*In What Way is Self to be Denied?
*An adaptation of portions of “A Treatise on Self-Denial” by Richard Baxter
Definitions
The Soul: The true person inside
The Self: The selfish beliefs, inclinations, and thoughts that enslave us
You must deny Self because Self is opposite to God and a competitor with him. As such it is the greatest idol of the soul.
It likes to imagine itself independent from God. This is a mad illusion, for we are dependent beings. Yet Self believes it does not have to submit to God nor will it have to answer to him.
Self does not love God, trust God, or Worship Him.
Self must be denied because it stands against the truth of the gospel. It fights the very truth that would save the soul. The Self is the most incompetent judge of God’s word, yet at the same time the most aggressive, arrogant, and audacious critic of it. Self is the fountain of all unbelief.
It is an incompetent judge because God is an enemy of the Self and an enemy cannot be a competent or trustworthy judge. The Self’s aversion to the gospel makes it believe wrong things about it and overlook the beauty and good in it, makes multiple false conclusions, and mixes the meaning to make it say something it doesn’t. Self is utterly opposed to God and the holy life God has destined his people for.
It is the Self that the scriptures primarily speak against. The scriptures aim arrows of death at the Self, it disgraces Self, and stands against it. Just as a murderer on death row will never love the electric chair, so the Self will never love the Scriptures that condemn it—therefore it is an utterly untrustworthy judge of God’s word.
Self must be denied because it stands against Jesus Christ. Though it may admit to some good in Christ, the truth that Christ alone is the remedy for a miserable soul and the only source of life, righteousness, and hope in this world it rejects and ignores. The self seduces the soul to ever undervalue Christ.
O, down with self that Christ may be Christ to you! How shall he come into your life while Self is the watchman at the door? How will Christ forgive you when Self will not allow you to feel your need of God’s pardon? How will Christ bind up your wounded heart, when Self will not let you be broken? How shall he clothe you with his righteousness while Self keeps you in your own defiled, rotten rags? Of friend, put away your self-righteousness, that Christ may be your righteousness!
Self must be denied because it is the great resistor of the Holy Spirit. Apart than Satan himself, the Sanctifying Spirit has no greater enemy. One half of his sanctifying work is to destroy the Self. The Self ever resists holiness, distracts and lures you from your holy duties while at the same time persuading you to indulge in sin.
Self must be denied because it is a traitor to your soul and sides with your enemies. It pleads on sin’s behalf, it speaks as wicked people do, it is in a conspiracy to destroy you, all the while always appearing to be after your ultimate good. It constantly fills your mind with the difficulty and unpleasantness of the duties of holiness complaining, “How weary it is to follow God!” “What do I get by serving God?!”. Self is a vicious traitor against your own soul and therefore it must be denied.