這幾天的討論帶出了一個主要的訊息，那就是：我們愈是害怕向私欲死，我們的基督徒生命便愈是結不出果子。讓我們再次來提醒自己：「一粒麥子不落在地裡死了，仍舊是一粒，若是死了，就結出許多子粒來」（約十二24）。這雖然是知易行難，不過這只是困難一點，並非不可能的事。

今天我們要問一問自己：當我們向自我「死」時情況究竟會怎樣呢？是否表示「自我」在經歷毀滅？不是的。我們蒙召所經歷的死是指我們虛假生命的死、虛假觀念的死、罪和邪惡世界的死，以及那因自我中心所構成的虛假自我的死。保羅說：「我已經與基督同釘十字架」，表示他除了基督的目標外，已經向生命中所有自我的目標死去，今天的整段經文講述保羅的埋葬和復活，是新約其中一段最發人深省的經文。

保羅繼續說：「現在活著的不再是我，乃是基督在我裡面活著。」保羅發現當他追求神而不是追求自己的人生目標時，生命就變得更積極和有力。他與基督一起，比與單靠自己更好。你可能需要一點時間去思想這一點，但事實是，如果你不與神一起生活，你就不能與自己和諧地生活，也不能與任何人和諧地生活。

If there is one note ringing through these pages, it is this: to the extent that we are afraid to die to our self-interest, to that extent will our Christian lives be unfruitful. We remind ourselves again: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just one grain, never becomes more but lives by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest" (John 12:24, Amplified Bible). It is easy to say but difficult to put into practice - difficult but not impossible.

Today we ask ourselves: What exactly happens when we "die" to self? Does it mean that the "self" undergoes annihilation? No. The death to which we are called is the death of the false life we have been living, the false ideas and values we have set up, the false world of sin and evil, and the false self, organised around self-concern. When Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ", he meant that he had died to all the purposes in his life except Christ's purposes

This whole passage telling of Paul's burial and resurrection is one of the most exciting in the New Testament. He goes on to say: "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Paul discovered that life was much more positive and powerful when he pursued God's purposes rather than his own purposes. He got on better with Christ than he did with himself. This may take some thinking through, but the truth is, if you won't live with God, you won't be able to live harmoniously with yourself - nor, for that matter, with anyone else.