If I'm going to be a disciple of Jesus then I'm going to be dying...if I'm not dying that will be clear over time. But if I'm not dying and I'm going to continue to think of myself as a disciple, I'll need to be self-deceived either about the call of a disciple to die or about the fact that I'm not dying...
If on the other hand we are dying to self, we will find that the need for self-deception dissipates over time. We'll not need to deceive ourselves about the call of the disciple to die to self, since we'll have heeded that call. We'll not need to deceive ourselves to the degree to which we are not yet dead, since we'll also be aware of the degree to which we have in fact died.
So let's not merely use the spiritual language of the cross and self-mortification. Let's adopt proven and effective plans for putting to death the various addictions that prevent us from moving more fully into the life of Jesus. Let us move out of the darkness and into the light with respect to our sin. The less we have to hide from ourselves and others, the less we'll be moved into the direction of self-deception.
I Told Me So, p.114-115
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