Crucifying The Past: Introductory Points

Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Isaiah 43.18

In Christ we are a new creation: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5.17). God is the ever-flowing fountain of life: For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light (Psalm 36.9). When we are planted in Christ, this new life perpetually flows into us, bringing us to life: I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing (John 15.5).

Our imprisonment in the past, however, stops the new life of Christ being something that we experience as a practical reality, as opposed to simply a theological and theoretical fact. For Christ’s renewal to extend to every area of our lives, we need to live in the present, not in the past. It is not, however, possible to live in the present without being freed from the past.

One of the tools that we can use to get free from the heavy weight of the past, is consumption of the Word of God. The Scriptures instruct us to renew our minds: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12.2a). Immersion in the Scriptures is the means of this renewal.

The Scriptures are alive: The word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4.12). When we “eat” them, the sanctifying sword of the living Word enters deep within our inner beings and begins to locate and cut through all that is old and no longer relevant to our status as new creatures in Christ.

Immersion in the Word of God alone is not, however, enough. We have to actively rebut the memories—and the thoughts, feelings and fantasies that extend from them—as they are brought to us. The enemy does not want us to live in the present (with Christ). He wants us to live in the past (when we were not with Christ in the way that we are now).

The enemy is the deceiver: The great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world (Revelation 12.9a). He uses memories to deceive us into thinking that we are in the same spiritual state as we always were, and that—despite what Christ tells us—nothing in our life has changed and that nothing in our life will ever change.

Christ, however, broke the power of the enemy on the Cross. When we bring the past to Him to be crucified, therefore, it loses its grip on our present reality and we are released into the freedom of our new lives in Christ.

But what exactly does it mean to bring the past to be crucified by Christ in practical terms and how do we actually do it?

1. The first thing that we need to do is to bring the goal (getting completely free from the past) into mind and to put it at the top of our spiritual to-do list. Being sanctified is not easy. In order for us to see the results that Christ wants us to see, we need to approach each spiritual task with focus and granite-like determination.
2. Although complete inner freedom is a life-long journey of which the exact timings are determined by the Lord alone, we are trying to make a significant dent in the iceberg of the painful past, in order that it loses its power over our present. The second thing that we need to do, therefore, is to set a period of time (think months rather than days or hours…) in which we commit to work on this issue.
3. During this set period, we need to bring our past to Christ to be crucified every day (and multiple times per day, if possible). This means offering it up to Him in prayer, placing it in His hands, proclaiming His divine control over it and throwing it on His Cross.

Alongside these steps, we can repeat the following prayer every time a memory, a thought connected to our past or a desire that springs up out of our old man arises:

• Crucify the past, Lord Jesus. Break its authority over my emotions. Destroy the memories.

To experience the grace of the Resurrection in our days, we have to crucify the past, so that it no longer has the ability to affect our emotional states, control the way that we think and influence our behavior.

Getting free from the past is not, however, a passive process. It involves action on our part. The Lord is our deliverer.1 He is the One who delivers us from our past. For the deliverance to be complete, however, we have to work with Him as He works.

Amen +

Source:  Apocalypse Substack

Author of You Are Mine and Apocalypse, Sister Anastasia writes on the role of the ancient, ascetic Church in a rapidly changing, modern world.