Dead or Alive?

From childhood I was preoccupied with the thought that someday I wanted to be a “good enough” Christian so that if I ever “needed” to die for Christ I would be able to do so. When I was in my early twenties, I was talking to a friend of ours who had been a Christian for a long time and had helped my husband and me to really commit our lives to Christ.

“I hope that I never have to die for Christ,” I said, “but I want to know that if I ever need to, I will be able to do it.”

I expected Ed to begin a lengthy discourse telling me how I would be able to reach a point where I could be sure that I would be able to accept martyrdom if circumstances ever required it. Instead, he was almost dismissive, “Don’t worry about that,” he said. “It’s much harder to live for Christ than it is to die for Him.”

That exchange took place more than forty years ago, but Ed’s words continue to impact my life. I now know that we can never die for Christ unless we first live for Him. Conversely, we can never live for Christ unless we first die for Him.

How can that be? The Bible teaches that sin’s power over us is broken when we become Christians and are baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ. By choosing to follow Him in baptism, we declare that our old sin-loving nature is dead and buried with Him and that when God brought Him back to life, we were born again as new creatures in Him. Thus, we must die for Christ before we can live for Him. (Romans 6:2-4)

The Bible also teaches that when we accept Christ, we are no longer slaves of sin. We are now free to live for Him. When we face trouble, or danger, or death it is never because He does not love us. He has given us power to overcome the world and to live our lives so that others can be won to Him through our good example. Thus, we must live for Christ before we can die for him.

I no longer wonder whether I will be brave enough to die for Christ if circumstances ever require it. I am busy living for Him. I trust Him to give me the power to do whatever is necessary to serve Him best. I join Paul in declaring, “We are not our own bosses to live or die as we ourselves might choose. Living or dying we follow the Lord. Either way we are his. Christ died and rose again for this very purpose, so that he can be our Lord both while we live and when we die.” (Romans 14:7-9, Living Bible)

For related articles visit http://www.frontier2000.net/