Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Truth to Learn
He gave us His life through obedience, now we owe Him ours through faith.
Meaning Explained
In the previous verse Paul told us that he died to the law. In the current verse he explains this idea a little further. Certainly Paul was not physically dead. He was still walking around. He was still breathing. He was still ministering for Christ. But, when any Christian comes to saving faith, he or she takes on the effects of Christ’s death on the cross and in that sense has died with Christ. The word translated “I have been crucified” is in the perfect tense. This means past action with an ongoing effect, the emphasis being not on the past action, but on the effect. So, even though we were crucified with Christ in the past, the effect is that we are continually and forever in a dead state (crucified) with Him.
It is our sin nature, which Paul calls our “old man,” that has been figuratively put to death. Paul expresses this same notion in Romans chapter 6.
Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, (Romans 6:3-8)
So, if we are figuratively dead, the Law has no power over us and we no longer have the right to say or do whatever we want. Instead, since we are made spiritually alive through Christ, we now owe what is left of our physical life and all of our spiritual life to Him. We now live “in Christ.” In other words, we live as united with Him and under His authority and we now must “walk by faith, not by sight.” That means we are totally committed to His direction for our lives and it means that we are completely submitted to his authority. So, we have been crucified with Christ and are dead to self because of it. And the life that we now live, by faith, is in the power and under the authority of Jesus Christ.
The law has no authority over us but Christ has supreme authority over us.
Application
Christ gave himself on the Cross to give you and me spiritual life and He now lives in us. It is only natural that we should now give the life we have to Him, for Him to use.
Who are you living for right now? Are you living to satisfy your own desires? That’s living to self, it doesn’t require an ounce of faith, and its easy. Or, are you living for Jesus Christ? That requires faith and it is very hard!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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