Mike,

Is dying to the flesh the same as being crucified with Christ? Through God’s will I am focusing on dying daily to the flesh; most of the lusts keep on bothering my body. My mind and my heart speaks of Christ, but I can’t seem to become what my inner being wants.

Please pray for me.
N____

Hi N____,

You ask if “dying daily, and being crucified with Christ, is one and the same?” The answer is yes, they are. We are crucified with Christ even as we live a life of dying daily.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

We do not even have the faith to be saved. The faith we are given for our salvation is “the faith of the Son of God.”
I identify completely with your quandary and your present situation. The time we spend in our lives while sin dominates us is symbolized by Joseph’s 13 years serving the lords of Egypt. We all live many years in slavery to Egypt, but then the day finally arrives when that which bears rule over us is made to tremble before the sovereign hand of the God of all.

Gen 41:8  And it came to pass in the morning that [ Pharaoh’s] spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

Only then do we make the changes that must be made. Only then do we “shave ourselves and change our clothes” and take our place with Christ upon the throne of all of Egypt.

Gen 41:14  Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
Gen 41:39  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou [ art]:
Gen 41:40  Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:42  And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
Gen 41:43  And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him [ ruler] over all the land of Egypt.
Gen 41:44  And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I [ am] Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

At long last we have been granted dominion. We are not rulers until we are ruling. Until that day comes, Potiphar’s wife, Potiphar and the keeper of the prisons of Egypt are our masters, and the most we can hope for is that they will grant us some degree of supervision of our fellow slaves, some degree of self- control.
It is a long hard trial getting to the time of our lives that we are actually ruling over those who have ruled over us, but when that time comes, it takes place in very short order, as if it were overnight. All of a sudden Potiphar’s wife, Potiphar himself, and the keeper of Pharaoh’s prisons, who have dominated our lives for many long agonizing years, are now our subjects, and must now bow before us.

Rom 6:14  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

As I hope you are aware, we do not get our revenge on Potiphar’s wife, Potiphar or the keeper of the prison. So it is with our flesh. We simply dominate that which once dominated us. Our flesh will be with us until the day we die. That is why we “die daily.”
But when at our own appointed time, we are given dominion over all our Egyptian slave masters, then the very thought of them holding dominion over us will make us nauseous. Wishing for that day does not make it so. We are all slaves until the day we are delivered from our slavery at the time appointed of the Father. At that day He sends His Son to live His life within us and make us to be the rulers of Egypt.
In time even our brothers in Christ, the seed of Abraham who have lived a life of lying to their Father, will come and worship at our feet and be tormented in the presence of the Lamb.

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

We all endure and live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

So we are all tormented in the presence of the Lamb, as I was and as you are and as Joseph’s brothers were.

Gen 42:8  And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not him.
Gen 42:9  And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness of the land ye are come.

Gen 42:17  And he put them all together into ward three days.
Gen 42:21  And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.
Gen 42:22  And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
Gen 42:23  And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.

Every time we commit a sin we are killing our Lord, and “His blood is required” of us. Ever time we commit a sin, knowing we are a slave to our flesh, we are “tormented in the presence of the Lamb”. But it is not for us to decide when we will be delivered from this bondage. That date has been written in His book and will arrive at its appointed time.

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

I read God’s Word and “resisted the devil” for many years before I realized that I was operating out of my own power, and it was not till I was forced to acknowledge that I didn’t even have the faith to be saved or even the power to choose to sin on my own, that I was finally given dominion over the rulers of Egypt within my own flesh.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Rom 7:17  So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me.
Rom 7:18  For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not.
Rom 7:19  For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise.
Rom 7:20  But if what I would not, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me. (ASV)

You and I do not choose of our supposed free wills to sin. We are unwilling slaves to sin within our members, and that sin was placed there by a Potter who created us as “marred vessels ” in His own hand.

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

The new vessel will be “the Lord from heaven”, and “in due time” He will live within this vessel of clay if we are granted to rule Egypt ahead of the multitudes of our brothers.

Rom 5:6  For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
1Pe 5:6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant [ Greek, a slave, a slave to sin], though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Gal 4:7  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

I hope this encourages you to wait upon the Lord, as did Joseph, and as we all must. “In due time Christ died for the ungodly” is a promise that you will be delivered at your own appointed time. “The time appointed of the Father” is a promise that Christ will come into you at the time when He is appointed to take the dominion of your flesh. Be patient. That day is as sure as the rising of the Sun, but it is in your patience that you possess your soul.

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

You remain in my prayers.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike