Dying with Christ

Do not think of Christ being dead to the extent that He had no temptation. He was tempted all through His life as any sanctified person is tempted (Hebrews 4:15). His death was that of an everyday dying. He had temptation to resist and overcome. He had a human will which He kept in subjection to the Divine will just as Christians have to do. The same power that enabled Him to do this will enable the Christian to do likewise. This is holy living. Just as Jesus kept dead to every suggestion of the flesh, so are we to keep dead. This is bearing about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus. One brother inquires, “How can a man marry and raise a family and not live to the flesh?” Just the same as he can do anything in the flesh and not live to the flesh. Jesus did not refuse to marry because it was sinful or fleshly. It was not His calling. Paul said, “Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called,”* (1 Corinthians 7:20) and he was talking on this very subject. Marrying belongs to pure humanity as much as eating, drinking, sleeping, etc., though not as necessary to the life of the person, but to the life of the race.