March 10, 2023
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.
Thought:
Paul sums up the Christian's life in 2:20. If this is true of you, this is your identity; this is the greatest hope of your life. Let’s look at it a little closer. How has our "old self" been crucified with Christ? Legally, God looks at us as if we had died with Christ (our sins died with Him). We died to our old life and have also been raised with Him (Romans 6:5-11). Relationally, we have become one with Christ. We are no longer alone, but Christ lives in us - He is our power for living and our hope for the future. And since we live by His resurrection power, we do not need the “help” of the law! Verse 21 reminds us that adding law on top of grace makes the death of Jesus Christ meaningless.
Application:
1. Are you resting in Jesus’ power to save you and change you? Or are there ways that you act as if Christ died for nothing?
2. Think about one or two things you learned from Galatians 2. (We covered grace, freedom in Christ, unity, law, hypocrisy, justification by faith, new life in Christ, and more.) Write a prayer or simply pray one in silence, inviting God to work on your mind and heart in those areas.