Change is mandatory for the Christian. God has saved us so that we can fellowship with Him, be changed into the image of Christ, and help others do the same. Therefore, it’s imperative that we understand the nature of change, and that means we need to appreciate the necessity of death. 

The Necessity of Death in Regeneration

Regeneration is the glorious miracle by which the the spiritually dead are given new life in Christ. The imagery of death is frequently used to describe the position in which unbelievers exist. Ephesians 2:1-5 says, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked . . . But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” Colossians 2:13 reveals “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.” And II Corinthians 5:17 has a similar concept, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 

But the necessary death in our regeneration is not our own. We were dead, but it was Jesus’ death that was necessary to make us alive. His substitutionary sacrifice on the cross purchased life for all who would believe in Him. Praise God there was nothing we had to do to be born again! It wasn’t our death that was necessary.

The Necessity of Death in Sanctification

Consider John 12:24. In this passage Jesus was explaining to the disciples the cost of discipleship while revealing to them the price He was going to pay for following the Father’s will. “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.” 

The two prongs of Jesus’ description here can seem contradictory without a full understanding of the biblical truth He’s communicating. Jesus is referring to two different types of dying. The first dying is the focus of our point today. The second form of loss is referring to eternal death. The person who won’t engage with the first kind of dying will experience the second kind of dying, but the person who engages with the first kind of dying doesn’t need to fear the second kind.

Consider Luke 9:23-24 and Matthew 16:24: “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.’” But Colossians 3:5 and Romans 8:12-13 get even more specific with startling commands. Colossians 3:5 says, ”Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” This is what Romans 8:12-13 commands as well, “So then, brothers, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the practices of the body, you will live.”

These are not simple past tense meditations on the fact that we previously died with Christ. These are imperatives. We need to be further putting to death something in our lives. This is, however, not in replacement of Christ’s crucifixion. It’s simply the reality that if I have eternal life in Christ, I should want to put to death in me anything that will offend the Savior Who died for me.

In order to have new desires, I must kill my old desires. I will never be faithful to my wife if I perpetually want to cheat on her. In Matthew 5:27-30 Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 But if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.”

Of course, we must be warned against an ungodly extreme. This passage is not teaching aestheticism or bodily mutilation. It’s using figurative language to illustrate the fact that our spiritual battle is being waged against our sinful flesh. God isn’t actually commanding us to chop off our arms if we constantly are tempted to steal. He’s telling us we need to put to death the deeds of the flesh. We need to mature in our sanctification so that we no longer desire the sinful things we used to desire.

In light of our regeneration and our sanctification, the following passages mean so much more. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Later in Galatians 5:24 we read, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Romans 6:6 proclaims, “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” We don’t have to be slaves to sin! We can learn to kill those passions because Jesus died to save us from them.

We can’t relish God while we’re relishing jealousy. We can’t fill our lives with anger and practically be living in the life of Christ. We can’t be lustful and gluttonous and false and lazy and be growing in the fruit of repentance. We need to understand the importance of putting to death the deeds of the flesh. In order to do this, though, we will need a growing knowledge of the Scriptures and active discipleship with mature believers so that we better understand which thoughts, actions, and words need to be mortified in our lives. May we all pursue the death of that which displeases the Lord as we change into the image of the Savior Who died for us!