As a church and as individuals, I imagine that all of us what to be commended by our Lord for not denying His name, even in the most trying of times, like the faithful church in Philadelphia (Revelation 3:8). But, with that said, we must understand that refusing to deny Him means that we must deny other things. So, to confess the Lord Jesus, what must we deny?
Well, to confess Him, in Matthew 16:24-26, Jesus tells us that we must deny ourselves! “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or, what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
What Jesus means by saying that we must “deny ourselves” is that we need to stop giving into the temptations of the flesh. This goes way beyond telling ourselves to put down that cookie because you’re we’ll get fat. This is telling ourselves “NO” when we are tempted to sin.
We must deny ourselves for a few reasons. One reason is simply because it is wrong to sin (1 John 3:4). Another reason is because giving in to ourselves and unlawfully fulfilling the desires of the flesh is spiritual suicidal; when we sin, we spiritually kill ourselves (James 1:13-16; Romans 6:23). And, a third reason is because we want to follow His footsteps all of the way to Heaven. This can only be done by following His example of self-denial to the fullest extent (Luke 22:42; Philippians 2:5-8).
So, friends, deny your every temptation to sin against the God who loves you more than words can tell. Rather, take up your cross every day and follow Him, submitting to His will in all things all to the glory of God (see James 4:6-10).
May God bless us in this endeavor.
–Curtis