Hope for Healing, Faith for Living Podcast

The Life I Now Live, I Live By Faith In The Son Of God

Galatians 2:20 ESV

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.

Paul is making 3 distinctive statements here

First, “I have been crucified with Christ”

Romans 6:3-6

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

When we accept Jesus as Lord, we are accepting that he was crucified for our sins and we identify with him in this. He allowed himself to be crucified for us, to pay the penalty of death for our sins. We accept this and identify with Christ in this.

2 Corinthians 5:17

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Second, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

Romans 6

7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Again, it’s about identifying with Christ. We give up our own identity and identify with him. Who I am is all about Jesus. It’s about believing the Words of Christ and submitting to him.

Third, “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.”

Paul is making a statement about himself and how he now lives. It’s important to see that Paul is making a distinction from his previous life to his life now in saying, the life I now live.

Some talk about the miraculous change they've seen in people’s life when they got saved. Usually they are referring to someone who was wild, mean or just a well known sinner that had their life turned around when they got saved. 

That’s good and praise God for changing lives but I want you to know giving our lives to Christ and living by faith is more than just a change of what we do. It’s how we live.

Paul said, “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.”

Paul said I live by Faith. That's how we live as believers, as new creations in Christ.

Blessings,
Tim Dumas
www.hopeforhealingfaithforliving.com