THE PRACTICAL WAY TO BEAR THE CROSS
To Realize That We Have Been
Crucified with Christ
In order to bear the cross in a practical way, we must first realize that we have been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20a; Rom. 6:6a). Two thousand years ago, before we were born, we were crucified on a mount called Golgotha outside of Jerusalem (Matt. 27:33).
To Crucify, by Ourselves, Our Flesh
with the Passions and the Lusts
We were crucified two thousand years ago, but we are still living today. Therefore, we must crucify, by ourselves, our flesh with the passions and the lusts (Gal. 5:24). Christ’s death on the cross laid the foundation so that we could crucify our flesh. Upon that foundation we must crucify our members which are on the earth (Col. 3:5). The totality, the aggregate, of our members is called the flesh with its passions and lusts. Every moment we have to crucify our flesh.
If a brother says something that glorifies you or that offends you, immediately you will have a reaction or response. A word which glorifies you may cause you to glorify yourself, or a word which offends you may cause you to be angry or unhappy. You must learn to kill your flesh whenever you hear something about you --good or bad. The proper experience of the cross would cause you to have no response when you hear something good or bad about you. In Galatians 5:24, Paul indicates that a real Christian should crucify his flesh. Every minute, the cross must be applied to our flesh with its passions and lusts.
To Put to Death, by the Spirit,
the Practices of Our Body
To bear the cross in a practical way is to put to death, by the Spirit, the practices of the body (Rom. 8:13b). To put to death the practices of the body is not only to put to death the bad things, but also the good things. You must put to death not only the flesh with its passions and lusts, but also the body with its practices. You must put to death the activity of your body all the time.
To Bear About in Our Body
the Putting to Death of Jesus
To crucify your activity is to bear about in the body the putting to death of Jesus (2 Cor. 4:10). The real significance of bearing the cross is contained in Galatians 5:24, Romans 8:13b, and 2 Corinthians 4:10. To bear the cross means that you recognize that you have been crucified with Christ. Based upon this fact, you have to crucify your flesh, putting to death the practices of your body.
(The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man, Chapter 11, by Witness Lee)
