13th Sep 26 | 04:00
Daily Study
Living no more for the self
Acts 15 - Series 2/Episode 14 - Mon, 20th Apr 2026 - Living no more for the self - Acts 15:22-35 - THE ANNOUNCEMENT - Galatians 02:20
Acts 15:25-27 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, (26) men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (27) We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth.
Paul and Barnabas had laid down their lives at the feet of Jesus.
II Corinthians 4:6-12 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (7) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. (8) We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; (9) persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed- (10) always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (11) For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (12) So then death is working in us, but life in you.
They were able to lay down their lives for Jesus because within them they had learned the secret of being dead to themselves. How can we explain this experience? We have this treasure of Jesus in our hearts. We have come to that point where we are convinced, and we know that the excellence of our lives is of God and not of us.
Having this as our base, we are able to face hardships, struggles, inconveniences, pain, discouragements and disappointments. We know, deep within, that our safety, security, and well-being are in God, not in our circumstances, which may not always turn out to be good for us.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls- (18) Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. (19) The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.
As we live out this life in our daily experience, we take the self in us to the cross, constantly. The self in us is the deep crisis that we inherited because of the fall. The self in us asserts itself. We have become self-centred. We view life through the prism of the self. This is the natural man.
When we come to Christ, we are a 'new man'. The 'old man' has been settled by Jesus on the cross. Romans 6:6 knowing this, that *our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin*.
Living for the self is sin. Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. This problem of the self in us is what Jesus resolved on the cross. II Corinthians 5:15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
Though the self in us has been dealt with on the cross, the old man must be put off, and the new man must be put on. Ephesians 4:22-24 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, (23) and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, (24) and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
It is one thing to say that I'm willing to die for Jesus and the Gospel, but it is entirely a different matter altogether to die daily. To say 'no' to the self in us and say 'yes' to Christ always. This is the fundamental victory that we must possess in our journey with Jesus.
They always carried around in their bodies the death of the Lord Jesus. This is what we too must always do: carry around in our bodies the death of Jesus. It is only when we die with Christ that the new life of Christ will manifest in us. The life of Jesus is a life of giving Himself for us. John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
We give our lives for the blessing and goodness of others. This is the fruit-bearing life. The tree does not consume its fruit but bears fruit for the joy of others. When Paul and Barnabas risked their lives for the Gospel, they were no longer living for themselves, but they were a blessing to others.
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