In John 12:23-26, Na fetalai Iesu, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abides alone, ae afai e mate, e fua mai ai fua e tele. He that loves his life shall lose it and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. This Bible verse not only refers to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the birth of the new creation, but it also refers to those, who have become a new creation in Christ. Only when the old creation dies, the new creation can arise from the dead and bear much fruit. Ae peitai, the process of dying to self is not always easy. Dying to self is a painful process, ae e tatau lava. There are many Bible Scriptures about dying to the flesh. Let’s look at what the Bible says about the painful process known as dying.
Jesus had to die, to bring forth sons of God
Jesus answered them, fai mai, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. E moni, e moni, Ou te fai atu ia te outou, Se‘i vaganā ai le saito o saito e pa‘ū i le ‘ele‘ele ma mate, e nofo toatasi: ae afai e mate, e fua mai ai fua e tele. O lē alofa i lona ola, e māumau ai; o lē ‘ino‘ino fo‘i i lona ola i lenei lalolagi, e tausia e ia e o‘o i le ola e fa‘avavau. Afai e auauna mai se tasi ia te au, ia mulimuli mai o ia ia te au; ma le mea ou te i ai, e i ai foi la'u auauna: afai e auauna mai se tasi ia te au, him will My Father honour (Ioane 12:23-26)
Jesus had to die, so that in Him a foafoaga fou could be created; atalii o le Atua (e faatatau lenei mea i alii ma tamaitai), who have laid down their lives in water and are born of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus carried all the sins and iniquities of the world. By His sacrifice and His blood, Jesus brought redemption to humanity, restored (healed) man, and reconciled man back to God.
After Jesus’ oti, stay in hell, and resurrection from the dead, Jesus walked on earth for 40 aso. After 40 aso, Jesus was caught up in a cloud and ascended to heaven.
When Jesus ascended to heaven and took place on the throne of grace (mercy seat) at the right hand of the Father, God gave His Holy Spirit and came into man.
Through the abiding of the Holy Spirit in the new man, the new man received God’s nature and power, and His laws were written upon their new hearts. Because of this, the new man is able to walk as a son of God on earth. (Faitau foi: How to walk in the dominion that God has given you?).
Jesus had not only set the example of how to walk as a son of God, but Jesus also sacrificed Himself and died for us. There was nothing more Jesus could do. Jesus gave Himself completely.
God has given everything to man to become a son of God and to walk as son of God
God has also given everything to humanity. He gave His law that revealed His will. Then God gave His Son and His Holy Spirit. God has given everything! There is nothing more God can do.
O lenei, it is up to the new man, what the new man does with this inheritance, which he has received in Jesus Christ; the completeness in Christ through regeneration, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the power to become a son of God.
If you have become a new creation in Christ, then it’s up to you if you are willing to die to yourself and put off the works of the flesh or not.
I’m not talking about suicide of course. But I’m talking about laying down your old life as a sinner and killing the deeds of your flesh (the works of the flesh). Because the flesh can’t reign together with the Spirit, and the Spirit cannot reign with the flesh. Because the flesh can’t submit to the Spirit and the law of God. O lea la, one of them must die.
He that loves his life shall lose it and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal
Na fetalai Iesu, that when you love your soulish life on earth and you live after the will, tu'inanauga, and desires of the sinful flesh, after you die (naturally), you shall lose your life
But when you don’t love your soulish life in the sinful flesh on earth and even hate it and lay it down, you shall inherit eternal life.
You shall be fed up with the life after the flesh that rebels against the will of God. O lea la, you shall put off the old man and ofu le tagata fou and walk after the Spirit in newness of life with Jesus.
This new life with Jesus starts here on earth and not after the natural death. Because then it may be too late. (Faitau foi: The new heaven and the new earth won’t come for many believers?)
On this earth, you choose to no longer live after the flesh but after the Spirit. When you lay down your flesh and your spirit is raised from the dead, and you walk after the Spirit, you shall not see the death.
The painful process known as dying
Dying is not nice. Nobody wants to die. That’s because dying doesn’t happen without pain. Dying can cause a lot of pain. But, when you look at the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you can’t separate the process of dying from the Gospel. Dying to self is part of the process, whether you want to or not. (Faitau foi: What does mortify your members which are upon the earth mean?).
If you don’t want to die to yourself, then it will be impossible to follow Jesus Christ.
How can you walk after the Spirit in obedience to the Word if your flesh has dominion in your life and dictates you what to do?
It is also impossible to have eternal life. Because how can you enter the Kingdom of God from the flesh?
Flesh and blood can’t enter the Kingdom of God. You must be born of water and of the Spirit. (Faitau foi: Why flesh and blood can’t enter the Kingdom of God?)
E moni, e moni, Ou te fai atu ia te outou. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (Ioane 3:5-6)
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption (1 Korinito 15:50)
There’s only one way and that’s Jesus Christ, who gives you the ability to become born again in the spirit and become a new creation When you become a new creation, you shall no longer walk after the flesh as a sinner, but you shall walk after the Spirit as a righteous son of God.
Following Jesus will cost you your life
Only when you die to ‘self,’ you will be able to live in Christ. This life in Christ and following Him will cost you everything! It will cost you your life. But if you are willing to give up your own life; your will, your lusts, your desires, your dreams, your feelings, your thoughts, your opinions etc., you shall receive eternal life.
O lē alofa i lona ola, e māumau ai; o lē ‘ino‘ino fo‘i i lona ola i lenei lalolagi, e tausia e ia e o‘o i le ola e fa‘avavau (Ioane 12:25)
Through regeneration, your spirit shall become alive and reign in your life. Your spirit and the Holy Spirit shall become one and shall reign over your flesh. You shall walk after the Spirit and bear the fruit of the Spirit.
But, you can only bear the fruit of the Spirit, when your flesh; your ‘self’, has died and you walk after the Spirit and live according to His will instead of your will. (Faitau foi: What if God’s will is not your will?).
Dying to self and saying goodbye to your old habits
Dying hurts, because it not only means saying goodbye to your ‘self’ and your old habits, but it could also mean saying goodbye to your acquaintances, your friends, aiga, pe… (fill out the blanks).
You may consider certain things in your lives as normal. You don’t see any harm in it until you read and study the Bible and through God’s Word, you get to know the will of God.
When you find out God’s will, then you won’t consider certain things normal anymore. But you will remove them from your life, because they go against the will of God.
When you enter a dusky house, it may look clean until you turn on the light. When you turn on the light, you can see the dirt, spots, spider webs, clutter, ma isi.
It’s the same with the Bible; the Word of God. The Word is the light. When you begin to read the Word, the Word shall expose all the dirt and clutter in your life that you can clean up.
“But this is all so hard, I don’t know if I can do it”
Jesus never said, that dying was easy. But Jesus did say that it is necessary to receive eternal life.
The new creation can’t arise from the dead until the old creation has died
But as many as received Him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (Ioane 1:12,13)
E moni, e moni, Ou te fai atu ia te oe, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit( Ioane 3:5,6)
The new creation can’t arise until the old creation has died. The death of the flesh and the resurrection of the spirit from the dead through regeneration in Christ is the only way to eternal life. (Faitau foi: Is there only one way to eternal life?).
How do you die to self?
You die to the flesh by not feeding your flesh and serving the will of the flesh. This means that you do not give in to the will, manaoga, and lusts of the flesh. You don’t listen to what the flesh wants, fai mai, and dictates you what to do. You can also describe this as crucifying the thoughts and works of the flesh.
When you believe the Word and live according to what the Word of God says, instead of what your senses and feelings tell you, you shall walk after the Spirit.
Renew your mind with the Word of God
You have to feed your spirit and starve your flesh. You can only feed your spirit and mature, by the Word of God. The Word of God is the only visible spiritual book that can feed your spirit.
The Bible is Spirit and with the Bible, you shall renew your wordly way of thinking into a godly thinking. You shall think and want, what God thinks, and wants; you shall become like Him and represent Him.
Why should Christians fast?
When you talk about dying, fasting is also a part of this process. Tagata, who say that you don’t need to fast are wrong. They believe the deceptive lie of the devil above the Word. Fasting and prayer should be part of the saint’s lives.
What did Jesus do when He was baptized in water and then received the Holy Spirit? Did Jesus begin to preach and bring the Kingdom of God to the people?
Leai, Jesus was led by the Spirit to the wilderness. In the wilderness, Jesus fasted for 40 days while He was tested, on whether His flesh was fully submissive to His Spirit.
Today many Christians don’t fast anymore, because they don’t see the necessity of fasting or the flesh reigns in people’s lives and is too strong. But if the latter is the case, then you should fast.
As long as the flesh is not completely subjected to the Spirit, people need to fast However, the problem is, that through the deceptive lies of the devil, the meaning and purpose of fasting have been changed into something completely different than what fasting is intended for.
Fasting is not meant to get something from God. Fasting is nothing more than killing your flesh.
Jesus said the following:
Then came to him the disciples of John, fai mai, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but Thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither (Mataio 9:14-17)
If you don’t put off the old man, you can’t put on the new man
If you don’t die and become born again in the spirit, you cannot walk after the Spirit and receive the inheritance of God. You cannot apply the promises of the Gospel to your life. Because they are meant for the new creation and not the old creation. Ia, maybe you can apply them to your life, but they shall not ‘work’. Unless the devil empowers them to lead the people astray and turn them away from God (Mataio 24:24)
The devil (the adversary of God) transforms himself and comes as an angel of light to mislead the chosen ones (2 Korinito 11:14).
How many people, prophecy from a spirit of divination (from the devil) instead of the Spirit of God?
How many wonders and supernatural manifestations take place that derive from the devil instead of God?
The devil deceives Christians by making them believe that they don’t have to die to the flesh. That fasting is no longer necessary for Spirit-filled Christians. And that Christians can live like the world.
He even encourages Christians to copy the things of this world and Christianize the things of this world. Ona o lena, many Christians think that God approves certain behaviors and things, while in reality, He does not.
The Kingdom of God has nothing in common with the world (the darkness).
How can you discern the works of the Spirit from the works of the devil?
How can you discern the works of the Spirit from the works of the devil? By looking at the lives of people and their walk.
Do they walk righteous like Jesus in obedience to the Father and His Word and the will of the Spirit? Or do they walk like the world doing the will of their flesh?
It can also happen that people believe in Jesus, salamo, and become born again, but don’t die to the flesh. They don’t put off the old man and love the world and therefore they are bound to the spirits of this world, that after a few years something happens that can lead to sin or a return to their old life.
How can people, who may seem so godly and God-fearing and walk sincerely, stumble? Because they have not died completely to their flesh. If Christians don’t kill the flesh, then they will eventually stumble and sin.
only the new man can follow Jesus
Almost all Christians have a desire to heal the sick and walk in power, doing signs and wonders. But there are only a few Christians, who have the desire to serve God and live a holy life and are willing to give up their own lives and die to ‘self’ (o le tino).
Do you dare to lay down your old life? Do you dare to die completely to ‘self’ and give up your life for Jesus and the Kingdom of God?
Let Jesus (le Upu) reign in your heart instead of you. Only then shall you arise in newness, having God’s life in you, and walk as a new creation on this earth.
God has given everything, but it’s up to you, what you decide.
‘Ia fai ma masima o le lalolagi’
