Is “Deny Yourself” Good News?

What does Jesus mean when he says we must deny ourselves? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. And we would love to hear from you. Our phone lines are open right now. You can call us for the next 25 minutes or so.

So at 833-THE-CORE, you might want to make a note of that number for future reference, 833-THE-CORE, or if you want to dial up the old way, old fashioned way, it's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram or Twitter accounts. You can watch us on YouTube and email us that way or messages that way. And if you want to email a question to us, here is the address. It's questions at core Christianity dot com. First up today, let's go to Ralph in Long Island, New York. Ralph, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hello, Pastor Adriel. Thank you for taking my question. Okay, I have a question in Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 8.

And I just like to read it, the NAS version. So it says, Pastor Paul, right? Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, and verse 7 said, but emptied himself, taking the form of the bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance of the man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient, the point of death, even death on the cross. So in verse 7, Pastor Adriel, what did Jesus empty himself of?

I'm born again Christian. I know Jesus fully God, fully man, but you know, this verse perplexed me a lot. Yeah, that's a really good question. There have been some who've gotten this really wrong. You know, they'll try to say things like, well, he emptied himself of his divine status or something like that. But we're talking about the eternal Son of God, the divine person, the second person of the Holy Trinity.

And so it can't mean that. And actually, I think the very next phrase helps to explain what Paul meant by emptied himself. He says he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. That next part is helping to explain what he means by saying that Jesus emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. In other words, in the incarnation, the eternal Son of God humbled himself, emptied himself, if you will, by assuming our humanity, by taking our humanity into himself, the God-man. In that sense, he veiled his glory.

In fact, when Jesus is praying the high priestly prayer in John chapter 17, one of the things that he prays in John chapter 17 verse 5 is that the Father would glorify him with the glory that they had before the world began. And in the incarnation, as if that glory was veiled, he emptied himself, he humbled himself. The humiliation, if you will, of Jesus Christ, of the Word, of the eternal Word of the Father, began at his birth. From the moment of his birth, being born in this sort of humble, low condition, living his life under the law, experiencing the things that we experiencing in this world ultimately culminating in his suffering, his death on the cross, coming as a servant, as a bond servant. In that sense, the eternal Word emptied himself. He's not losing his divine status. He's not setting aside his divinity or anything like that. No, he's actually assuming our humanity, our humble state, and in that way, serving us, serving the Father, and then serving humanity by offering himself as a sacrifice for sin. Ralph, great question. Good way to start today's broadcast. Thank you for that. You know, what's interesting, Adriel, is that's one of the things that Muslims tend to find most offensive, that somehow God would assume the form of a man.

Yeah, and they're not the only ones. I mean, historically, in the Christian church, a lot of what we sometimes refer to as the Christological heresies have to do with people who had a problem with this idea that God could assume our humanity and would experience suffering. Some people said, well, we can't say that, but that's precisely part of the mystery of the incarnation, and it helps to highlight God's love for us. And there, in particular, in Philippians chapter 2, you know, the encouragement that Paul is trying to make in the context as he's writing to the church at Philippi is he says, you know, back in verse 2, Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. And that's when he gets into this discussion about Jesus emptying himself, and so this is something that we're called to in the sense of humbling ourselves before the Lord and before one another, considering each other's needs even as more significant than our own. Which is so counter-cultural, isn't it, in today's world?

It is, yeah. I don't know about you, Bill, but I don't, I mean, it's just not easy, so we just desperately need the grace of the Holy Spirit to love God and to love each other as he calls us to. Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. If you have a number, a question about the Bible of the Christian life, here's the number to call. 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2633. Hop on the phone right now. We'll take your questions for another 20 minutes or so. Let's go to Paul in Bloomington, Indiana. Paul, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hi, Pastor Adriel.

I just wanted to say that I've been listening since day one, and this program has really helped me a lot. My question is coming about different denominations and agreeing on faith. There are so many different denominations, and even within those denominations, people understand certain passages differently, and no one agrees on every aspect of the faith. Yet through faith, by grace and Christ, we know that we're saved, so how does, I guess I'm having anxiety about if I'm really saved, if I don't agree with a certain pastor or a certain, you know, elder or something like that in regards to every aspect of the teaching and agreeing 100%.

Yeah. Hey, Paul, man, I can sympathize with you. One, let me just say thank you for your encouragement. I'm glad you've been blessed by the broadcast.

It's really our joy to be able to do this. But I can sympathize with you. I mean, I understand that feeling of tension. You know, you read God's Word, and then you're confronted by the fact that there are all sorts of different interpretations, maybe on a particular idea or way of viewing a passage of Scripture. And because you know yourself, you know that you're not perfect, you think, okay, how am I going to get this right? There are just so many voices out there, so many denominations, as you said, and that can be overwhelming, and it can lead to anxiety. Let me tell you what has helped me find peace as I've thought about this question for myself in my own life. And that really is some of the promises that you find in Scripture, first and foremost, that it is the Spirit of God who illuminates the Word of God to us, and that there is this simplicity to the Word of God. So that when we're talking about the fundamentals, the core truths of the Gospel, there's clarity, and that clarity is ultimately given to us by the Holy Spirit, but it's something that even a little child can grasp. Sometimes this is referred to as the perspicuity of Scripture. This is one of the attributes of the Bible, that the Bible is clear as it speaks to us concerning those very important doctrines. And I think about what Jesus said at the end of Matthew 11, where He's praying to the Father, and He says, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. In other words, Paul, as you're reading the Bible, the Spirit of God is working through the Word to give you understanding and to help you. This is precisely one of the promises of the New Covenant, that God was going to fill His people with His Spirit, that He was going to teach them. God Himself would be our teacher by the Spirit. John, in 1 John 2, verse 20, says, You have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. And so the hope, I think, that we can have, that you can have, brother, is that as you study the Scriptures with a sincere heart and humility, it is the Spirit who is going to lead you and guide you and continue to sanctify even the misunderstandings that we sometimes do hold about God and about His Word.

And here's another thing that I think has been really, really helpful and comforting for me. Just think about the disciples of Jesus themselves, Paul. You know, how often did they not fully understand Jesus' identity, what He was doing in a particular situation, how they should respond, right? You think of Peter, you know, going toe to toe when Jesus was being arrested with the servant of the high priest. So often, the disciples were knuckleheads. They didn't get it. They misunderstood His teaching.

And the fact of the matter is, we do too sometimes. And yet, how is Jesus towards His disciples? He's patient. He brings them along.

He doesn't abandon them. He continues to teach them, and He'll continue to do that with you. And so I think as you read the Bible, continue to have that attitude of humility, you know, saying, Lord, I want to understand.

I want to learn. I want to be able to listen to opposing viewpoints, because ultimately, I want to be Berean and get to the bottom of what does the Scripture actually teach. But rest in the fact that the Spirit is going to guide you and be with you, and use the Word of God to continue to build you up. And so, God bless you, brother. Really appreciate that question, and hope you have a blessed day. Hey, Paul. Thank you so much for being one of our regular listeners.

We really do appreciate having you as a regular CORE constituent. This is CORE Christianity with Pastor Adrian Sanchez. Let's go to a voicemail that we received from one of our listeners who has a question about denying ourselves. Hi there. I just had a question in the book of Luke.

When it says that Jesus said we should deny ourselves and take up our cross daily, what does that mean to deny ourselves? Thank you so much. I really enjoy listening to this program.

It's extremely helpful. Lord bless you. Thank you.

Bye. Yeah, Lord bless you as well. So, thinking about Jesus' call to discipleship, call to deny ourselves in Luke chapter 9, I think that's what you're referring to. Luke chapter 9, beginning in verse 23. And he said to all, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Jesus is saying, look, the Christian life looks like and is characterized by this sort of self-denial. Walking with the Lord often looks like denying self. Let me just say, this is something that really goes against what we find in a lot of our broader culture, which really says just the opposite. Don't ever deny yourself.

Just follow your heart, whatever you want, that's the most important thing. And yet Jesus says that his followers are characterized by something different. The apostle Paul, he actually said in 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 2 that one of the characteristics of the last days, the end times, would be that men and women were lovers of themselves. We turn ourselves into idols, into objects of worship, and yet the Christian life following Jesus, I love that we started off the broadcast today with Philippians chapter 2, it's a life of considering the needs of others as even more significant than our own, just laying down our lives in service to each other, not so that we can be born again. No, because of how God has been gracious to us in his son, because God sent his son to lay down his life for us.

There's this great implication there. The apostle Paul in the book of Titus, in Titus chapter 2, I think he helps us to understand this. Titus chapter 2, beginning in verse 11, he says, For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, and training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. When he's talking about denying ourselves, he's referring, when Jesus is talking about denying ourselves, I think he's referring primarily to what Paul is calling here, those worldly passions, renouncing ungodliness, those ungodly desires that we oftentimes have to indulge, to be selfish, those kinds of things. No, we set that aside so that we might love each other and serve one another.

That's not an easy thing at all. Our temptation is to think about ourselves first, and then maybe, when we get around to it, to consider others. We have to remember the words of our Lord Jesus. He says, It is more blessed to give than to receive. In this sense, this idea of denying ourselves is what we're called to as Christians, laying aside our sins, turning to the Lord, embracing his grace and the call that he has upon our lives. It leads to blessedness. It leads to true joy.

You know how many people are just so self-indulgent, grasping for everything for themselves, and yet they're miserable. Yet there are others who have, I think, understood what Jesus teaches, and they can lay down their lives, they can serve the people around them, and they're filled with joy, with satisfaction, with hope. The Christian life, the sum of the Christian life, is this denial of self. This is what it looks like, brothers and sisters, and we do it because we have a Savior who laid down his life for us. We do it in response to his great love.

We do it in response to the fact, as Paul said there, that he trains us to renounce ungodliness through the grace that he's given to us. Thank you for that question. Thank you so much.

Appreciate it. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Here we are with summertime just around the corner, and most kids are going to be out of school for a few months. And just in time for that, we have a free resource specifically for families. Yeah, if you haven't gotten ahold of the resource yet, 10 verses to memorize as a family this summer, I hope that you will get ahold of it and that you'll use it.

Take advantage of this. These are 10 verses. Each passage that was selected was a lot of thought that went into these verses in terms of how can we help ground people in those core doctrines that we oftentimes are talking about on this broadcast.

What is it that people, that our children in particular, need to know about the faith? And so that's why we created this resource, and we want to give it to you for free. 10 verses to memorize as a family this summer. Just head over to corechristianity.com forward slash offers to download that. Again, it's called 10 verses to memorize as a family this summer.

And as you read through these passages, let us know how they're impacting your family. You can also call us for that particular resource or any one of our resources. Here's the number. It's 833-843-2673. Again, that number is 833, the core. Well, let's go to a voicemail that we received from one of our listeners this week.

Hi. So in Scripture, it seems like Paul often refers to Jesus as Lord, but he often calls the Father God. Is there a reason why, you know, he doesn't ever really refer to Jesus as God, or what exactly does even, does Lord even mean? Is there significance to that name that suggests God within itself? God seems to make it clear that Jesus is God, but how come Paul doesn't really do that? Yeah, great.

Two great questions. Does Paul ever say that Jesus is God explicitly? And does the title Lord indicate that Jesus is God? First, the first one I would say, actually, Paul does very explicitly say that Jesus is God in various places. I mean, I just quoted from Titus 2, verses 11 through 15, and I think there that's one place where you have a very clear statement that Paul makes indicating that Jesus is God. Also, in Romans 9, verse 5, listen to what the apostle Paul said. To them, and he's speaking about the Israelites here, belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.

Amen. So Paul, you know, in various places in his epistles, does clearly call Jesus God. This is what he believed. He believed in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, but also that word, or that title, Lord, teaches us that Jesus is God.

It's the Greek word kurios, and it oftentimes translates, from the Hebrew Bible, is used to translate the divine name. So, for example, I think of a place like Romans chapter 10, where Paul, again, refers to Jesus as Lord, but he's quoting from the Old Testament in a passage that was talking about Jehovah, Jehovah God. So Romans chapter 10, beginning in verse 9, Paul said, Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says, Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Now that's a quotation from Joel chapter 2 verse 32, and in Joel 2 32, you know, the prophet Joel is receiving this vision, this prophecy from the Lord, and the word Lord there is Jehovah, it's the divine name, it's God. And so here, when Paul refers to Jesus as Lord and calling on the name of the Lord, he's very explicitly identifying Jesus as God, as the king of the universe, and so we can be confident that it wasn't just John, you know, the apostle John who clearly taught that Jesus was God or that he was the Lord.

You know, we see it everywhere in the New Testament, including with the apostle Paul, and so I appreciate your question, that's how we have to understand that word Lord in particular as it's applied to our Savior Jesus. Good clarification on that, thank you so much, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Here's the number to call if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, and by the way, we should mention some of the radio stations that air our program air it on a delayed basis, so if you want to call into the studio live with your question, you need to do it at a particular time during the day, and that is at 1130 a.m. Pacific, which translates into 1230 Mountain, 130 Central, or 230 Eastern Time. For that half hour, that's when you can actually call in and talk to Adriel live, otherwise you can leave a voicemail for us 24 hours a day.

Here's the number 833-843-2673, that's 833, the Core. All right, let's go to Sly in Edmond, Oklahoma. Sly, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Hello, it's really good to talk to you two gentlemen. I have a question that I've brought up just with some Christian brothers and sisters, and no one likes to talk about it. So many millions of babies are being aborted and have been, and many children die before what we consider the age of accountability. What happens to these children?

And the rest of us who are here, we have to strive to enter through the small gate on the narrow road. What happens to the aborted babies and children? Yeah, of course we're speculating, I'd be speculating a little bit here, Sly, but I do believe that those children who are aborted or who die in infancy, or you think of other really tragic events like a miscarriage, I think that they're with the Lord, in the presence of the Lord.

We know that they're human lives. I think about what the psalmist said in Psalm 139, verse 13, For you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them. God is sovereign in His providence. He knows all things, even there, as David the psalmist is talking.

He says, every single day that I have on this earth, you knew about it, God. These tragedies, abortion is a sin, it's not just a tragedy, they don't catch God by surprise, but we also believe that God is merciful and that He's good. They're not saved. Children, babies aren't saved because they're sinless or that kind of thing. We're born in sin through Adam.

And yet our hope is not in their sinlessness because we all inherit sin from Adam. Our hope is in God's mercy, in His grace. And so we know that God is good. We know that God is a just judge. And I think that that's what we fall back on, brother. We go to that, we know that He's merciful.

And so I think we can be confident. My view is that those children, those babies are in the presence of the Lord. Thank you for your question.

Thanks, Lai. You know, one of the things we often talk about here on Core Christianity is if you are a woman who has experienced abortion in your own life, there is forgiveness, there is God's grace. Yes, as Adriel said, it's a sin, but it's something, it's a sin that can be forgiven through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Amen, Bill. And it's something, like you said, we always want to bring up when we're talking about this question because we know how devastating it is that there is more than one life that is destroyed in reality. But the hope is there is forgiveness, as you said. And so we can go to the Lord. That's not the unpardonable sin. We can go to the Lord with those things and receive His grace, His mercy, His love, His forgiveness. And so that's the hope of the Gospel. It's not that we're sinless. It's that we're sinners and yet Jesus was sinless. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.