Have we Been Crucified with Christ?

“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.” (Galatians 2:20 ESV)

In Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, he was dealing with two primary subjects. The first had to do with Judaizers trying to convince Christians that they must be circumcised and that they must adhere to some of the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions which we are not required to obey under the New Covenant. And they were trying to convince them that they needed to add these things (and perhaps others like them) to their salvation.

The second subject, which is directly connected with the first one, is that he had to teach the Christians that freedom from the Old Covenant law was not freedom to live however they wanted without consequence. Even though they were no longer under the Old Covenant (or they never had been), they were not to be lawless. They still had to obey the law of the Lord under the New Covenant, for if they did not, they would not inherit eternal life with God, but they would die in their sins, instead.

So, just because Galatians 2:20 is in the context of Paul dealing with the Judaizers, and with the Christians who were being persuaded by them, this is not free license to interpret this verse absent of the requirements of God. For God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ requires that we deny self, die to sin (not just once, but daily), and that we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands in holy living, in order that we might have true salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God in heaven. 

Yet, many people today are loosely interpreting Galatians 2:20 to say that, because they professed faith in Jesus Christ, that they are automatically now new creations in Jesus Christ and that they are no longer under the penalty of sin, and that heaven is now guaranteed them when they die, and that it cannot be taken away from them, but regardless of how they live. But all we have to do is read Galatians 5:16-24 and Galatians 6:7-8 (and many other similar Scriptures), and that dispels that notion altogether.

For there we read that if such sins as sexual immorality (a big one today), impurity, sensuality, idolatry, fits of anger, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like, are what we practice, then we will not inherit the kingdom of God. And we read that we are not to be deceived, for God is not mocked, for whatever we sow, that we shall also reap. So if we sow to our own flesh, we will reap corruption (destruction, death). But if we sow to the Spirit, we will reap eternal life. So we are not to grow weary in DOING good (of God).

So, if we read Galatians 2:20 in the context of the whole of the book of Galatians, and in the context of the whole of the teachings of Jesus Christ and of his NT apostles, then we will realize that Galatians 2:20 does not apply to all who merely make professions of faith in Jesus Christ but who then who go on living in sin. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord, then we don’t know God, we are not in fellowship with him, and we do not have eternal life in him.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24] 

This is not teaching that we will never sin (1 John 2:1-2), but that we should not sin, and that if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to our Lord and to his commandments (New Covenant), then we do not know God, and we do not have eternal life with God. So we need to understand the difference between an occasional sin, which may not have been intentional at all, and sin which is deliberate, habitual, and often premeditated in direct defiance to God, without conscience and remorse.

For we are only crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, if indeed we have literally died to our sins, and so we are no longer walking in deliberate and habitual sin, but now we are walking in holiness and godliness and in obedience to our Lord, although not necessarily with absolute perfection. For if sin is what we obey (in practice), it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we practice, it leads to righteousness, and its end is eternal life (Romans 6:1-23).

So when this says, “I no longer live,” this is speaking of self. Self has now been put to death, but we must deny self daily, and die daily to sin. This is not something we do once, but continuously, throughout our lives on this earth, until Jesus returns to take us home with him, or until we die physically. And if “I” no longer live, but Christ who lives in me, that means that Jesus Christ is now Lord (Owner-master) of my life, I now belong to him, and my life is now surrendered to him to do his will, and not my will. My desires are now his desires, and I want to do what he wants me to do.

And if I now live my life by faith in the Son of God, and that faith comes from God, is persuaded of God, and is gifted to me by God, and it is not of my own doing, then my life is going to be surrendered to Jesus Christ to do his will, and I will be one who denies self, who dies daily to sin, and who walks daily in obedience to my Lord and to his commands and in surrender to his specific will for my life, which is of his choosing, not mine. For my life now belongs to God to do his will and his purpose for my life. Amen!

[Heb 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Jn 1:12-13; Jn 6:44; Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

He Gives Purpose  

An Original Work / June 9, 2012

“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.

Obey freely My word.

Follow Me in all of My ways.

Do all that I say.

Hear Me gently whisper to you

My will for your life and future.

Give all of your life and heart to

Follow Me always.”

Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.

He’s your Lord and Master.

He died for your sins so you could

Live with Him today.

He has a plan for your life and

He gives purpose and direction.

He gives meaning to your life,

So follow Him today.

“I love you so much I gave My life for

You to walk in My ways,

Living for Me each day as you

Bow to Me and pray.

Witness for Me of your love for Me and

Of My grace and mercy,

How I died to save you of your

Sins now and always.”

https://vimeo.com/119038798