“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.” (Gal. 2:20) What does Paul mean AMY, “I’ve been crucified with Christ?” “We know that our old sinful selves were CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST so that sin might LOSE ITS POWER in our lives. We are no longer SLAVES TO SIN. For when we died with Christ we were SET FREE from the POWER of sin. And since we DIED with Christ, we know we will also LIVE with Him.” (Rom. 6:6-8)
Paul has more to say about this, “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. I do not set aside the grace of God…” (Gal. 2:20-21) Just so we have a clear understanding AMY, of how important this is, “This is a faithful saying: For if we DIED with Him, We shall also LIVE with Him.” (2 Tim. 2:11) The context of Galatians 2 is how the believer is made right with God. False teachers were telling the Galatian churches that faith in Christ was not enough. To be saved, they said, believers must also be circumcised and become “Jewish.” Only then would they be wholly right with God. Paul counters that idea: “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but BY FAITH in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our FAITH in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith IN CHRIST and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” (Gal. 2:15–16)
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham