No longer I who live but Christ
“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.”—GALATIANS 2:20
To be “crucified with Christ” is a historical event that looks back at the Cross. Literally, you and I, who believe in Jesus, were there at the cross as He bore our sins. Which is why Paul says we were buried with Him into death and rose with Him in newness of life (Rom. 6). We were there. God literally placed us there even though we hadn’t been born. Everybody who ever believed the truth of God, all the way back through the whole Old Testament, was there in Christ at His death. It’s a glorious reality. You were there. Your sins were paid for. That’s why you’re not under condemnation. Now we live this new life, and Paul says, “It’s not really I who live it; it’s Christ who lives in me.” This is the glory of the mystery of Christ in us. Either you live this new life or you don’t. Yet Paul says, “I live it, but Christ lives it.” It takes all of us, but it’s all of Him. Our old life is dead. We have a new life in Him. It takes all the discipline and obedience to live that life in the flesh by faith, and yet when it’s all said and done, it’s Christ Himself living in me.