GALATIANS 2:19-21 | THE CRUCIFIED LIFE

I’ve spent countless hours on a ridge in the mountains staring off into the distance through those binoculars trying to get a glimpse of an elk off in the distance.

As you do that, it seems like you are almost constantly having to adjust the focus to better see those animals far off in the distance.

So that you can have a clear perspective of what is in front of you.

EXPLANATION: Galatians 2:19-21, serves as Paul’s binoculars of the Christian life.

Everything that he would do, everything he would write, would filter through the lens of these verses.

It was the standard through which he would constantly refocus his attention to ensure that he was living the life God intended for him to live.

And how did Paul define this life?

He defined it with those first 5 words of v.20, “I am crucified with Christ”

The crucified life.

APPLICATION: Friend, is your life out of focus this morning?

Sometimes the purpose and goal of our life can get a little blurry.

ILLUSTRATION: I had to drive to Bozeman on Thursday morning right after it had snowed and I was pulling a trailer behind me.

I was driving a little slower than the speed limit given the situation, and every so often, a professional nascar driver would come flying past me.

As they flew by the snow would fly into the air and then I would be unable to see the road in front of me clearly.

The dirt and grime would stick to the windshield and everything would become blurry.

APPLICATION: And sometimes in our life, our focus can become unclear.

The dirt of this world could cloud our vision so we can’t see the road God intended for us to be on.

This morning, as we listen to the apostle Paul, I hope your eyes will be reset.

Your vision will be refocused.

And you will surrender yourself to the crucified life that God intended for you to live!

v.19a, 20a, YOU MUST DIE

Galatians 2:19–20 KJV 1900

For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: 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.

EXPLANATION: Paul begins by writing words that would have been controversial to the religious Jews that he had been dealing with throughout the chapter.

“I am dead to the law”

No longer was Paul under the bondage of the legalistic religion he had once been enslaved to!

No longer did he have to strive for God’s approval by keeping those 613 commandments in the OT law!

No longer was Paul living under the false reality that there were rules he could keep to obtain God’s forgiveness

No, Paul was no longer under the law.

Why?

Answer is found in v.20

“I am crucified with Christ.”

When Paul accepted Christ as his Savior, in that moment he was accepting that Christ had taken the full wrath and judgment for his inability to keep the law.

We saw over in Romans 3:20

Romans 3:20 KJV 1900

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Those 613 commandments were put in place to show just how sinful Paul was and how impossible it was for him to keep them.

Even as a Pharisee of Pharisees, he still fell short of the perfection that was required.

And because he fell short there was a righteous judgment that was due.

The judgment: Death.

And when Christ was crucified on that cross in Paul’s place, he was taking all of that wrath on Himself.

That was Paul’s back that should have been torn by the cat of nine tails.

That was Paul’s cross that he should have carried up that hill

Those were Paul’s nails that held Christ to that cross

That was Paul’s crown of thorns he should have worn.

That was the mocking and ridicule that Paul should have endured.

But when Jesus hung on that cross and endured all that suffering and pain, He did it while bearing the weight of Paul’s sin on Him.

Yes, Paul’s sin died on that day when Jesus died on that cross!

Now when the law pointed to Paul’s sin, Paul would point to the cross.

Romans 5:20 KJV 1900

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Now when Paul was tempted to glory in his achievement, his mind would point to the cross.

Galatians 6:14 KJV 1900

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Now when Paul’s old sinful self would try to tempt him, he would point to the cross!

Romans 6:6 KJV 1900

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Yes, Paul recognized the wonderful truth, he was crucified with Christ!

APPLICATION: Friend, if you are going to have the right focus for your life, you have to die first!

If you’ve never accepted Christ’s payment on that cross for your sins, you haven’t been crucified with Christ!

You need receive the gift that Christ has offered to you as He gave His life for your sins!

That cat of nine tails should have been yours

That splintering cross should have been yours to carry

That crown of thorns should have been yours to wear

Those nails should have been driven into your hands and feet

That was your mocking you should have endured

And that was your sin to carry.

Romans 5:8 KJV 1900

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Christ took it upon Himself

And if you are here today and haven’t accepted that gift of eternal life that He offers, I’ve got one question, why not?

Romans 10:9–10 KJV 1900

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Friend, you cannot have the promise of eternal life, until you accept the payment of Christ’s death!

If you are here today and you have accepted Christ, are you living that crucified life?

One of the cool things as you dive into this verse a little deeper you find that the Greek verb for “I am crucified” is in the perfect tense.

Which means that it did happen… and it is continuing to happen!

Paul said it this way in 1 Corinthians 15:31

1 Corinthians 15:31 KJV 1900

I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

Paul knew this wan’t a one and done thing.

It was a daily decision that has to be made.

Because being crucified is uncomfortable and our natural response is to crawl off of that cross!

You know, a person that was crucified had no plans of their own.

A person that was crucified couldn’t look back

A person that was crucified wasn’t in control of what they were going to do.

They are in total submission to the cross they are nailed to

And a Christian who is living the crucified life is in total submission to that cross Christ was nailed to.

You see if you are truly living the crucified life, you will die first, and that will lead you to the next part of that verse:

V.19b, 20b, HE MUST LIVE

Galatians 2:19–20 KJV 1900

EXPLANATION: Paul offers up the most incredible dichotomy, “I am dead, but I live.”

Now, Paul wasn’t saying he was a mindless zombie.

I’m still traumatized by the black and white zombie movie that I snuck out of my room after bedtime and saw my dad watching when I was just a little kid.

Paul knew the powerful truth of the Christian life, that while he was still living, his life was no longer his own.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 KJV 1900

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

When Paul accepted Christ’s payment for his sins, he was purchased by God.

Now the Holy Spirit had taken up residence in his heart and he belonged to Christ!

That’s why he said, “the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God.”

I’m sure Paul wished when he got saved that God saved his flesh too.

That he just got a completely new body and mind that no longer sinned or was under the curse of sin.

We know that Paul had some kind of physical ailment.

2 Corinthians 12:7–8 KJV 1900

And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

We don’t know what this physical struggle was, but I’m confident that Paul wished when he got saved his flesh got saved too.

But that isn’t how it works.

While Paul’s soul had gotten saved, he still lived in his old flesh.

And his old flesh still had sinful desires.

He said it this way over in Romans 7:14-21

Romans 7:14–21 KJV 1900

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

So knowing that he still had that sinful flesh that desired to do evil, Paul made a conscious decision in Galatians 2:20, to live by the faith of the son of God.

To allow Christ to live through him.

APPLICATION: Friend, if you are going to choose to live the crucified life it is going to require an intentional pursuit of God

Because while your soul got saved, you still have to live in your old sinful flesh

1 John 2:16 KJV 1900

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

So you much choose to live under the control of the Holy Spirit

Romans 12:1–2 KJV 1900

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 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.

Allow yourself to be transformed into the image of Christ day by day.

Romans 8:29 KJV 1900

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

God predestinated the plan for those who are Christians… they are supposed to be conformed to the image of Christ.

But for so many they choose to chase after there flesh and try to find fulfillment in the temptations of this world.

So Paul would go on to write in the book of Galatians in Galatians 5:16-17

Galatians 5:16–17 KJV 1900

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

If you are going to live the crucified life it is going to require you putting some of your fleshly desires behind and making Christ and being conformed to His image your primary focus!

That’s why Paul said over in Philippians 3:13-14

Philippians 3:13–14 KJV 1900

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

There was one goal placed before him that he strived for each and every day, and that should be our goal as well!

Christ knew best what the crucified life looked life.

Before He went to the cross, He shared these words with His disciples Matthew 16:24-26

Matthew 16:24–26 KJV 1900

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. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Friend, if I could simplify things for us this morning, a crucified life for Christ is truly a surrendered life to Christ.

Maybe you are here today and you have been fighting for your way and your plans and your will.

Today would be a great day to wave the white flag before God and let Him have total control of your life!

YOU MUST DIE, HE MUST LIVE

WHY?

V20-21. BECAUSE OF WHAT HE DID

EXPLANATION: The end of v.20 and v.21 gives us the clear answer for just why Paul was determined to live the crucified life

Galatians 2:20–21 KJV 1900

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: 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. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Because Christ loved him and died for him!

That was the motivation of Paul’s life for Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:14 KJV 1900

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

Paul says his life was held captive by the love that Christ demonstrated for him.

He just couldn’t get over it.

APPLICATION: You know, I think one of the greatest dangers of the Christian life is that we just get so used to it.

We hear the messages every week.

We have the Bible freely accessible at any time

Our life for Christ costs us no sacrifice!

And we hear that we should be living the crucified life, well, we just aren’t really interested in that.

Because if we can just be honest this morning, most of us believe it is OUR life.

We may say that we belong to Christ, but in truth, we are the ones in control.

Do you want to know how you can practically determine if your life is controlled by you or by Christ?

Do you make decisions based on your comfort and convenience or on that which will further the Gospel?

EXPLANATION: Paul understood the Christian life for Christ required sacrifice:

At the end of this book he was writing Pall wrote these words in Galatians 6:17

Galatians 6:17 KJV 1900

From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

Many believe these were literal physical marks from persecution.

2 Corinthians 11:23–28 KJV 1900

Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

Paul knew what it was to sacrifice for Christ.

And He says I’m not living to fulfill some law and I’m not living for my own glory to fulfill my flesh, because if I do, I will have made the death of Christ a waste!

APPLICATION: No, when Christ died on the cross He paid for something.

He paid for your sin, He bought your soul, and He deserves your surrender!

He deserves your crucified life!

CONCLUSION

When Paul reached the end of his life, he recorded some words over in 2 Timothy

They are the words of a man who intentionally lived a crucified life for God.

2 Timothy 4:6–8 KJV 1900

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Friend, when you reach the end of your life, if you were to take out that pen and a piece of paper, and to write your final words about your life, I wonder what you would write?

“I made a lot of money”

“I was an influential person”

“I was a good husband, a good parent”

There is nothing wrong with those things, they are all good.

But can I tell you, one day when I am on my deathbed, I hope above everything else I could write with a pure heart, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith!”

And there is one way I can be sure that is true: By living the crucified life!

Friend, do you need to refocus this morning?

It may be time to take out the spiritual binoculars and examine our life to determine if it is a crucified one.

Or maybe even better, we could pray like the Psalmist in Psalm 139:23-24

Psalm 139:23–24 KJV 1900

Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

“God I want you to search me, and tell me if I am pursuing my own way, or am I seeking to live the crucified life?”