1 Corinthians 15
30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

In Heavenly Places, page 26, paragraph 3
Sanctification is the work, not of a day or of a year, but of a lifetime. The struggle for conquest over self, for holiness and heaven, is a lifelong struggle. . . . Paul's sanctification was the result of a constant conflict with self. He said, "I die daily" (1 Cor. 15:31). . . . It is by unceasing endeavor that we maintain the victory over the temptations of Satan. Christian integrity must be sought with resistless energy, and maintained with a resolute fixedness of purpose.

In Heavenly Places, page 233, paragraph 4
Paul could say: "I die daily" (1 Cor. 15:31). It is the daily dying to self in the little transactions of life that makes us overcomers. We should forget self in the desire to do good to others. With many there is a decided lack of love for others. Instead of faithfully performing their duty, they seek rather their own pleasure.

Reflecting Christ, page 291, paragraph 8
Beset with temptations without number, we must resist firmly or be conquered. . . . Paul's sanctification was the result of a constant conflict with self. He said: "I die daily" (1 Cor. 15:31). His will and his desires every day conflicted with duty and the will of God. Instead of following inclination, he did God's will, however crucifying to his own nature. God leads His people on step by step.

Testimonies for the Church Volume Four, page 66, paragraph 4
The Lord requires us to be submissive to His will, subdued by His Spirit, and sanctified to His service. Selfishness must be put away, and we must overcome every defect in our characters as Christ overcame. In order to accomplish this work, we must die daily to self. Said Paul: "I die daily." He had a new conversion every day, took an advance step toward heaven. To gain daily victories in the divine life is the only course that God approves. The Lord is gracious, of tender pity, and plenteous in mercy. He knows our needs and weaknesses, and He will help our infirmities if we only trust in Him and believe that He will bless us and do great things for us.

What do you think? Do these quotes teach that dying daily means sinning and repenting, sinning and repenting until we finally cease to sin? or does it mean gradually out growing our defects of character as God reveals them over the course of a lifetime?

She compares it to Christ and how He overcame defects of character - "Selfishness must be put away, and we must overcome every defect in our characters as Christ overcame." How did Jesus overcome defects of character? How did Jesus die daily?

"Our part is to lay hold of the merits of Christ," (F.E.430) to bring Christ's righteousness into the life! See F.W.65,66.

As we daily appropriate the merits of Christ, we may be dying to self and sin so that God only will be manifested as He was in Jesus of Nazareth! This is the third angel's message in verity! Before the end, God will have a people who will live the life of Christ: "Jesus revealed no qualities, and exercised no powers, that men may not have through faith in Him. His perfect humanity is that which all His followers may possess, if they will be in subjection to God as He was." D.A.664.

"His experience is to be ours." D.A.363.

How many of us really believe that this is possible or that God will have a people like that before it is all over?

"Examine yourself as to whether you are in the faith," said the Apostle Paul. These words were spoken especially for us in these last days!

[ April 16, 2002: Message edited by: adventbeliever ]

It is not the sin that we commit daily that we need to confess. I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. Rather the sin the must be confessed daily is WHO WE ARE. We must crucify the man of sin daily and hide ourselves in the merits of Christ or there is no hope.

The total package of Christian life is one of being a confessing sinner and a performing saint. No matter how many good works that we do with God's full power, we're always cognisent that (according to Zech. 3) we come to the judgment with filthy garments. Confessing our sinfulness is an important part of every prayer from the beginning of Christianity onward. (fig. the ACTS acrostic--Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication). We confess sin because we have sinned. That's only half of it, though. Through dying daily to ourselves we allow Christ to fill us and bear the fruit (which sometimes takes weeks to grow--it doesn't pop up right out of the ground) which means we're connected to the Vine.

Galatians 2
20 I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Ephesians 4
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

These passages do not lead me to believe that the old man must be crucfied over and over again on a daily basis. But I do read where we must daily keep our sinful flesh nature under the control of a sanctified mind and will - not by sinning and repenting, but by resisting the sinful clamorings of our fallen flesh nature (not to be confused with sinful character).

From what I've studied the "old man" symbolizes our sinful character, whereas "sinful flesh" is our fallen nature. We must conquer and crucify our old man habits of sin, but we cannot get rid of our sinful flesh nature, not until Jesus returns, so for now we can only keep it under the control of reason and conscience.

1 Corinthians 9
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

So, is it possible that "I die daily" means we must maintain the death of our old man habits of sin by daily resisting the clamorings of our fallen flesh nature? Or is it more accurate to say that it means we must daily confess that we are "carnal, sold under sin" (Rom 7:14) and that unless we maintain a vital connection to Jesus we will resurrect our old man and revert back to our sinful habits?

[ April 16, 2002: Message edited by: Mike Lowe ]

Is God waiting for a final generation to "perfect holiness" before sending Jesus to take us home? That seems rather unfair, don't you think? What about all of us today, here and now? Can God empower us to live without sin now? or must we hope and wait we are among the translation generation of saints? Can we claim God's promises of perfection now?

quote:

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Originally posted by Wendy Forsyth:
I believe that if we don't crucify self daily, we do not truly have the conversion experience. We must take our sins to the Sanctuary daily and lay them on the altar. We cannot enter heaven with one unconfessed sin.

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Hmmm

I wonder

What does this mean in reality?

I don't see no "sanctuary" in my house.

Let me see if I read you correctly

The text says we "die daily."

If I was to ask you the question: "How long have you been "dead;'" what would you say?