I have heard that Christ on the cross is a picture of salvation, and that our self on the cross is a portrait of sanctification. The Bible clearly calls the believer to die, as the famous exhortation of Christ says: "... take [your] cross, and [follow me]" (Matthew 16:24).
The cross was a cruel instrument of death. Christ was willing to accept that suffering out of love for us, and now he calls us to find our place on that cross so we can experience His fullness and defeat the deceptive advances of Satan through our flesh. Although the crucifixion of the flesh has been a central doctrine of the church through the ages, today it is not in fashion, and is rarely heard in the pulpit. The tendency of culture in the past decades has been to extol the goodness of man, including his human nature. Although the fall corrupted the nature of man, it seems that the current reaction of Christianity is concentrated in giving place to this movement that extols the goodness of man.
Preaching and teaching that meat is the enemy's favorite way to deceive and incite evil has become politically incorrect. The spirit of this century seems to be outraged by any statement that self-denial and crucifixion are two necessary things. Therefore, as we no longer preach of carnality or crucifixion, we have given the enemy the freedom to act in the carnal nature of the believer in order to extend his malign influence. Therefore, the believer is very weakened, not to say impotent, as to live the victorious Christian life, depending only on confession, mercy and partial application of grace, and unable to progress to perfection (2 Corinthians 7: one).
On the other hand, Paul writes in detail about the virtues of the crucifixion of the flesh in several of his epistles. But in Romans 6 he does it more clearly and emphatically. Observe these precepts: Dying to sin, avoid sinning continuously. We can be buried in death like Christ and then be resurrected like Christ to a new life. Our old man can be crucified. The body of sin can be destroyed. We do not have to be slaves of sin. We should never sin simply because we have grace.
Romans 6 also helps us explain this idea, when it says, "... consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord." Paul tells the Corinthian church, "I die daily." Therefore, this crucifixion that Paul prescribes is a goal that can be pursued daily. In the course of life, all believers experience moments when they feel more alive to the flesh than to Christ and His Spirit. Our consolation lies in knowing that, by grace, we can unite ourselves to Christ daily, both in His death and in His resurrection to a new life. We do not have to live under the impulses of our carnality and human nature. We can rise with Christ for the victorious life with Him.
