Scripture: Gal 2:20, John 21:15-17, etc.
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal 2:20).
This is Paul’s confession of faith, showing what spiritual reality he entered in Christ. He describes how he was transformed from his old self to his new self in Christ. This transformation occurred to him by having been “crucified with Christ” and raised with him.
But what difference do you think this transformation has brought to him while he still “lives in the body” on the earth? If there was no difference, then what he says would be vain with no spiritual essence. The following words of Paul will help us see the answer:
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again (2 Cor 5:14-15).
The most significant change in this transformation is in the purpose of life. Before, we “lived for ourselves,” but after having been united with Christ’s death and resurrection, we began to “live for him who died for us and rose again.” The flesh of the one who lives “for himself” sits on the throne of his life with self-centered passions and desires. But the flesh of those who have been united with Christ’s death and resurrection has been crucified with all fleshly desires.
