20 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. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died in vain.” Galatians 2:20-21 (NKJV).
These last two verses of Galatians 2 pull together what Paul has been saying to date about his testimonial and journey. Paul had been through a lot. From the Damascus Road to being in jail and penning his letters to the churches. In verse 19, Paul says, “I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.” What is Paul saying? The law declared his unrighteous condition, so in light of that judgment, the law condemned Paul to death. It does the same for us. It declares, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NKJV). If I disobey in one point of the law, I have broken the whole law. “There is no one righteous, no not one,” Paul declares in (Romans 3:10-12).
All being under the judgment of sin is the beginning of unity. Not one person can say they are righteous before this “Holy God.” The scriptures declare that “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1 NKJV).
Once we can settle this issue of sin and our guilt of sin, that is, our rebellion against God, we become positioned to receive grace from God’s gracious hand. The only thing that separates us from God is the question: What will you do with this Jesus? John 18:28-19:16 reveals what those religious leaders chose to do and what the world choose to do as well. “Crucify Him.”
John 19:11 gives Jesus’ response to Piolet, “Jesus answered, You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin.”
Paul, better than anybody, understood the “depravity” of man and the “sovereignty” of God. As it relates to salvation and coming into a “right standing with God,” the key is faith or believing what God has done for His creation man. Faith in recognizing one’s depravity, faith in repenting by changing one’s mind about Christ and who He is as God’s Righteous King, and sacrifice for our sin. All of this comes from the Holy Spirit of God convicting us and then through our confession (Romans 10:8-10), receiving Christ as our Savior and our Lord. Salvation is given, and our righteousness is sealed in Christ through the Spirit of the Lord and His settled Word.
Now that we better understand the depth of Christ’s redemptive work through the cross, we can accurately examine Paul’s statements in verses 20-21.
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. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died in vain.”
This is personal. “I have been crucified with Christ.” We must understand the New Testament absolute of “IDENTITY.” It is not about religion, denomination, or a particular doctrinal position. It is about our “identity” with Christ on the cross. It is about “my” death to Adam’s nature. Some call it “the sin nature.” I am crucified with Christ. I must self-identify with what the Lord did on that cross. Yes, the world is steeped in sin. Yes, every person has the same problem that only Christ can resolve, “the sin nature” directly received through human procreation. That is the sinful nature that is in us at birth. That beautiful little child will one day need to reckon with their identity with Adam and Eve, with rebellion and self-centeredness. Every Ethnic Group has the same issue, “The Sin Nature.” We all are very much related, even though the devil has done a masterful job of separating us from one another and from God Himself!
Paul goes on to say, “It is no longer I who live.” Yes, the big “I” is to be reckoned “DEAD.” That is a daily task. Jesus told us, “take up your cross and follow me” Matthew 16:24 “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Luke 9:23 inserts the word “daily.”
Paul instructs us to “put on the mind of Christ.” What does that mean? Here are scriptures that teach us:
Romans 12:2 – And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 – But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned . . . For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Philippians 2:5 – Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
2 Timothy 1:7 – For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
1 Peter 1:13 – Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1 Peter 4:17 – For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begins with us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
Philippians 4:8 – Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Can you see how putting on the mind of Christ becomes a daily discipline of putting off the natural and receiving by the Spirit, the “spiritual” or the “word of God?” We must read the Word, hear the Word, apply the Word, and demonstrate the Word. The Word of God is the “Mind of Christ” manifested in human form through believers.
Now we too can say with Paul, “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.” Here is how the Lord receives glory; His life lived out through in our flesh. His life is what the life of “faith” is all about. His life lived through me daily. The testimony of “faith” or what we say we believe is demonstrated as the “Son of God” is revealed day by day in my words and my actions, especially toward others.
All of what we are addressing is established in Christ’s love for us through the giving of His life freely on the cross. It did not end there, but He received His life back from the Father in a regenerated body in His resurrection. The same body we have been promised in the Hope of the Resurrection from the dead, (see 1 Corinthians 15). But now we receive His life into our bodies and soul through the Holy Spirit given to each believer who quickens our spirit man, feeds our soul daily, and gives health and strength to our bodies by His resurrection life in the now. All of which comes through His “love for us.”
Paul closes chapter 2 with this statement: “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died in vain.”
The grace of God is central to all of what Paul is teaching concerning what Christ has done for all mankind. And what believers have received and are to walk in every day. We must discover the life we are called to live. We also must know the Word of God. Finally, we must learn what this daily walk is all about, chiefly His righteousness that only comes through Christ. If we trust anything other than the “righteousness of Christ” we are living in vanity because it means Christ’s death was in vain.
I love the Old Hymn that says, “Nothing but the righteousness of Christ my king, Through eternal ages let His praise ring, Glory in the highest I will shout and Sing, Standing on the Promises of God.”
I love reading the Old Testament. I love studying the Law of God. I especially love finding Christ in the pages of Old Testament Scripture. To learn and see what those Old Testament saints do not experience, but to recognize that they were looking for “Better Promises” (Hebrews 8:6-13). Let’s close on these verses today:
But now hath He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 8 For finding fault with them, He saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 13 In that he saith, A new covenant, He hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.