More Than Surrender

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” - Matthew 16:21-28

Surrender.

I think that term is used too often sometimes, because often what we're surrendering to Christ takes more than just that. It takes death. Surrender is only part of the story, and the death of our flesh is the rest of it.

Christ's life is recorded so meticulously because we are meant to follow, and that means to the cross. For some, this may be in a literal sense. Many have died over the centuries following Christ. For all of us, however, living means dying. We are invited into the abundant life, but we have to dethrone ourselves as rulers over our hearts to live it. We must crucify our flesh.

"And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." -Galatians 5:24

With this in mind, let's revisit the Scripture I opened with, where Peter was being weirdly protective and overbearing. Jesus simply said what was about to happen, and Peter took it hard. He allowed satan a foothold to plant seeds inside of him that seemed good. On the outside, he seemed like a concerned and even loving friend who didn't want Jesus to die. But actually, it was the devil doing the talking, and that is evident not only in Jesus' response ("Get behind me, satan!") but also in the control and self-righteousness of Peter's words ("This shall never happen to you!").

It does not offend Christ to bring up His crucifixion and our own- it's offensive not to, and it would be a grave mistake on our part. The only way to live as our Lord intended is for us to crucify our flesh and live in the abundant life He offers. We must kill the idea that it is all about us. As John said in John 3:30, "He must increase, but I must decrease.”

For context, in Galatians 5 (where "crucify the flesh" comes from), Paul is talking about "keeping in step" with the Spirit. Notice the language here:

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." -Galatians 5:16

He doesn't say you should not, or you must not. He says you will not. If you walk by the Spirit, you won't gratify your flesh because it is His Spirit that helps crucify it in the first place.

We simply cannot kill our flesh ourselves day after day, we must always bring the petition before our Father in heaven that we might live for His glory and not our own, that He might live through us as we are His hands and feet, and that He may be exalted while we are humbled.

By saying all of this, I am not looking to be morbid. No, I am acknowledging the fact that the way to true life, in all its sweetness, can only be found by killing all that is vile and evil; and that is our flesh. That is ourselves.

We cannot partially surrender or partially crucify ourselves, as Jesus did not only partially surrender Himself. He gave all. As my World History textbook shockingly put it, Christianity is an "all-or-nothing faith".

While He doesn't need us (rather, graciously invites us, not out of necessity but out of simply loving us), we desperately need Him.

Practice moment-by-moment crucifixion of the flesh. Pray daily that His Spirit may guide you in keeping with and abiding in Him, instead of gratifying your own will, passions, and desires. The road is long, exhausting, and difficult, but the road you walk now with a cross on your back is the road paved to glory!

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."