die to live

Matthew 16:21-23 

21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 

23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 

Matthew 16:24-26 (Luke 9:23-25 is a similar passage) 

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?"

• The death of Jesus is not the only death in Christianity. 

Romans 6:4-5 New Century Version (NCV) 

When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can live a new life. Christ died, and we have been joined with him by dying too. 

As believers, we must die to:  

1. SELFISHNESS 

2. SELF-CENTEREDNESS 

3. SELF-ABSORPTION 

4. SELF-INDULGENCE 

5. SELF-PITY 
   

• Full surrender to God is NOT AN OPTION to live the abundant life God has promised those who believe. 
  

Galatians 2:20 

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

• The more surrendered we are, the more we reflect Jesus.
  

Hebrews 12:4 

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 

1. The death of Jesus is not the only death in Christianity. 

2. Full surrender to God is NOT AN OPTION to live the abundant life God has promised those who

   believe. 

3. The more surrendered we are, the more we reflect Jesus. 

Psalm 16:5-8 

5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
    you make my lot secure.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance.
7 I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
    With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.