When you cede an item over to someone, you are relinquishing your rights to that item, what was once yours no longer belongs to you. In most cases, but not all, there are many legal documents that must be written up, in others it was as simple as removing your shoe. (Ruth 4:7) In either case, what was implied was that the right of ownership was transferred, what once belonged to you is now no longer yours.
Some Christians like to see their lives in this manner, they have given them to Christ, completely, wholly and without reservation, which sounds nice, but is rarely if ever true in its entirety, we like to hold onto that which we believe is ours for as long as possible. To retain the right of ownership, but we fail to cede, not continuously, but quite regularly, if not in whole, then in part.
It is impossible to live in a world corrupted by sin and not sin, and even though the followers of our Lord Jesus Christ do not live any longer in the continuation of sin willfully, the edges of it, so to speak, are skirted around on a fairly regular basis. What we say we have given to Christ completely, in truth we hold onto in part occasionally. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
Dead. That is what Paul is saying in that verse, it is what the Holy Spirit instructed him to write down and will forever be written down, (2 Peter 1:21) if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, saved by the grace of God, you are a miracle, for you are a dead man walking, you have ceded all that you are, without reservation, you no longer belong to you. Here is the question for you to ponder today, if you will, is all rebellion against the will of God sin, or is it only an offense to Him when we decide to negate the contract we have made with Him and willingly do that which is against His will for us, or do that which we have been commanded not to do.
Every step we take, every action we perform, every word is supposed to reflect Jesus, it is what is meant by ceded, it is what is meant by being crucified with Christ. (Gal. 2:20) The problem is, we apparently like to be crucified slowly, at least the old man inside of us does, the sinful nature that we fight, attempts to retain control, to stay alive, that which we battle against, every moment of our lives. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2) Why not?
This world is a sinful place, it is under the curse of God, (Gen. 3:17) because every person who is not saved is a sinful person, and the wrath of God abides on them, (John 3:36) because we have given up all rights of ownership of our lives to God, we no longer own ourselves. To directly disobey a commandment of the Lord is to prove that we do not love Him, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) If you can show no fruits of the Spirit to the outside world, if the actions and lifestyle that you lived before your supposed ceding of rights to Christ are the same as they are now, then the question of who you belong to is quite irrelevant, for it is clearly seen, but if those who knew you in your past before Christ can no longer recognize you, if your demeanor is completely contrary to what it once was, if every step you take is meant in some way to glorify the Lord, then you are Christs.
In the finality of it all my friends, “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze. 18:4) He has simply been gracious to those who have admitted this truth, and willingly given to Him what has always been and always will be His anyway.
