Yet some Christians don't realize this, and so everything else changes but them. A lot of times people get saved and 20 years down the road you can't tell the difference between the saints and the "aints." That ought not to be.
What's the solution? Paul said the solution is to think of yourself as a dead man. In Galatians 2:20 Paul said, "I'm crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live." That old man was nailed to the cross with Jesus. Think about that for a minute: As far as the world is concerned, you're dead.
I was driving down an expressway recently near one of the busiest off ramps in Tulsa, and I heard from heaven. It was a good place to hear from heaven because there were more cars there than people. Cars were racing in every direction and I thought, What would Jesus do in this situation? He would be really kind and sweet. He would be nice no matter what.
Then all of the sudden I heard the phrase, "What would a dead man do?" That's an important question for all of us—one that will lead us to higher Christian walk. In every situation, we need to take a moment and think, what would a dead man do here? Because that's us—we're dead men—and women.
Paul says we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God. I'm telling you what, we need to realize that we're alive on the inside, but our flesh has been crucified. That means our flesh is dead—dead to the world, dead to old styles of responses, and dead to old styles of reactions.
You might say, "Jesus didn't have a car. So that doesn't qualify." All right, then, let's bring this a little closer to home. If you're driving in traffic and another driver cuts you off, your flesh is likely to respond by saying, "Just wait until the next light." Of course, mine never does, but I'm sure you have dealt with it.
I grew up driving around Detroit, and they're really aggressive up there. In that city you have to move fast and quick, or they'll run over you. Every time you start down the road there, you have to put off the old man (Col. 3:8-9).
But the truth is there are many situations in life everyday when people do us wrong. Everyday we have the opportunity to respond to temptation, test, or trial. These things happen to all of us. Yet, call me anything you want—dead men don't recoil.
Say anything you want—dead men don't defend themselves. We humans become really concerned about what people think about us, and yet we cannot control that; people will think what they want to think. So the best thing we can do is just reckon ourselves dead.
Consider yourself alive on the inside and your old flesh dead to the world. Don't let the world rattle your cage. People may falsely accuse you, cut you off in traffic, slander you, and do bad things to you—that's life on earth as we know it. But still what would a dead man do? He wouldn't do much of anything, would he?
The natural reaction is to let people have it when they mistreat you. Your flesh thinks of a dozen things you want to say, and afterward you think of a 112 more you wish you had said. You're fine for a few seconds, and then your blood starts to boil. You might ask yourself, "Should I give them a piece of my mind?" But a better question is: What would a dead man do?
Imagine a person lying dead, a flower sticks in the ground beside him. What is the dead person doing? Absolutely nothing. How will he react to things around him? Not at all. Does he get mad? No.
What does he do if somebody speaks badly about him? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. A dead man does absolutely nothing except leans back and enjoys himself—depending on where he's spending eternity.
You don't have to remember to do this and don't do that, you can put successful Christian life in a nutshell and say, "What would a dead man do?" Act like a dead man on the outside and walk with God on the inside.
Every time your flesh wants to react inappropriately boss it around by saying, "Don't do that! You don't go there any more. You don't act and talk like that any more. You're a dead man." Because the truth is, when you reckon yourself dead to the world and alive to God, you'll not only be laying a good foundation for the next great move of God, but you'll also understand what it really means to live.
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