Crucified with (4957) (sustauroo from sun = together with, speaks of an intimate union + stauróo = to crucify from stauros = cross) means to crucify, affix or nail to a cross with another. Only the worst criminals suffered crucifixion in Paul’s day. This same verb was used of the 2 thieves who were "crucified with" Christ although only one was "vicariously" or "spiritually" crucified with Him, specifically the one who "was saying (imperfect tense = over and over again) Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom! (Luke 23:42) As alluded to above, the preposition sun (see discussion) speaks of a believer's union or identification with Christ (see "Union With Christ"). The use of the perfect tense is very instructive, signifying that the believer has been crucified with Christ at a specific point in time in the past and that the effects of this this crucifixion persist or continue into the present. Stated another way, the perfect tense speaks of a past completed action having present finished results. AN INSEPARABLE, ETERNAL, TRANSCENDENT SPIRITUAL UNION To digress for a moment on the concept of a union keep in mind that this word “union” is defined as two or more people or things joined together as one. For example, marriage is a union of one man, with his unique personality, and one woman, with her distinct personality, joined together with one another. The husband and wife maintain their unique personalities, but now there is a mysterious new relationship designed by God in which the two "become one flesh" (Ep 5:31-note). So here in Galatians 2:20 Paul is describing the nature of our union with Christ in which our Lord obviously remains Christ and the believer retains his or her personality and physical nature. And yet, when Paul says we have been "crucified with Christ", he is saying that a mysterious union has taken place, one that we cannot completely comprehend in this life, a union in which Jesus Christ is now living in and through the believer. This mystical union does not mean that I no longer have any responsibilities in the Christian life. Paul is saying, ‘Yes, I still live, but there is something so different about life, for Christ now lives in me. It is not me, alone, facing the demands of life. It is not me, alone, trying to work out my salvation, living out the demands of the gospel. It is Christ in me, living in me, living through me His glorious life". Martin Luther described this union writing... thou art so entirely joined unto Christ, that He and thou art made as it were one person: so that thou mayest boldly say, I am now one with Christ, that is to say, Christ’s righteousness, victory, and life are mine (Commentary on Romans) John Calvin explains it as follows... The word death is always hateful to man’s mind. Having said that we are nailed to the cross along with Christ, he adds that this makes us alive. At the same time he explains what he meant by ‘living to God’. He does not live by his own life but is animated by the secret power of Christ, so that Christ may be said to live and grow in him...For, as the soul quickens the body, so Christ imparts life to His members (Galatians 2) Phil Newton adds that because of our crucifixion with Christ... All of life is lived with the strength and presence of Jesus Christ united with us. We are to live with this consciousness of Jesus Christ in us! Those who were trying to justify themselves through the Law were working and scratching to meet the demands of that impossible task-master. So Paul contrasts that scene with the reality of the believer. By faith, in union with Jesus Christ, we have died to the Law and all its demands; and Jesus Christ, our Righteous Lord, is now living His life through us. That is a radical life. That is real Christianity. (The Sweet Fruit of Justification) Bruce writes that... “The perfect tense…emphasizes that participation in the crucified Christ has become the believer’s settled way of life.” (Bruce, FF: Epistle to the Galatians (New International Greek Testament Commentary. Erdman, 1982) In other words, Paul is saying that he was identified with Christ at the Cross in the past and the spiritual benefits of that identification are a present reality in his life (and also the life of all the redeemed). In the context (too often this famous verse is quoted out of context) of his discussion (Gal 2:19 "For through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live to God." - - Paul had based his hope for righteousness on strict observance of the Law but Christ paid the penalty for sin that the law demanded) about his death to the Law, he is explaining that this transpired when he died with Christ Who died under its penalty as the sinless sacrificial "Lamb". In this eternal transaction, the demands of the Law were satisfied and therefore no longer had a hold on Paul. As discussed more below, crucifixion with Christ also means death to self. When Paul died with Christ, Saul the self-righteous, self-centered Pharisee (the "I" of Gal 2:19) died and so did all that he had "accomplished" up to that time (see Phil 3:7 "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." cf Php 3:3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9-see notes on 3:3; 3:4-6; 3:7-8; 3:9) All he had accomplished was in a sense buried with Saul along with his old life in Adam. And best of all, the power of Sin over Saul (in Adam) was broken and no longer had any right to dominate the new Paul (in Christ). Note crucified with is passive voice which indicates action produced upon one from an outside agent. The 4 other NT uses of sustauroo are recorded below for study (note the first 3 uses are literal and the last metaphorical)... (Mt 27:44) And the robbers also who had been crucified with Him were casting the same insult at Him. (Mk 15:32) "Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!" And those who were crucified with Him were casting the same insult at Him. (Jn 19:32) The soldiers therefore came, and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other man who was crucified with Him; (Romans 6:6) knowing this, that our old self (old man) was crucified with (aorist tense = past completed action) Him, that our body of Sin might be done away with (aorist tense = past completed action), that we should no longer be slaves (present tense = continually) to sin; (see note Romans 6:6) Comment: Note how God deals with the old self - He does not change it or transform it. What He did was crucify him with Christ. God condemned the old self and poured out His wrath on our Sinless Substitute, Who in turn poured out His blood and gave up His life on our behalf on the Cross. Note the that "was crucified" means "It was done! It was finished!" We do not need to crucify the old self! As Dr Walvoord discusses below, crucifixion is not something that we do, but is something that Christ has accomplished for us! "Crucified" is not a command to obey but a fact to be believed! The old self has been decisively dealt with on the Cross! Those who try to conquer the old self in their own strength will only experience futility and will never win the battle! Christ has won the battle for us. Our role now is to yield our will to His Spirit and moment by moment walk out in faith from the victory Christ has already achieved for us at Calvary. A life filled with resurrection power comes only out of death. In view of the principle that resurrection can only come after death, as believers we must continually reckon ourselves as dead to sin (Ro 6:11-note) with Christ in order to experience His victorious life and His resurrection power, walking by faith and not by sight. Resurrection comes only out of death.) To fully understand Paul's teaching in this great verse, one must understand the meaning of our union with Christ as Paul expounded in Romans 6:1-10 (consider memorizing this passage that you might to able to call it to mind - then the word which you have treasured in your heart will keep you from sin, cf Psalm 119:9, 10, 11. Take some time to meditate on each verse before you read the notes). 1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? (see note Romans 6:1) 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? (see note Romans 6:2) 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? (see notes Romans 6:3 - this describes our identification with Christ) 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (see notes Romans 6:4) 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, (see notes Romans 6:5 - this describes our union with Christ) 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; (see notes Romans 6:6 - this describes our death with Christ and our liberation from the domination of indwelling sin) 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. (see notes Romans 6:7) 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, (see notes Romans 6:8) 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. (see notes Romans 6:9) 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. (see notes Romans 6:10) 11 Even so consider (present imperative) yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (see notes Romans 6:11 - Paul commands us to continually take all of the truths he has stated in the preceding 10 verves and put them in the "calculator" of our mind. Think about them frequently so that we continually come the conclusion that we "been crucified with Christ and it is no longer we who live but Christ Who lives in us" -- then let that truth daily affect the way we live, the choices we make, the shows we watch, the things we buy, the way we respond to pressure and disappointment, etc) Thomas Constable explains it this way... When a person trusts Christ, God identifies him or her with Christ not only in the present and future but also in the past. The believer did what Christ did. When Christ died, I died. When Christ arose from the grave, I arose to newness of life. My old self-centered life died when I died with Christ. His Spirit-directed life began in me when I arose with Christ. Therefore in this sense the Christian’s life is really the life of Christ. (Tom Constable's Expository Notes on the Bible) M R DeHaan explains that Paul is saying... I died in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, through faith I was identified with Him, so that God imputes (Ed: puts on my "spiritual account") to me everything that happened to the Saviour in Whom I have put my trust; and since He met all the demands of the law, paid the penalty and died under its curse, I (because I was represented in Christ through grace) suffered the same penalty and God today considers me as though I actually, personally, hung on the Cross myself, and met the full penalty of the law, which is eternal death. That is Paul’s testimony, and every believer who is in Christ can truly say, I too am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. (De Haan, M. R. Studies in Galatians: Kregel Publications) Alexander Maclaren writes that... We have a bundle of paradoxes in this Galatians 2:20. First, ‘I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live.’ The Christian life is a dying life. If we are in any real sense joined to Christ, the power of His death makes us dead to self and sin and the world. In that region, as in the physical, death is the gate of life; and, inasmuch as what we die to in Christ is itself only a living death, we live because we die, and in proportion as we die. The next paradox is, ‘Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.’ The Christian life is a life in which an indwelling Christ casts out, and therefore quickens, self (Ed note: the new self). We gain ourselves when we lose ourselves. His abiding in us does not destroy but heightens our individuality. We then most truly live when we can say, ‘Not I, but Christ liveth in me’; the soul of my soul and the self of myself. And the last paradox is that of my text, ‘The life which I live in the flesh, I live in’ (not ‘by’) ‘the faith of the Son of God.’ The true Christian life moves in two spheres at once. Externally and superficially it is ‘in the flesh,’ (Ed note: referring to in the physical aspect of flesh, not the evil flesh) really it is ‘in faith.’ It belongs not to the material nor is dependent upon the physical body in which we are housed. We are strangers here, and the true region and atmosphere of the Christian life is that invisible sphere of faith. (Read his full message Galatians 2:20 From Centre to Circumference) J Vernon McGee notes that in this verse Paul... states a fact which is true of every believer. We are not to seek to be crucified with Christ...There are many people today who talk about wanting to live the “crucified” life. That is not what Paul is talking about in this verse. We are not to seek to be crucified with Christ. We have already been crucified with Him. The principle of living is not by the Law which has slain us because it found us guilty. Now we are to live by faith. Faith in what? Faith in the Son of God. You see, friend, the death of Christ upon the cross was not only penal (that is, paying the penalty for our sins), but it was substitutionary also. He was not only the sacrifice for sin; He was the substitute for all who believe. Paul declares, therefore, that under the Law he was tried, found guilty, was condemned, and in the person of his Substitute he was slain. When did that take place? It took place when Christ was crucified. Paul was crucified with Christ. But “nevertheless I live.” How do I live? In Christ. He is alive today at God’s right hand. We are told that we have been put in Christ. You cannot improve on that. That ought to get rid of the foolish notion that we can crucify ourselves...There are many ways to end your life, but you cannot crucify yourself. When you nail one hand to the cross, who is going to nail your other hand to the cross? You cannot do it yourself. You must understand what Paul is talking about when he says, “I am crucified with Christ.” Paul was crucified with Christ when Christ died. Christ died a substitutionary death. He died for Paul. He died for you. He died for me. (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos) Galatians 2:20 therefore is Paul's testimony that he was now free from the demands of the Law, a truth beautifully brought out by the old hymn below (take a moment and sing the words as an offering of praise to our Father in Heaven)... Free from the Law By Philip P Bliss (bio) Free from the law, O happy condition, Jesus has bled and there is remission, Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall, Grace hath redeemed us once for all. Now we are free, there’s no condemnation, Jesus provides a perfect salvation. “Come unto Me,” O hear His sweet call, Come, and He saves us once for all. “Children of God,” O glorious calling, Surely His grace will keep us from falling; Passing from death to life at His call; Blessèd salvation once for all. Refrain: Once for all, O sinner, receive it, Once for all, O brother, believe it; Cling to the cross, the burden will fall, Christ hath redeemed us once for all. (Play) Paul refers to the concept of crucifixion later in Galatians writing... Galatians 5:24 (note) Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Comment: In this verse Paul describes a definite event in the past which every believer has experienced. Paul said we, not God, have crucified the flesh. We have crucified the flesh in the sense that when we trusted Christ God broke the domination of our sinful nature (flesh). While we still have a sinful human nature, it does not control us as it did before we trusted in Christ. Note that Paul is not saying self-crucifixion or self-mortification is something believers should practice. At the time of our crucifixion with Christ, God brought about a separation from the dominion of our sinful nature inherited from Adam -- flesh -- by virtue of our unbreakable union and eternal identification with Christ Jesus in His substitutionary, sacrificial death. As Donald Campbell observes in the The Bible Knowledge Commentary the truth of co-crucifixion with Christ "does not mean that [our] sin nature is then eradicated or even rendered inactive but that it has been judged, a fact believers should reckon to be true (cf. Ro 6:11, 12- see note on v11; v12). So victory over the sinful nature’s passions and desires has been provided by Christ in His death. Faith must continually lay hold of this truth or a believer will be tempted to try to secure victory by self-effort." Galatians 6:14 But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified (perfect tense = stands crucified, speaking of the permanence of the state) to me, and I to the world. Comment: Remember that in Paul's day the Cross was a symbol of shame and yet here he takes pride in that which the world loathes. In fact the word "crux" [cross] was unmentionable in polite Romans society! When Paul was crucified with Christ, he said in a manner of speaking "Goodbye" to the world. Thereafter he looked at the world as if it were on a cross [the cross conveying the idea of death] because of the fact that he had experienced the Cross of Christ when he was saved. The world lost its allure for him. Why? Because he had found the One Who Alone completely satisfies the soul's longings. The world to Paul became spiritually dead, and he became dead to the world. All the things in this passing life which appeal to the “natural” man lost their attraction for Paul. The Cross became the great dividing line between the world and Paul as well it should in the experience of every child of God. When James Calvert (see biography) went as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the captain of the ship sought to turn him back, crying out... “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages” Calvert only replied, “We died before we came here.” In short, James Calvert had appropriated and had put into practice the truth of Galatians 2:20 and had identified with the Cross of Christ. He had relinquished his life, having died to James Calvert, to the world, to the flesh, and to the devil. John MacArthur explains the believer's death with Christ as it relates to the Law writing that... If a man is convicted of a capital crime and is put to death, the law obviously has no more claim on him. He has paid his debt to society. Therefore, even if he were to rise from the dead, he would still be guiltless before the law, which would have no claim on his new life. So it is with the believer who dies in Christ to rise in new life. He is free forever from any claim of the law on him. He paid the law’s demand when he died in Christ. His physical death is no punishment, only a release to glory provided in his union with Christ. Legalism’s most destructive effect is that it cancels the effect of the cross... The old man, the old sell is dead, crucified with Christ, and the new man lives (see notes Colossians 3:9; 3:10) (MacArthur, J. Galatians. Chicago: Moody Press) J I Packer writes that this verse... brings together both aspects of the Christian’s identification with Christ; acceptance of Christ’s cross as both the end of the old life and the pattern of the new one. (Packer, J I: Your Father Loves You. Harold Shaw Pub. 1986) Our Daily Bread has a devotional adapted from Ethel Barrett's work "It Only Hurts When I Laugh"... In her book It Only Hurts When I Laugh, Ethel Barrett tells how four outstanding servants of God died to self and sin. George Mueller, when questioned about his spiritual power, responded simply, “One day George Mueller died.” D. L. Moody was visiting New York City when he consciously died to his own ambitions. And evangelist Christmas Evans, putting down on paper his surrender to Christ, began it by writing: “I give my soul and body to Jesus.” It was, in a very real sense, a death to self. John Gregory Mantle wrote, “There is a great difference between realizing, ‘On that Cross He was crucified for me,’ and ‘On that Cross I am crucified with Him.’ The one aspect brings us deliverance from sin’s condemnation, the other from sin’s power.” Recognizing that we “have been crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20), we should, as Paul admonished in Romans 6:11 (see note), consider ourselves “to be dead indeed to sin.” We still have sinful tendencies within, but having died to them, sin no longer has dominion over us. We die to our selfish desires and pursuits. But believers must also think of themselves as “alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:11). We should do those things that please Him. Victorious Christians are those who have died—to live! - R W De Haan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved) (Bolding added) AND IT IS NO LONGER I WHO LIVE BUT CHRIST WHO LIVES IN ME: zo (1SPAI) de ouketi ego, ze (3SPAI) de en emoi Christos : (Ro 6:8, 13, 8:2-See notes 6:8; 13; 8:2; Ep 2:4-note, Ep 2:5-note; Col 2:13-note; Col 3:3, 4-notes) (Jn 14:19,20; 17:21; 2Cor 4:10,11; 13:3,5; Eph 3:17-note; Col 1:27-note;1Th 5:10-note; 1Pe 4:2-note; Re 3:20-note) The "I" (ego) here is the old nature inherited from Adam (flesh). Under the old covenant of the Law, the “I” was prominent, it was that “I” of Paul that lived and strived to to keep the Law. But by depending on the Law Paul was placing emphasis on his own power and ability to do what the Law required, a goal which fallen flesh can never fulfill. Eadie comments that... This ego is my old self—what lived in legalism prior to my being crucified with Christ; it lives no longer. The principle of the old life in legalism has passed away, and a new life is implanted within me. Or, When I speak of my living, “I do not mean myself or my natural being;” for a change as complete is spoken of as if it had sundered his identity. The explanation of the paradox is—this new life was not himself or his own, but it was Christ living in him. His life to God was no natural principle— no vital element self originated or self-developed within him;—it sprang out of that previous death with His Lord in whom also he had risen again; nay, Christ had not only claimed him as His purchase and taken possession of him, but had also entered into him,—had not only kindled life within him, but was that Life Himself. When the old prophet wrought a miracle in restoring the dead child by stretching himself upon it so exactly that corresponding organs were brought into contact, the youth was resuscitated as if from the magnetic influences of the riper and stronger life, but the connection then terminated. Christ, on the other hand, not only gives the life, but He is the life—not as mere source, or as the communicator of vitalizing influence, but He lives Himself as the life of His people; for he adds—but Christ Who lives in me... Living is the emphatic theme of both clauses; the contrast is between ego and Christos in relation to this life; the one clause does not contradict or subvert the other, but the last brings out a new aspect under which this life is contemplated. The utterance is not, as might be expected, I live in Christ; but, “Christ liveth in me."... But Christ-life in us is a blessed fact, realized by profound consciousness; and the personality is not merged, it is rather elevated and more fully individualized by being seized and filled with a higher vitality, as the following clauses describe. (Eadie's Online Commentary on Galatians) Literally this clause is quite expressive... "and live no longer I, but liveth in me Christ" Galatians 2:20 (47 kb) Remove the Pentium processor from your computer and what's left? A useless contraption fit for the junkyard! What happens to the Christian if you remove "Christ" (i.e., you try to live the Christian life and perform Christian work without Christ living and working out His life through you)? You have 3 letters left, from which you can compose the acronym... I Accomplish Nothing (cf Jn 15:5, Phil 2:12, 2:13) Therefore ‘it is Christ Who now lives in me’. It is from Him that I receive all my strength. In Him I trust completely. On His righteousness, imputed to me, I base my hope for eternity. ‘On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand. (play hymn) Phil Newton encourages us writing that... When you find that you are having difficulty pressing on in the Christian walk, then pause to reflect upon the personal nature of this truth. God Himself came from Heaven, took on humanity, endured the opposition of men, and ultimately, bore His own wrath for you personally. When you came to faith in Christ, you did not come as part of the mass of humanity, but personally, individually. You cannot ride the group’s train to Heaven, but you come singularly to Jesus Christ by faith. (Galatians 2:20-21 The Sweet Fruit of Justification) No longer (3765) (ouketi from ouk = absolutely not + eti = yet, still) is an adverb which negates an extension of time beyond a certain point and thus means no more, no longer or no further. Paul is not saying that like some of the mystics erroneously teach that the believer's personality is so merged with that of Christ's that in reality only one personality can be said to exist, namely, that of Christ. The next verse corrects such a false impression ("which I now live") and it is still Paul, the individual, who lives. By way of practical application, Paul's strong negation indicates that his new life with Christ is no longer, like his former life, dependent upon the struggling efforts of a mere man seeking to draw near to holy God on the basis of his own works of righteousness. Christ Himself is the Source, as the vine is the source of life to the branches. Are you still struggling to draw near to God based on what you do (or don't do) for Him dear believer? Ask the Spirit of the Living God to lead you into the "rest" that is found in the glorious truth of your very real and very personal union with the Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ Who Himself invites you to... "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and YOU SHALL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. "For My yoke is easy, and My load is light." (Mt 11:28-30) S Lewis Johnson explains the "I" here writing that... in this case the person in view is the person as dominated by the evil principle of sin, or the flesh -- . This last sense is the meaning here, in the clause, "and it is no longer I who live." This is the "I" as under the domination of the sin principle. The apostle hastens to add, "but Christ lives in me"...It is in the same person, who formerly was dominated by the sin principle, that Christ lives by the Spirit, but the person has undergone a radical change of direction and domination (cf. 2Cor. 5:17), with new motivation and new desires now implanted by the Spirit through regeneration. The whole tenor of the life has been transformed. The present tense in the verb "lives" stresses that He will never leave us. (Read his full message on Galatians 2:15-21) (Bolding added) No longer SELF CENTERED But now CHRIST CENTERED! A genuine Christian is a person who is able to say what Paul said in Galatians 2:20. Paul had a living, personal relationship with the Son of God! Do you have such a relationship? Can others see Christ living in and through your life? Christ Who lives... Now only what Christ does in us and through us merits God's approval (See Mt 3:22-23 for Who pleased God! This very One now indwells us and by His Spirit enables us to live life in a way that pleases our Father!). This is one of the most difficult truths to learn in the Christian life because our culture has so ingrained in us that we have to work for the favor of others. If we work hard enough, we might gain their approval! And yet when it comes to pleasing God, we could never "do" or "work" enough to please Him. Paul learned the secret that only God's Son living and working through us via His Spirit could please the Father (See Jn 15:5 where "nothing" includes "nothing" that pleases God!). What God does desire and what is a manifestation of true faith is our (Spirit of grace [Heb 10:29] enabled) obedience, for "to obey is better than sacrifice" (1Sa 15:22). But even our obedience ultimately is initiated and empowered by the indwelling Spirit of Christ (Ezekiel 36:27). In is sad that undoubtedly much "Christian work" that has been done in the name of Jesus is going to burn because it has been carried out not by Christ Who lives in us but in the power and motives of the flesh. Christ now lives in us as the Spirit of Christ overcoming our remaining bent to sinning, this work of the Spirit being referred to theologically as sanctification. Christ is also stated as indwell believers in other NT passages... John 14:23 "Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him." Ro 8:10 (see note) And if (= since) Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. Col. 1:27 (see note) to (God's saints) God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. The indwelling of Christ is often associated with the ministry of the Holy Spirit (As believers we now) are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if (since) indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him...11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. (see notes Romans 8:9, 8:11) 1Cor. 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1Cor 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 2Ti 1:14 (see note) Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. THE NEW PRINCIPLE: THE HOLY SPIRIT MANIFESTING THE LIFE OF THE LORD JESUS Wuest comments that... It is no longer a self-centered life that he lives, but a Christ-centered one. His new life is a Person, the Lord Jesus living in Paul. And through the ministry of the Holy Spirit the Lord Jesus is manifest in his life. The new life is no longer, like the former one, dependent upon the ineffectual efforts of a man attempting to draw near to God in his own righteousness. The new life is a Person within a person, living out His life in that person. Instead of attempting to live his life in obedience to a set of rules in the form of the legal enactments of the Mosaic law, Paul now yields to the indwelling Holy Spirit and cooperates with Him in the production of a life pleasing to God, energized by the divine life resident in him through the regenerating (Ed: And I would add sanctifying) work of the Spirit. Instead of a sinner with a totally depraved nature attempting to find acceptance with God by attempted obedience to a set of outward laws, it is now the saint living his life on a new principle, that of the indwelling Holy Spirit manifesting forth the Lord Jesus. That is what Paul means when he says: 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. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Studies in the Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans) TRUE CHRISTIAN RIGHTEOUSNESS Martin Luther who was well versed in trying to live a righteous life in his own power wisely wrote this warning... Paul explains what constitutes true Christian righteousness. True Christian righteousness is the righteousness of Christ Who lives in us. We must look away from our own person. Christ and my conscience must become one, so that I can see nothing else but Christ crucified and raised from the dead for me. If I keep on looking at myself, I am gone. If we lose sight of Christ and begin to consider our past, we simply go to pieces. We must turn our eyes to the brazen serpent (Nu 21:4-7, 8, 9 > applied by Jesus to Himself = Jn 3:14-15), Christ crucified, and believe with all our heart that He is our righteousness and our life (Col 3:4, Jn 6:56, 20:31). For Christ, on Whom our eyes are fixed (Heb 12:1-2, Col 3:1-2, Titus 2:13, 1Pe 1:13), in Whom we live (See related topic: in Christ), Who lives in us (Col 1:27, Jn 14:20, 15:4, 17:23, Ro 8:9, 2Cor 13:5), is Lord over Law, sin, death, and all evil. Jerry Bridges has an illustration of no longer I but Christ... Before battery-powered watches were invented, wristwatches had to be wound every day. A watch’s stem was used not only to adjust the hands but also to wind up the mainspring. The gradual unwinding of the mainspring throughout the day drove the mechanism of the watch to keep time. The Gospel of justification by faith in Christ is the mainspring of the Christian life. And like the mainspring in old watches, it must be wound every day. Because we have a natural tendency to look within ourselves for the basis of God’s approval or disapproval (Ed: Beloved, does this not hit a nerve so to speak - it certainly does in life, even after 25 years of walking clothed with His righteousness!), we must make a conscious daily effort (Ed: But even this God pleasing "effort" I would submit is initiated and enabled by the Spirit [see Php 2:13, Heb 13:20-21] Who indwells us [1Cor 3:16, 6:19], whose goal is ever to glorify Christ [Jn 16:14] - so He will continually be drawing our hearts and minds back to the "Source" of righteousness - Jer 23:5, 1Cor 1:30, 2Cor 5:21, Ro 3:21-25, Php 3:7-9) to look outside ourselves to the righteousness of Christ, then to stand in the present reality of our justification. Only then will we experience the stability that the first bookend is meant to provide.... Paul’s resting in Christ’s righteousness rather than his own did not cause him to slack off in his pursuit of Christlikeness. Rather, it motivated him to press on and strain forward (Php 3:12-14). Now his zeal was motivated not by a desire to earn God’s favor but by love and gratitude for the righteousness of Christ that was his by faith. This is the motivating power of the Gospel.... The Christian life may now be more of a duty than a joyous response to the gospel. Consequently we may not experience the motivating power of the Gospel. That’s why we need to intentionally bathe our minds and hearts in the Gospel every day. Remember, we need the Gospel not only as a door into an initial saving relationship with Christ, but also as the first bookend to keep our daily lives from becoming a performance treadmill. As we rely on Christ’s righteousness in this manner, far from leading to a license to sin, it actually motivates us to deal with the sin we see in our lives by presenting our bodies as living sacrifices to God. (The Bookends of the Christian Life - This book is highly recommended - But don't "speed read" it! In this book Bridges goes on to explain two other Gospel enemies besides [1] self-righteousness -- [2] Persistent guilt and [3] Self-reliance and then discusses in very practical manner the second bookend of the spiritual life = The Power of the Holy Spirit.) Puritan John Owen adds that... When we have our quiet times for the day, or when we have given a tithe, we are confident of God’s love toward us. But when our days become crowded and personal devotions end up neglected, we start to avoid God, sensing that we are under His wrath and anger. We imagine that God is waiting for us to get ourselves together (Ed: As if we could!!!) before we again enter His presence. Such thinking betrays our failure to grasp the security of our union (Ed: Oneness, Identification, Covenant) [with Christ] and the depth of God’s love and consequently disrupts our communion with Him. Making God’s love contingent on our action is a sad but common misunderstanding in the church. Remember, a believer’s union is never in jeopardy. For God’s love is an eternal love that had no beginning, that shall have no ending; that cannot be heightened by any act of ours; that cannot be lessened by anything in us. While our sense of communion with God may fluctuate, His love does not grow and diminish. The wrath of God against the sin of saints was completely exhausted on the Cross. (John Owen - Communion with the Triune God ed. Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor) Alexander Maclaren concludes his sermon on Galatians 2:20 writing... We sometimes used to see men starting an engine by manual force; and what toil it was to get the great cranks to turn, and the pistons to rise! So we set ourselves to try and move our lives into holiness and beauty and nobleness, and it is dispiriting work. There is a far better, surer way than that: let the steam in, and that will do it. That is to say-- Let the Christ in His dying power and the living energy of His indwelling Spirit (Ed: See Ro 8:9, Php 2:13-note where to "work" = Greek verb "energeo" in present tense = the Spirit continually energizes the "Christ life" in us. Corollary? We must learn to jettison any hint of or hope in self-reliance and cast ourselves wholly on the Holy Spirit's energy to enable our supernatural life! Are you trying to live the abundant life in your own power? If so, little wonder that you are frustrated, disappointed, etc! Let the Spirit of Christ live through you and experience life on the "higher plane" of Galatians 2:20!) occupy the heart, and activity becomes blessedness, and work is rest, and service is freedom and dominion. The life that I live in the flesh is poor, limited, tortured with anxiety, weighed upon by sore distress, becomes dark and gray and dreary often as we travel nearer the end, and is always full of miseries and of pains. But if within that life in the flesh there be a life in faith, which is the life of Christ Himself brought to us through our faith, that life will be triumphant, quiet, patient, aspiring, noble, hopeful, gentle, strong, Godlike, being the life of Christ Himself within us. (Compare Gal 3:2,3) So, dear friends, test your faith by these two tests, what it grasps and what it does. If it grasps a whole Christ, in all the glory of His nature and the blessedness of His work, it is genuine; and it proves its genuineness if, and only if, it works in you by love; animating all your action, bringing you ever into the conscious presence of that dear Lord, and making Him pattern, law, motive, goal, companion and reward. ‘To me to live is Christ.’ If so, then we live indeed; but to live in the flesh is to die; and the death that we die when we live in Christ is the gate and the beginning of the only real life of the soul. (Galatians 2:20 From Centre to Circumference - Recommended Read) Hudson Taylor said that Galatians 2:20 taught what he referred to as "The Exchanged Life" (Consider investing a few hours and read his short but powerful story of the exchanged life in Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret - click here to download a version for Microsoft Reader) . Taylor understood that none of us can live the Christian life in our own strength or resist temptation by our own will power. He came to realize that only Christ can successfully live the victorious Christian life for it is, after all, His resurrection life which reflects His victory over the power of sin and death. Hudson Taylor understood that when one comes to Christ in surrender, Christ begins living His life through us. On one level Christ lives His life through the yielded believer, producing the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23 "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..."), this "fruit" being essentially the character of Christ Himself! The other arm of "the exchanged life" is Christ working His works through us (see also study on Good Works). Paul reiterates this same truth of Christ working through the yielded saint in many other verses, of which the following are examples... For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed... (see note Romans 15:18) Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2Cor 5:20) But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth. (see note 2 Timothy 4:17) Donald Campbell explains that... death with Christ ended Paul’s enthronement of self; he yielded the throne of his life to Another, to Christ (Ed: Cp the "presentation" in Ro 12:1). But it was not in his own strength that Paul was able to live the Christian life; the living Christ Himself took up His abode in Paul’s heart: Christ lives in me. Yet Christ does not operate automatically in a believer’s life; it is a matter of living the new life by faith in the Son of God. It is then faith and not works or legal obedience that releases divine power to live a Christian life. This faith, stated Paul, builds on (Ed: And has its foundation upon) the sacrifice of Christ Who loved us and gave Himself for us. In essence Paul affirmed, “If He loved me enough to give Himself for me, then He loves me enough to live out His life in me.” (Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., et al: The Bible Knowledge Commentary. 1985. Victor). Preacher's Commentary writes that... Lloyd Ogilvie, who has a powerful personality and an eloquent presence, tells about being in Scotland as a theological student. One day he was confronted by Thomas Torrence, the noted theologian. Torrence said to him, “Ogilvie, you’ve got to die.” Lloyd was startled until he realized it is only in the surrender of death to self (Ed: Cp Mk 8:34, 35) that we can give our spirits to God. Then the darkness vanishes, and His face shines upon us (Ed: And the power of His Spirit has full sway in our hearts!). (Briscoe, D. S., & Ogilvie, L. J. The Preacher's Commentary Series, New Testament. 2003; Thomas Nelson) Wesley wrote that "Christ lives in me" and as such... Is a fountain of life in my inmost soul, from which all my tempers, words, and actions flow. (Wesley, J. Wesley's Notes) Puritan Thomas Watson observes that... Christ is the PRINCIPLE of my life. I fetch my spiritual life from Christ, as the branch fetches its sap from the root. "Christ lives in me." Gal 2:20. Jesus Christ (Ed: Via His indwelling Spirit - Ro 8:9) sends forth life... into me, to quicken me to every holy action. Thus, for to me to live is Christ (Php 1:21-note): Christ is the principle of my life; from His fullness I live—as the branch lives from the root (cp Jn 15:5). (Read Watson's treatise on - The Death of the Righteous) The KJV Bible Commentary writes that Christ lives in me pictures the union of the vine and the branches. A Christian is one in whom Christ lives. Christ is our life (Col 1:27-note; Col 3:4-note). The old self-righteous, self-centered Saul died, and the new Christ-centered Paul lives. Paul’s new life is really Christ living His life in and through Paul. It is not a matter of imitation, but of realization. (Ed: I would add, not a matter of self reliance but of Spirit dependence, not a matter of works but of faith!) A Christian is not an unregenerate, religious sinner trying to attain salvation by works, but a regenerated saint manifesting the life of Christ through the presence and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ed: The Spirit of Christ in fact is our only Source of power for a truly supernatural life! See related study: The Holy Spirit). (Dobson, E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington: KJV Bible Commentary: Nelson) David Jeremiah has this note on surrender as it relates to Galatians 2:20 writing that... As we share in Christ’s victory, we share in His crucifixion. As we become Christians, we are crucified with Him (Ro 6:6-note; Galatians 2:20). That means all the self-defeating parts of us—the rebelliousness, the strife, the resentment, the selfishness, the slavery to our lusts—all these things are nailed to the cross with Christ. It is the sum of those evils, what we call the old self, that is crucified. Then as surely as Christ rose in perfect form on the third day, we rise again to walk in newness of life (Ro 6:4-note), in passion, and in the spirit of champions. If only we could remember! If only we could surround ourselves with monuments and memorials—the Statue of True Liberty; the Tomb of the Unknown Sinner—to keep ourselves from forgetting, even for an instant, that we need no longer struggle with a defeated enemy. This is why we must build into our life the systems and monuments for remembering...We know something in us forgets and tries to wander back out into the darkness—back out into defeat. We want to live in victory like the champions God has made us. So daily we come before God, affirm that those sinful parts of us have been nailed to the cross, and make ourselves living sacrifices once again (Ro 12:1-note). The ultimate sacrifice was made at Calvary, but there is also daily sacrifice on our part because our memory is so poor. (Jeremiah, D. Life Wide Open : Unleashing the Power of a Passionate Life. Nashville: Integrity Publishers) Comment: Not only is that surrender a daily but even a moment by moment need all during the day as trials and temptations assail our mind trying to coerce us back into the "ruts of ruin" that we once tread when we lived in Adam! One of the early church fathers Ambrosiaster wrote... One who is fixed to the cross of Christ is one who, in imitation of His footsteps (Ed note: and by incarnation of His life), is not ensnared by any worldly desire. Living to God, he appears dead to the world. (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture NT. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press) Sing out the truth in the following hymn and live out your life strengthened by the grace of Christ Who now lives in you... Christ Liveth in Me Daniel W. Whittle Once far from God and dead in sin, No light my heart could see; But in God’s Word the light I found, Now Christ liveth in me. As rays of light from yonder sun, The flowers of earth set free, So life and light and love came forth From Christ living in me. As lives the flower within the seed, As in the cone the tree, So, praise the God of truth and grace, His Spirit dwelleth in me. (Ed: How does Christ now live in me?) With longing all my heart is filled, That like Him I may be, As on the wondrous thought I dwell That Christ liveth in me. Refrain Christ liveth in me, Christ liveth in me, Oh! what a salvation this, That Christ liveth in me. (play hymn) ><> ><> ><> Our Daily Bread has the following illustration of Paul's teaching in the life of Augustine writing... The story is told that when Augustine was still without God and without hope, the Holy Spirit convicted him on the basis of Paul’s words in Romans 13:14 (see note), “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Augustine acknowledged his sinfulness, accepted Jesus as his Savior, and became a different person. His entire outlook on life began to change because of his new nature. One day he had to attend to some business in his old haunts in Rome. As he walked along, a former companion saw him and began calling, “Augustine, Augustine, it is I!” He took one look at the poor, disreputable woman whose company he had formerly enjoyed, and he shuddered. Reminding himself of his new position in Christ, he quickly turned and ran from her, shouting, “It’s not I! It’s not I!” Augustine had found the secret of Paul’s words: “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20). Satan would like to defeat us by telling us that we are no different than we were before we were saved. But God says that “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” And I’d rather believe Him, wouldn't you? - H G Bosch (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved) ><> ><> ><> "BATTERIES" FOR THE "CHRIST LIFE"! The Believer's "Battery" (from Today in the Word) - A strip of zinc and a strip of copper are suspended in a salt solution. Although the zinc and copper atoms are losing and gaining electrons, both strips maintain an equilibrium. Then the two are connected with an electrical conductor. Electrons are forced through it from the zinc strip to the copper strip. As long as the conductor is present, a chemical reaction keeps the electrons flowing. Sound impressive? That describes one of the most common power sources in the world--an ordinary battery. Paul might have asked in today's reading: What are the ""batteries"" for Christian living? Is there power in keeping a set of rules? Or does it flow from our being crucified with Christ? Galatians 2:20 makes it abundantly clear that Christianity is not a matter of legalism--of carefully checking off a list of dos and don'ts. (cf Galatians 2:19) Neither is it a human effort to bring off a superior kind of morality, but Divine Life surging through the individual. This reliance on God as our "power source" follows from Galatians 2:19. Paul died to the law because he had been crucified with Christ; he lived to God because Christ lived in Him. "I live." But in a sense it is not "I" who live, not "I" in my own strength who achieves. Instead, "Christ lives in me." Incredible! What a powerful cure for discouragement, frustration and weakness! And what a warning against returning to law (Galatians 4:9). Instead, says Paul, I live the Christian life by faith. At the end of the verse comes a final reminder that the sacrifice of Christ is ultimately responsible for all that Christians are and all the blessings we enjoy. As you may have already discovered, we at Today in the Word recommend Scripture memorization as an excellent spiritual discipline (Psalm 119:11). If you haven't already memorized Galatians 2:20, these classic words would make an outstanding recharge for your "spiritual batteries." (See Related Topics: Memorizing His Word , Memory Verses by Topic) ><> ><> ><> AND THE LIFE WHICH I NOW LIVE IN THE FLESH: o de nun zo (1SPAI) en sarki : (2Cor 4:11; 2Co 10:3-note; 1Pe 4:1,2-note) (Gal 2:16; 3:11; Jn 6:57; Ro 1:17-note; Ro 5:2-note; 2Cor 1:24; 5:7,15; Php 4:13-note; 1Th 5:10-note; 1Pe 1:8-note;1Pe 4:2-note) Note that the "I" described here is not the same "I" who was crucified with Christ. That old "I", the rebellious, unbelieving self died with Christ on Calvary. In other words, the "I" who lives is the new "I" of faith. The new creation lives (cf 2Cor 5:17). The believer lives. The old self died on the cross with Jesus. And remember this new "I" lives by faith. Hendricksen comments on this personal aspect ("I")... Note the constant use of the pronoun I. In Gal 2:19, 20, 21 it is twice spelled out fully as a separate pronoun (first at the beginning of verse 19: “For I—ego—through law died to law,” and then in verse 20, at the end of the clause which AV renders literally, “nevertheless I live; yet not I—ego—”). In addition “I” occurs no less than seven times as part of a verbal form. Finally, there are the three occurrences of this same pronoun in a case other than nominative, translated me in each instance (verse 20). That makes no less than twelve “I’s” in all in just three verses! It shows that salvation is, indeed, a very personal affair: each individual must make his own decision, and each believer experiences his own fellowship with Christ, relying upon Him with all the confidence of his own heart. Then also this faith is personal as to its object: Christ, not something pertaining to Christ but Christ Himself. When Paul, who had been a bitter persecutor, reflects on the manner in which his Lord and Savior had taken pity on him, unworthy one, he, perhaps in order to emphasize the greatness of Christ’s condescending love, reminds us of the fact that the One Who so loved him was no less than "the Son of God," hence, Himself God! (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. New Testament Commentary Set, 12 Volumes. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House) (Bolding added) Phil Newton adds that... The word “now” (3568) gives emphasis to the reality of the believer’s present condition. He is not dealing in strange mysteries for a few select saints. He is talking about the spiritual condition of all believers. As we come to understand more of the work of Christ on our behalf, more of what took place in justification, we will find ourselves living in greater dependence upon Jesus Christ in daily life. How are you living “now”? We are not in any respect bordering upon “New Age” thinking of god-consciousness or being a god. Paul says, ‘No, I’m still living in this body. I am flesh and blood. But I am not living in this body the same way I used to live’. That is because of the reality that the old Paul was crucified with Christ. The old Paul with his animosity and hatred, with his pride and covetous spirit, met the judgment of God at the cross. There is a new resident in his life: Jesus Christ. “Christ lives in me!” I remember reading someone’s definition of a Christian a number of years ago, as ‘a Christian is a person in whom Jesus Christ lives’. That is the essence of Paul’s explanation of a Christian in 2Corinthians 13:5, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?” I often ask those professing faith in Christ, ‘Do you know that Jesus Christ lives in you?’ How do you know this? In short, the reality of His life will keep showing up in your thoughts, your desires, your longings, your obedience, your tongue. Everything that Jesus Christ touches is affected in some way. Yes, we do grow in this--that is our sanctification--but the reality that He is in me, affecting all of my life, is the reality of a child of God. (The Sweet Fruit of Justification) The believer’s past participation “with Christ” in His crucifixion is the basis for his present life of faith “in Christ.” Christ did not die for us that we might go on living our life as we choose. He died for us so that He might be able to live His life in us. In this verse Paul uses "flesh" to refer to one's ordinary bodily existence which is not in itself evil. Eadie adds... The idea of Chrysostom, followed by Ellicott, comes nearer to our mind, that nun characterizes simply his life as a present one, life in the flesh....The words en sarki would be all but superfluous if a contrast with his former unbelieving state were intended, for he lived en sarki then as now...The en sarki , in this body of flesh, is not carnaliter or kata; sarka (according to flesh); there is no ethical implication in the term; it merely describes the external character of his present life. My present life—so true, so blessed, and so characterized by me—is a life in the flesh. Granted that it is still a life in the flesh, yet it is in its highest aspect a life of faith.... “I live indeed in the flesh, but not through the flesh, or according to the flesh” (Luther), for the believer's life externally resembles that of the world around him. (Eadie's Online Commentary on Galatians)