“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2:20 ESV
This is a passage of scripture that the cheap grace or the
easy-believism people like to exploit. This is one of those scriptures they use
to say that Christ does it all and that we do nothing. But, the faith they say
they have is some obscure faith that merely professes to know Christ, but the
evidence is not there of a life truly crucified with Christ, for they still
live to the flesh. For, no death to sin or living to God and his righteousness
is required.
So, let’s break this verse down and see what it is truly
saying.
I have been crucified
with Christ
“I” is key here. For, “I” is not just an expression of an
individual person, but it also signifies our self-life, our pride, and our
selfish wills. So, this could be read to say that my pride, my self-life, and
my selfish will was put to death with Jesus on that cross.
But, they will say, that Jesus did that for us when he died
on the cross. For, he who knew no sin became sin for us on that cross so that
when he died our sin died with him. True. But, not everyone is crucified with
Christ. And, this is where faith enters in, with which they agree, only the “faith”
they speak of is often a mere acknowledgment of that fact, and then it is an
applying of what Jesus did for us to one’s life, only it is more like a carte
blanche for them to then continue in sin without guilt or remorse.
So, while it is true that Jesus, in his death on a cross,
put our sin to death, we still have to die with him to sin and live with him to
righteousness. Our faith in him is not just saying to Jesus, “You do it all. I
believe you did it. Therefore, I am saved and on my way to heaven.” James, in
the book of James, warned about such thinking when he exclaimed that even the
demons believe and they shudder.
So, this is talking about us agreeing with God about our
sin, by surrendering our lives to him, by humbling ourselves before him, and by
willingly dying with him to our self-life, our pride and our selfish wills. What
he did for us on that cross paved the way to where we could die with him to sin
and live to him and to his righteous in his power and strength, but it is not
automatic or all people would be saved and bound for heaven.
No longer “I” who
lives
And, let us look at this also. What did it mean for Jesus to
die on that cross? He had to give up his life on this earth to put our sin to
death. He had to be willing to be falsely accused, falsely arrested, mocked,
spat upon, scourged, thought to be a criminal, and hung on a cross so that we
could be free from our slavery to sin.
So, if we are crucified with Christ, we have to be willing
to die to ourselves, to our wills, and to our reputations in order for us to be
free from our slavery to sin, too. And, when Jesus died, he put sin to death.
When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, and we are crucified with Christ in
death to sin, we also die to our old lives of living for sin and self, so that
we can now live new lives in Christ Jesus, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness (Eph. 4:17-24; Rom. 6:1-23; Lu. 9:23-25).
But Christ lives in me
When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, and we die to sin and
self, and our self-life is put to death with Jesus on that cross, our pride,
our selfish wills, and our “My do it” is put to death with him on that cross.
But, we still live in flesh bodies. Our flesh is still at war with the Spirit
and the Spirit is at war with the flesh. So, this is going to be a battle we
face daily where the flesh will try hard to resurface. So, this dying with
Christ to sin is not once, but it is daily that by the Spirit we must be
putting to death the deeds of the flesh.
Yet, by coming to Christ in God-given faith, and by putting
our self-wills on the altar, and by submitting ourselves to Christ and his
cross, we are then indwelt with the Spirit of God so that Christ (God) is now
living within us. But, it isn’t just that the presence of God is now within us,
but it is that his life now lives and thrives within us in place of our
self-life, for this is what it means to be crucified with Christ to where we no
longer live but Christ lives I us. We still exist, but “self” is put to death
so that Jesus can now reign!
So, what this means for us is that, as we daily die to sin
and self, and as daily we surrender our lives to God and to doing his will, he
is able to live his life out through us, and we are able to live the Christian
life he designed for us to live through his power and strength, for it is no
longer us trying to please God in our own strength, but we are now surrendering
ourselves to the Lord where we are now allowing him to live his life out
through us.
And, the life I live
Again, we still live in flesh bodies. We are still going to
be tempted to sin. We still have the propensity to sin against God. So, we walk
by faith. But, this faith is not some intellectual assent to who Jesus is or
some casual acceptance of what he did for us on that cross. This is God-given and
divinely persuaded faith which submits to the will and purposes of God.
And, it is a life that we consciously live by the power of
God within us in submission to his will and purposes for our lives, too. It is
a walk of faith, whereby daily we are, by the Spirit, putting sin to death, and
whereby we are moment by moment surrendering our lives over to the Lord Jesus,
and whereby we are allowing his life to be lived out through us for his glory,
honor and praise.
In Context
Again, context is everything. We can’t pull scriptures out
of context to make them say what we want them to say in order to appease our
sinful flesh. So, in the context of Galatians, as a whole, we read that Jesus
gave himself for our sins to DELIVER us from the present evil age. It also
warns us against trying to be perfected by our human flesh instead of by the
Spirit. And, it warns against us using our freedom in Christ as opportunities
for the flesh, too.
And, then we are instructed that we must WALK (in lifestyle)
by the Spirit so that we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. And, then it
names for us some of those works of the flesh, which are idolatry, sensuality,
impurity, sexual immorality, and the like. And, then we are warned that those
who practice (walk in) such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal.
5:16-24).
And, then it warns us against being deceived, and it tells
us quite frankly that we are going to reap whatever we sow in this life. If we
sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction (decay,
death). But, if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will then reap
eternal life (Gal. 6:7-8).
And, then we need to read Galatians in the context of the
whole of the New Testament, too. And, there we find other scriptures which, in
context, agree with what is said in the book of Galatians, that we must die
with Christ to sin and we must live with Christ to his righteousness if we want
to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God.
For, if we profess with our mouths that we are no longer in
the darkness, and that we are now in fellowship with God, but in lifestyle (in
practice) we are still living to please our sinful flesh, especially while
denying that God requires from us repentance and obedience to his commands, then
we are still in the darkness, we don’t know God, he doesn’t know us, and we don’t
have eternal life with God. And, these are not my words. They are what the
scriptures teach. So, we need to take this seriously, for our eternity depends
on us knowing and living the truth.
[See: Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-24;
Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 2 Co. 5:15; 1 Pet. 2:24.]
To
Be Like Him
An
Original Work / March 16, 2014
Based
off Scripture
Crucified you are with Jesus.
To be like Him, oh, you’ll be,
Because He died at Calv’ry,
So from sin you’d be free.
Oh, what joy He brings into your life,
Giving life with Him endlessly.
Oh, what plans He has for your life.
Share the gospel faithfully.
Show the people He loves them.
Now His witness you’ll be.
Tell the world of sin about Jesus,
How He died for them on a tree.
Purifying hearts, He saves them,
Who believe on Christ, God’s Son.
Turning now from their idols,
New lives they have begun.
Jesus saves from sin; we’re forgiven.
Over sin, the vict’ry He won!
When He comes again to take us
To be with Him evermore,
There will be no more crying.
Gladness will be in store.
Heavens joys will now overtake us:
We’ll be with our Lord evermore.
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