09/23/17 Crucified with Christ

READING: Song of Solomon 1-3, Galatians 2

“I have been crucified with Christ.”

Galatians 2:20

It’s one of the Bible texts we quote often, but don’t think about enough. At least I don’t. 

It’s Paul recognition of the dramatic change in his life when he became a Christ-follower: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). He had not literally been crucified, of course, but he somehow participated in Christ’s death when he followed Him as Savior and Lord. In the mystery of God’s plan, Paul was joined to Christ in His death, and the apostle could no longer live for himself. His life was not his; any life he did have was because of the Son of God living in him. As one writer described it, “Being crucified with Christ implies a radical transformation within the believer. The ‘I’ who has died to the law no longer lives; Christ, in the person of the Holy Spirit, dwells within . . . .”*

To be honest, I don’t understand how all of that process happens. I don’t have the words to describe it adequately. All I can do is rest in the truth that because of what Jesus did for me in the past, my life is changed today. I still live in my physical flesh, but I no longer need be filled with greed and lust and anger and pride and everything else that marked me before Christ saved me. Jesus, the Son of God, “loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20), and I am humbly privileged to follow Him in faith. My focus must be solely on the One who gives me victory over the wrongs that haunted me in the past.

All of these truths ought to affect me deeply with every temptation I face and every decision I make today. My “I” should no longer reign in my heart.  My passions change. My priorities differ. My calendar isn’t the same, and my checkbook reflects a different life focus. My life isn’t mine anymore. I’m crucified with Him, and that’s quite okay. Jesus loves me and lives in me. 

ACTION STEPS: 

  • Thank God that Christ lives within you if you are a Christian.
  • Live by faith today in the Son of God.

PRAYER: “God, thank You for living in me.”

TOMORROW’S READING:  Song of Solomon 4-5, Galatians 3

 *Timothy George (1994). Galatians (Vol. 30, p. 201). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

 

 

 

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