The believers deny the self by not living in their “I.” The old man in Romans 6:6 refers to our created and fallen being; the “I” in Galatians 2:20 is what the old man calls itself. The old man is the “I”; the “I” is the old man. Galatians 2:20 says that this “I” has been crucified with Christ; Romans 6:6 shows that the “I,” who has been crucified, is the old man. When we see that our old man has been crucified with Christ, we are able to deny the self by not living in the “I.”
The believers are conformed to the death of Christ by losing their soul-life. In Matthew 16:25 the Lord Jesus said, “Whoever wants 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 the present life and not to suffer; to lose the soul-life is to cause the soul to lose its enjoyment and thereby to suffer. In following the Lord, we should not save our soul-life, that is, let the soul have its enjoyment. If we save our soul-life in this age, we will lose it in the coming age, that is, lose the enjoyment of the soul and thereby suffer. But if we lose our soul-life for Christ’s sake, in the enjoyment of the coming age of the kingdom we shall gain the soul-life, that is, gain the enjoyment of the soul and moreover share the joy of the Lord in ruling over the earth (25:21, 23).
Losing the soul is the reality of denying the self and taking up the cross. The soul-life is expressed bodily in the self. To deny our self is to lose our soul-life. To take up the cross is to put to death the self, to put to death the soul-life. To identify ourselves with Christ in His death is to take up the cross; therefore, to take up the cross is also to lose our soul-life.
To lose the soul-life is to experience the death of Christ. We have been crucified with Christ, terminated with Him. Therefore, after being organically united with Him through faith, we should remain on the cross, keeping our old man under the termination of the cross (Rom. 6:3; Col. 2:20). This is to participate in the crucifixion of Christ. When we remain in His crucifixion, subjectively experiencing the death of Christ, we lose our soul-life.
To lose the soul is to no longer live in our natural life. The soul is very much related to the natural life. The natural life is dealt with through the loss of the soul. Everything of the natural life and its habits must be forsaken. When our natural life is put to death, we lose our soul.
For the believers to lose their soul is for them to hate their father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even their own self, that is, not to love these above the Lord. In Matthew 10:37 the Lord Jesus said, “He who loves father or mother above Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter above Me is not worthy of Me.” Our love for the Lord must be absolute; we should love nothing above Him. He is the One most worthy of our love, and we must be worthy of Him. In Luke 14:26 the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and moreover, even his own soul-life, he cannot be My disciple.” According to the Lord’s word here, we should hate those whom we love, not those whom we do not love. We should especially hate ourselves, even our soul-life. When we love ourselves, mainly we love our soul rather than our spirit or body. The Lord clearly says that if we do not hate our soul-life, we cannot be His disciple. The real proof of our seeking the Lord is whether we hate our own soul-life.