Jesus specifically communicated that those who would follow Him would be required to deny self, for it was that part of man that was of the world and not of Him.
Paul, the apostle, also spoke specifically clear to the Ephesian Christians that they must deny the “old-self,” which had become corrupted by sin and the ways of the world. He encouraged them to adopt the “new man” which was being developed in them to more like God’s image. “If indeed you have heard Him and been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:21-24).
Upon Jesus’ magnificent return, our recognition of Him before men, which begins upon our commitment to Him, will become “a crown of glory that does not fade away” (1 Peter 5:4). Once we have found Jesus and we have His Holy Spirit within us we only want that which is then “new.” Our hunger for the “old” is gone. Praise be to God, and thank You Lord Jesus for “saving a wretch like me.”
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