Readings for today: Galatians 1-3
Galatians 2:20 is one of my favorite verses in all the Bible. “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.” For me, this verse sums up the Christian life. My old life has been crucified. Put to death. Executed. It is over. It is gone. It no longer has any power over me. It no longer has a hold on me. And every time it tries to rise from the grave - which it does daily for me - I must turn to Christ and let Him put it to death once more.
Classically, this is known as the “mortification of sin.” It is the Christian practice of daily “dying to self” or daily putting to death that which seeks to tempt me away from Christ. And while that sounds hard and painful and maybe even “unhealthy” in our therapeutic culture today, it is actually freeing. We are all born enslaved to Self. We are all born with an inward orientation. And when we are crucified with Christ, we are putting to death Self itself. It’s why Paul says, “I no longer live.” He literally means it! He no longer lives for Self. Self no longer has a hold on his life. He is now set free to live for Christ. And not only to live for Christ but to actually be filled with Christ. When we put to death the Self, we don’t become an empty shell. Christ literally comes to take up residence inside us and we now live our lives for Him.
There is nothing better than living for Christ. My own life is a testimony to this fact. There is no greater joy. No greater fulfillment. No greater honor than living for Christ. Serving Christ. Sacrificing all that I have and all that I am for Christ. Because I no longer live, I do not have to hold back. I don’t have to worry or be anxious or afraid. I don’t have to wonder about provision or protection because God is my Provider. God is my Shield. God is my Protector and the lifter of my head. This is what Christ understood even about Himself. He lived on the good and faithful promise of His Father to give Him all He needed when He needed it. The same is true for us. When we live for Christ, we live in complete and utter and profound freedom because there is nothing this world can do to us. Nothing this world can steal from us. Nothing this world can take from us. Our lives are hid with Christ in the heavenly places. Our lives are held by Christ in His hands. And He is faithful and true and just and merciful and we can trust Him.
When you think about what it means to be a Christian, does it include death? Does it include the crucifixion of the old life or is there still a part of you hanging on to who you once were? Trying to perfect in the flesh what God began in the Spirit? (Galatians 3:3) This was the issue at the heart of Paul’s confrontation with Peter. Peter was still hanging onto his Jewish identity. He was still beholden to what his fellow Jewish believers thought of him. He had not yet fully crucified his old way of life and it was creating division in the early church. What about you? Are you living like Peter or like Paul? Can you say with full assurance that you’ve been crucified with Christ and no longer live and Christ now lives in you?
Readings for tomorrow: Galatians 4-6