CRUCIFIED, YET LIVING

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

NOTICE THE STRENGTH OF THIS PERSUASION! It is not a negative view, but a positive one. "But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him" (Rom 6:8). Our crucifixion is in order to our participation in the life of God. It is personal, and it is effective. In delineating this truth, Paul revealed the extent of our death to the order over which Law presides. "May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Gal 6:14). I prefer the KJV on this. It states "by WHOM the world . . . " It is Christ who sanctifies the cross, giving it true effectiveness! The world disowns those who have died to it, for it can only love "its own" (John 15:19). Its rejection of us simplifies our new life, for we have also rejected it.

BEING DEAD WITH CHRIST necessarily involves freedom from the coercion of Law. That is because we are joined to the Lord as soon as we are freed from the condemning Law. " If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch"? (Col 2:20-21). The Galatians had reverted back to Law, therefore jeopardizing their salvation. Paul shows them that dying to the old order is the point. That is accomplished by identity with Christ in HIS death, not attempting to depend on our own life, so to speak. Here is where our baptism comes into the picture. It is there we were "buried with Him by baptism into death" (Rom 6:3-4). How tragic that this view is so rarely mentioned!

DEATH TO THE WORLD AND SIN is not an end of itself, but a means to an end. Spiritual life is the point, not death! Sin loses its power when we lose our preference for it. It is then that we begin to live the abundant life. That life is lived "to God." We have Jesus as our example and pattern. He now lives in the Presence of God – at His own right hand. He is there to execute the will of God, and fulfill His purpose. He is absorbed in this activity, because that is the way things are in the Divine Presence.

BUT THERE IS MORE TO THIS! Our life is not one of self discipline – like life under the Law. It is Christ who lives in us! He dwells in our hearts by faith (Eph 3:16), and makes His abode with us (John 14:21,23). Our expectation of glory is owing to Christ's Presence within (Col 1:27).

IT IS MARVELOUS TO CONSIDER that Christ is living in us! That is something that can never be accomplished by Law. Because Law can never take away sin, it can never open the door of our hearts to Christ! Those who choose to come to God by means of Law shut themselves up to unbelief, for "the Law is not of faith" (Gal 3:12).

SPIRITUAL LIFE IS LIVED "BY FAITH," not by doing. Paul confessed he lived "by faith in the Son of God." Our persuasion of the reality of Jesus, and the effectiveness of His accomplishments and present work, causes us to be sensitive to God. That sensitivity enables us to be directed by God and led by the Spirit. It establishes the priority of hope, and causes the luster of the world to fade.

IF JESUS LOVED ME AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME," it is surely possible for me to do the lesser thing of loving Him and giving myself for Him. Faith gives you the vision of the real Jesus, thereby providing the incentive and strength to live for Him.

– Given O. Blakely