal delusion to depend upon
trying harder and struggling longer to get the victory over sin. The
secret is trusting instead of trying, and time will only make a
young sinner into an old sinner. Finally, we must admit that we are
not as strong as our adversary, and as we surrender our dependence
upon human strength and effort, God provides the glorious gift of
victory.
Jesus said, "Without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5. That is a
tremendous truth, but we must go far beyond the negativism of this
statement and experience the positive reality of Philippians 4:13,"I
can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." The
difference between "all things" and "no thing" is Christ.
This does not imply that we sit back in relaxed idleness while God
assumes all the responsibility for our deliverance. There is a
balance between the possibility and responsibility of overcoming
sin. One belongs to God and the other to us. The possibility rests
with God and the responsibility rests with us. And as we begin to
act against the sin in our life, God provides the power to actually
break with the sin.
How far may we go in utilizing that faith method of claiming the
victory? John declares that "this is the victory that overcometh the
world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4. By submitting to that higher
power which reaches down from above the soul is able to bring every
thought into captivity to Christ.
Perhaps it can be clarified with an illustration. Suppose the farmer
walks along his garden path and looks down at the soil beneath his
feet. Aloud he wonders whether the minerals in that dirt could ever
be transformed into vegetables. The human answer immediately fills
his head. "Of course not. There are only three categories:
vegetable, mineral, and animal; and they always remain distinct and
recognizable."
Soon afterward the farmer laid out neat rows by the garden path and
carefully planted the cabbage seed according to the instructions on
the package. Then the gentle rains slowly moistened the ground, and
the warming rays of the sun began to exercise their particular magic
on the tiny seeds. They began to germinate and grow, and under those
favorable influences from above the root system began to draw the
actual mineral elements into the leaves of the cabbage. By some
mysterious process still not fully comprehended by the scientist,
the iron, phosphorus, and magnesium were incorporated into the plant
and transformed into the vegetable form of the cabbage. The mineral
had become a vegetable.
Later, as the farmer stood in the path admiring the rows of
well-formed heads the question came to him: Could these vegetables
ever become animal? And the answer from his human reasoning was
clearly, "No. Vegetable is vegetable and animal is animal, and they
are two distinct and separate categories."
But a few days later the farmer carelessly leaves the bars down on
the nearby pasture, and the cows wander into the garden. As they
consume the succulent young cabbage a truly remarkable thing happens
within their bodies. The vegetable leaves are assimilated into the
organs of digestion and in very short order the vegetable has
literally been turned into animal. What a miracle! And it did not
happen because of any effort put forth by the cabbage. It merely
yielded to the higher power which reached down from above, and the
miraculous change was effected.
How Far Can We Go In Victory?
Now we take the illustration one step further and ask the question:
Is it possible for the animal, or the physical, to ever become
spiritual? Again the obvious answer would be: "No. That is another
sphere, and could never happen in this world." But I submit to you
that this kind of transformation is not only possible, but it has
actually happened to everyone who has accepted Jesus as Lord and
Saviour.
By yielding our will to the higher powers from above, we can be
delivered from the bondage of the flesh. The entire being is made
captive to the Spirit of God, and we are able to think His thoughts
after Him. Paul declares that we partake of the divine nature and
have the mind of Christ. Again, and again, the process is described
as a surrendering of the will, and a giving up of our own way.
"Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive
from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto
God." Romans 6:13.
Paul further described the surrender process as a literal
crucifixion of the self-nature. He said, "I am crucified with
Christ;" and again, "I die daily." This constant subjection of the
will is not achieved by any decision or effort which we can
manufacture from within ourselves. Self will never make the choice
to put itself to death. Only the Holy Spirit can create the desire
to escape from the domination of a sin-loving nature. Only He can
bring us to the point of being willing to give up every indulgence
of that corrupt, fallen nature.
As the mind and will cooperates with the Holy Spirit, a
faith-reckoning renders the death blow to the old man of sin. The
life opens up to the sweet, triumphant in-filling of a new spiritual
power. Little idols disappear as they are dethroned from the heart.
There are no more secrets from God, no longer anything to hide or to
be ashamed of, no more defeatism as a way of life. Joyfully we put
aside the ornaments of self and the world to allow more capacity for
the loving character of Christ to be revealed.
Although there are brief superficial pleasures in a life of sin,
those indulgences cannot be compared with the delight of following
Jesus. Self makes the Christian path seem dark and fearsome; but
when self is surrendered and crucified, the narrow road is filled
with joy unspeakable.
The Enigma of Miserable Christians
Every time you see an unhappy Christian you are looking at someone
who has not surrendered self to the cross of Christ. That inward
life of the flesh, that self-nature, has been allowed to survive;
and there can be no peace in a divided loyalty. Those who have not
submitted to be crucified with Christ still carry their religion
like a heavy burden. They remind me of the Hindu processions I
observed, again and again, on the crowded streets of India. The
priests and devotees staggered along bearing the heavy idol on their
shoulders. Occasionally they stopped to rest, and it was an obvious
relief to put down their god momentarily to relieve themselves of
the burden.
Isaiah described the same thing in his day as he must have watched
similar scenes. He wrote, "They lavish gold out of the bag ... and
he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him
upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he
standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry
unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble."
Isaiah 46:6, 7.
How accurately this describes what I observed in India. Their god
was so helpless that they had to carry it from place to place. They
wearied themselves with the effort to move it to another location.
It was a burden which they were relieved to be rid of when they
stopped to rest.
What kind of religion is it that must be painfully endured and borne
like some miserable weight? I've seen professed Christians with that
same kind of experience. They have a religion that seems to do
nothing for them but to make them weary and disgruntled. They are
like the man with a headache. He didn't want to cut off his head,
but it hurt him to keep it. These people don't want to give up their
religion, but it is painful to keep it.
There is only one explanation for this kind of bizarre situation. It
is abnormal in the extreme. Christians should be the happiest people
in the world. If they are not, it is because self has not been
surrendered and crucified.
Come back now to the text in Isaiah where the prophet described the
idol processions of his day. In truth it is not Isaiah speaking but
the Lord God Himself. In verse 7 He said, concerning the idol god,
"they carry him." Now read verse 4 where God declared to Israel,
"And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I
carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will
deliver you."
Which god do you serve today? What kind of religion do you profess?
You can only serve God or self. When you unreservedly surrender that
spoiled, greedy, indulgent self to be put to death, you may reckon
yourself dead to the sins which self promotes. Trying to live a
Christian life without dying to self is just as miserable as
struggling to carry a pagan god. In fact, when self has not been
given up to the death of the cross, it comes between you and the
Saviour, becoming a real god. The constant strain of trying to
subdue that self-god by human effort can wear out the most
determined saint.
What happens then when faith claims the victory over the world, the
flesh, and the devil? We are relieved of the strain, because God
promises to carry us. "Thanks be to God which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57. "And this is
the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5 :4.
"I have made, and I will bear, even I will carry, and will deliver
you." Isaiah 46:4.
It is not hard to imagine that Satan's strongest efforts are aimed
at the exaltation of self. He can only control the individuals who
continue to feed the carnal nature. I have often imagined that our
great enemy has a computer list of self-related indulgences which he
constantly holds out to the fallen human race. Each category has
been honed and adapted to exploit the particular weakness of the
self-nature which Satan recognizes so easily in every member of
Adam's family. Perhaps some of the most appealing subtitles in his
list would include self-righteousness, self-dependence,
self-seeking, self-pleasing, self-will, self-defense, and
self-glory.
Because he is the temporary prince of this world, the devil has
inspired an avalanche of material which focuses on developing the
love of self. Counselors of every stripe and hue urge us to improve
our self-worth and our self-esteem. Even ministers preach sermons
around their interpretation of loving our neighbors as we love
ourselves. Are these perversions of the biblical admonitions to
"crucify self" and "deny self"? How can we seek to esteem and exalt
that which we are told to subdue and put to death?
There is a sense, of course, in which we need to recognize our value
in the sight of God. He counted every one of us as more precious
than His own life. But that objective recognition is entirely
distinct from the basic self-centeredness of the fallen human race.
God can love us in spite of our genetic weaknesses and indulged
carnal appetites, but the closer we come to Jesus, the less charmed
we should be by our own perverse ways. In fact, as we enter into the
converted life through the Holy Spirit, the confidence we placed in
the flesh will be wholly shifted to the Saviour. In describing the
new birth experience, Paul compared it to spiritual circumcision.
"For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."
Philippians 3:3.
As we have noted already, the great apostle equated this conversion
experience to the crucifixion of self. The truth is that the
egocentric nature of every baby, child, and adult is to have their
own way. This nature must be crucified, and under the mastery of the
new spiritual nature, the affections are set upon Jesus. Self is no
longer important. The flesh has no strength to control the life or
fulfill its own will. The song of the soul now is, "Have thine own
way, Lord, have thine own way. Thou art the potter; I am the clay."
God grant us this experience.
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