We deny the self by experiencing the death of Christ subjectively in a particular way. The experience of the cross of Christ has three steps: first, the crucifying of our old man, which is an objective fact accomplished by Christ; second, our acknowledging and receiving this fact and declaring, “I have been crucified with Christ”; third, our going on to experience this fact subjectively.
The objective fact in dealing with the self is that our old man, which includes the self, has been crucified with Christ. The subjective experience in dealing with the self is through the Holy Spirit. If we have seen the fact that our old man has been crucified, then in our daily living, whenever we discover the expressing of our natural opinions, we must let the Holy Spirit work the death of the cross upon these opinions and put them to death. This is our subjective experience in dealing with the self.
In order to deny the self, we need to see, through divine revelation, that our old man has been crucified with Christ. Then we need to see that our natural opinions are an expression of the old man. Once we know that our old man has been crucified and realize that our opinions are the expression of the old man, we should apply the death of Christ through the Holy Spirit to our opinions. This is what the Lord Jesus refers to in Matthew 16:24 as the denying of the self.
The genuine experience of denying the self takes place only in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Although we may understand the crucifying of the old man and know that our opinions are the expression of the self, yet if we do not live in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, this is but an empty doctrine and does not afford any genuine spiritual experience. Only as we live in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is our seeing a real seeing and our experience a real experience. Therefore, if we desire to live continuously in the experience of denying the self, we need to live in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Then we must allow the Holy Spirit to execute the crucifixion of Christ upon every expression of the self. This is the reality of denying the self by experiencing the death of Christ subjectively through the Holy Spirit.
The believers deny the self by not living in their “I,” which has been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). The old man in Romans 6:6 refers to our very being, the created and fallen man, and the “I” in Galatians 2:20 is the title which the old man calls himself. The old man is the “I,” and the “I” is the old man. Galatians 2:20 tells us that this “I” has been crucified with Christ, and Romans 6:6 helps us see that the “I” who has been crucified is the old man. When we see that our old man has been crucified with Christ, we can say, “I have been crucified with Christ.” Then by not living in the “I” who has been crucified with Christ, we deny the self.
The believers are conformed to the death of Christ by losing their soul. In Matthew 16:25 the Lord Jesus says, “Whoever desires to save his soul life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul life for My sake shall find it.” To save the soul life is to allow the soul to have its enjoyment in this age and not to suffer. To lose the soul life is to cause the soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment. In following the Lord we should not save our soul life, that is, we should not let the soul have its enjoyment. If we save our soul life in this age, we shall lose it in the coming age. But if we lose it for Christ’s sake, we shall find it in the enjoyment of the kingdom in the coming age. This means that if the believers allow their soul to have its. enjoyment in this age, they will cause their soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment in the coming kingdom age. But if they allow their soul to suffer the loss of its enjoyment in this age for the Lord’s sake, they will cause their soul to have its enjoyment in the coming kingdom age. They will share the Lord’s joy in ruling over the earth (Matt. 25:21, 23).
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