I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me, and the life 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
It gets hard to find one verse in the Bible that more fully and completely summarizes what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be a follower of Christ. I’m sure there are other verses that might rival this, but it’s tough to top Galatians 2:20. This is what it means to be a follower of Christ. I have been crucified with Christ. What a statement. I have died with Christ. I have died to my sin. And I have died to myself. All my attempts to overcome sin on my own, I have died to them.
We are saved from sin by faith in Christ. The life we now live must be by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us.
Not that I don’t sin anymore, but I don’t want to sin. I’ve turned from sin. I’ve repented of sin, and I’m trusting in Christ. I have been crucified with Christ, and I don’t even live anymore, but Christ lives in me. This is the life of the Christian, the life of Christ in me. Followers of Jesus are not people for whom Jesus is part of their life.
Followers of Jesus are people for whom Jesus is their life. You catch that difference? This is huge, and this is the curse of nominal Christianity across much of North America, different places around the world. Many people who claim to be Christians, and yet Jesus is pretty much a part of their life as opposed to Jesus being their life like Galatians 2:20 describes. This is the life of the Christian, not just Jesus is kind of on the side over here and you got up a bunch of other things going on in your life. No, Jesus is your life. To live is Christ.
Paul says in Philippians chapter one. Here he says it’s not I who live, but it’s Christ who lives in me. It’s his life inside of me. What a powerful picture, Jesus living in us in such a way that the life I now live in the flesh, in this body, I live by faith in the son of God. I live by faith in Jesus. I live by faith in Christ.
Live By Faith
So, this is beautiful. How are you saved from your sins? You’re saved from your sins by faith in Christ, right? But it’s not like you trust in Jesus to save you from your sins and then the rest of the Christian life is you kind of going on and trying to do thing on your own. No, you live in the same way you were saved in the first place, by faith.
You live trusting in Jesus today, trusting in Jesus to lead you, to guide you, to direct you according to his word, by the power of his spirit living in you. You are trusting in him today. At every single moment, you are living by faith. This is the Christian life. It’s not a life of faith. It’s not just a point of faith in the past we kind of move on from that. This is a life of faith in the son of God who loved me.
Christ Is the Way to True, Abundant Life
Oh, just feel the personal nature of Galatians 2:20 just like it’s you writing it. I live by faith in Jesus who loved me. He loved you. He came to die on a cross for you. For you, not just like you plural, but you singular. He died for you. He gave himself for you.
Oh, this is the abundant life. This is true life. Crucified with Christ, no longer I who live, Christ lives in me, and the life I live in this flesh, I live by faith every single moment, through ups and downs, through all kinds of different circumstances at work, at home, in this relationship, that relationship. In everything I do, I’m living by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
Oh God, we praise you for this life that you have given us. God, I don’t assume everybody who’s listening to this now knows this life, God. I’m guessing there are some who might be listening to this who maybe have called themselves Christians, but reality is Jesus is not their life. Oh, I pray for clarity to that question even right now in prayer. I pray for every single person listening to this. Is Jesus your life? Is Jesus your life? And if Jesus is not your life, then I invite you to pray right now, “Jesus be my life. I entrust my life to you. Save me from my sin. Save me from myself. I want your life in me.”
Galatians 2:20 Teaches Us That Full Faith Leads to Full Life
Oh God, please answer that prayer in hearts even right now, and then for all who say, “Yes, Jesus is my life.” God, we pray that you’d help us to experience the fullness of this life you have given to us. God, we pray that you help us to live by faith today.
I think about those who are walking through challenges and hurt and suffering right now. God, I pray that you’d help them to live by faith in Jesus who loves them and who gave himself for them. God, amidst big decisions that we find ourselves making, we pray that you’d help us to make those decisions by faith in Jesus who loves us and gave himself up for us. In everything we do today, tomorrow, God, please make us the people who live faithfully, full of faith in Jesus. And may you produce the life of Jesus in more and more and more abundance in each of us, we pray. May Galatians 2:20 be the commentary on our lives. In the name of the one who loved us and gave himself for us, in Jesus name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
