Mat. 16:24 ... "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."
It is my axiom, which 65 years of careful Bible study and life experience have revealed to me, that the origin and basis of all sin is selfishness. And a corollary to that axiom is that selfishness, and not hate, is the opposite of love. Hate is just one expression of selfishness.
This may come as a new thought to many, but when you consider all things, it gradually becomes an irrefutable truth that selfishness is the origin and driving force of all sin. It is evident in nearly all of life that what consumes the attention, the interest, and the modus operandi of anyone's life is selfishness, the desire to get what YOU want, to make YOU get ahead, and to make YOU feel good. If you do not agree, I challenge you to take any sin mentioned in the Bible. Then with a mind free of bias (unselfish thinking!) and willing to recognize truth, carefully analyze that sin to discover what motivates it and what it is meant to achieve. Then you will convince yourself, and there will be no room left for doubt, argument, and debate. Consequently, a new vision appears. The way to circumvent sin and live a pure life in the goodness of God's grace is to work strenuously to minimize self-inerest in your life and be willing to benefit others for their sake.
This is exactly what Jesus meant when He declared in Mat. 16:24, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." For two centuries in the Church of Christ it has been preached that there are five distinct steps that lead to salvation and conversion to Christ: -1- hear the Gospel, -2- believe it, -3- repent of sin, -4- confess Jesus as the Son of God, and -5- be bap-tized into Christ for the remission of sin (Acts 2:38). Then it gradually was recognized there is also a sixth step ... to be faithful unto death (Rev. 2:10). But, dear reader, I am now telling you that there is a seventh essential step which must precede baptism. It is what Jesus made perfectly clear in Mat. 16:24, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself."
Until a person denies himself, he is not ready to follow the path that leads to foregiveness and disciple-ship. However, very strangely this is seldom pointed out and emphasized. Consequently, many people (perhaps most!) become "disciples" with self-interest still dominant in their thinking. And that unabated, undiminished self-interest is the source of 100% of the problems experienced in our personal lives and in the corporate welfare of the church. The "five steps" that end with baptism are like spiritual surgery. But not denying yourself is like leaving the wound open and unbandaged. And then self-interest surges right into the new life in Christ, just like bacteria into an open wound. And that continuing power of selfishness contaminates Christian life, preventing spiritual growth and development. Without being aware it is happening, Satan appears and begins to "sift you like wheat" the way Jesus told Peter he would do with him during the night when Jesus was arrested, (Luke 22:31).
