Matthew 10:38-39(AMP) And he who does not take his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].
Matthew 16:24(ESV) Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
We also find this passage in Mark 8:34(AMP) Jesus called the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].
In this passage, the word deny is used. According to Christy Gambrell from Bible and Theology, deny in this text is translated from the Greek verb aparneomai. Although this word can mean to deny the truth of a statement, it almost always has overtones of association or connection to a person. Denial in the New Testament is the intentional disassociation from the relationship with a particular person. This means another translation can be to disown or renounce. Self-denial, then, is the intentional disowning of the self or stepping away from the relationship with the self as primary.
The Dictionary of Bible Themes defines self-denial as ‘the willingness to deny oneself possessions or status, in order to grow in holiness and commitment to God’.
Paul knew what it meant to deny himself to follow Christ as we find recorded in Philippians 3:7–8(ESV) But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
What does it mean to deny yourself and follow Christ?
- To set aside your fleshly passions and desires – Galatians 5:24(ESV) And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Colossians 3:3-5(AMP) For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. So put to death and deprive of power the evil longings of your earthly body [with its sensual, self-centered instincts] immorality, impurity, sinful passion, evil desire, and greed, which is [a kind of] idolatry [because it replaces your devotion to God]. - To live according to the will of God – 1 Peter 4:1-2(AMP) Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh [and died for us], arm yourselves [like warriors] with the same purpose [being willing to suffer for doing what is right and pleasing God], because whoever has suffered in the flesh [being like-minded with Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [having stopped pleasing the world], so that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living for human appetites and desires, but [lives] for the will and purpose of God.
I conclude with: “There is no choice for us; we must either deny self or deny Christ. Deliverance from self-life means to be a vessel overflowing with love to everybody all day.” – Andrew Murray