The third aspect of the work of the cross is to always bear the cross. Several times in the Gospels the Lord tells us to bear the cross (Matt. 16:24; 10:38; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23). At the time we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we recognized that we died with the Lord, and we sealed this realization by handing ourselves over to the cross, by putting ourselves on the cross. From that time on, we should not come down off the cross. Rather, we must bear the cross. To bear the cross is to always keep ourselves in the death of Christ, to always appropriate the Lord’s death.
The Lord bore the cross first, and then He was crucified on it. We, however, were crucified first, and then we bear the cross. Christ accomplished His death on the cross, and we were nailed on the cross in Christ and through Christ; this is a fact. Then at the time we believed in the Lord, we recognized the fact of our death on the cross, and we sealed our realization by being baptized. From this time on, we should never come down off the cross; we must always keep ourselves in the position of death. Seeing the accomplished fact, recognizing and receiving it, and bearing the cross are the three steps for us to experience the death of Christ.
As we have said, when we recognize that we have been crucified on the cross, we are released from the bondage and dominion of sin. As fallen persons, however, we have not only the problem of sin but a bigger, more serious problem, which is the self. Sin and self are the two main elements of the fallen person. Sin is the nature of the fallen person, and the self is the life of the fallen person. Nature is related to our desires; since we have the sinful nature, we have the desire of sin. Life is the energy, strength, and power to do things according to the nature. When we recognize that we have been crucified on the cross, we are set free from sin, released from the bondage of the nature of sin, but we still have the self, which is the biggest problem.
To bear the cross gives us a real deliverance from the self. We must always keep ourselves under the death of the cross. This puts the self to death. To bear the cross has very much to do with the denial of the self. To bear the cross is simply to put the self, the soulish life, to death. The way of deliverance is not introspection, to look at oneself. It is to bear the cross all the time, recognizing that we, that is, our self, have been put to death. The cross is applied to the self, so we have no more hope in the self; we never look at it, we never analyze it, and we have nothing to do with it. This is the way of deliverance.
The daily and practical way to apply the cross is simply to recognize that we have been crucified. If we have a large debt and someone pays it, we should recognize this fact and stand on it; that is all. In this regard we can tell a sinner, “Friend, the Lord Jesus is your Savior. He died on the cross for all your sins.” There is no need for the sinner to analyze. He should simply receive Christ as his Savior and accept the fact that He died on the cross. It is just as simple for the believers. There is no need for us to analyze. We can say, “Lord, You died for me on the cross, so I am through. I am finished. I also was crucified on the cross, and I put my seal on this. Now I am on the cross, and the cross is on me. From this time on I stand on this fact.” This is the real denial of the self.
If we recognize that we died and were buried, we should not look at ourselves. We should stand on the fact and then bear the cross. Do not give any ground to the self again because the self is on the cross, and the cross is on the self, that is, the self bears the cross. Without bearing the cross in this way, we cannot have the real denial of the self. In fact, to bear the cross is to deny the self, and to deny the self is to bear the cross.
To always keep ourselves under the death of the cross is to deny our soulish life-our thoughts, our desires, and our will. We should not allow the desires, thoughts, or will of the natural life to do something. Whenever we have a thought, desire, or will to do something, we must not forget that the cross is on us and we are on the cross. To stand on this fact is to bear the cross, and this is to deny the self.
To be released from sin, we simply need to reckon that we were crucified, but to deny the self requires that we always keep ourselves in the death of Christ. To be crucified on the cross is once for all, but to bear the cross is not once for all. We must bear the cross all the time. Therefore, it is easy to be freed from sin, but it is rather difficult to be delivered from the self. As soon as we give up the death of the cross, we will live by the self.
As we shall see, the real bearing of the cross for the denial of the self must be in the Spirit, not of ourselves. By the power, strength, and energy of the Spirit we can always keep ourselves under the death of the cross. The more we realize that we are under the death of the cross, the more we are filled by the Spirit. For this purpose, we need to cooperate with the Spirit. Without our cooperating, the Spirit cannot work. In the following chapter we will emphasize this in more detail.
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