The Alpha of Continual Dying

UV 3001/10000 The Alpha of Continual Dying

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

2 Corinthians 4 v 10



While we live on earth, believers in Jesus need to die to themselves, die to their lusts and pride, die to the old sinful creature, die to the sinful demands of the flesh and mind and live by the Word, live by the teachings of Jesus, live by the resurrection power of Jesus. Like the catabolic and anabolic process sustains physical life, there is an equivalent catabolic and anabolic process in the realm of the spirit. The Holy Spirit is given as our Helper to aid with both these processes.



St Paul refers to continual dying as “bearing the marks of Christ.” We are to constantly remind ourselves that we are dead to the world and live to the Word. It is also the process of denying ourselves and acknowledging the Lord in all aspects of our lives- the physical appetites, the intellectual longings, the social demands, the emotional drives, the spiritual quest. We are to crucify our excessive and illegitimate motives, thoughts, desires, actions, reactions, habits. We are to negate the negative thoughts, emotions, attributes, actions and reactions that we are prone to hitherto.



The uni-verse above also hints that while the “dying “ is subtle and not so visible, the Resurrection or life of Jesus is manifest or made evident in our bodies and in our lives. In short, every attribute of Jesus, every truth taught by Jesus, every attitude of Jesus, every power of Jesus is demonstrated in our lives. The process of dying to our old selves and living with the zoe or life power of Jesus is comparable to the emptying ourselves of the evil, the weaknesses and failures of our past and filling with His goodness, His Spirit and His power. It is also analogous to our actions of breathing in and breathing out- we need to continually breathe in the Spirit of Christ and breathe out our own evil and weaknesses.