I have been crucified . . .

“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). The apostle Paul and all believers are identified with Christ in His death on the Cross.

Here is a most wonderful testimony for born-again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a story in itself. The Christian life is the outliving of the in-living Christ. When a person accepts Jesus as Savior, he lives a life of obedience and allegiance to Jesus who saved him from his sins. Jesus Christ lives! Didn’t He declare, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore. “ (Revelations 1:17,18).  

Should you ask me, how do I know Jesus lives, my immediate response would be “He lives within me.” Hence, like Paul, I too can truly say, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” This also means that although I remain alive after Jesus saved me, yet I do not continue living the old lifestyle. “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.” Christians are physically alive in the world, but their mindset and life-style is different to the world’s.

In His priestly intercessory prayer to His Father, Jesus petitions for believers: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world.” (John 17:15,16). Jesus is expressing His concern for those who have trusted Him as their Savior from the world, the flesh, and the devil. Herein also lies the security of believers.

Jesus died by crucifixion as recorded in the four gospels of the New Testament. We read: “And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him.” (Luke 23:33). Jesus’ death was “substitutionary,” which means He took our place on the Cross because He had no sin of His own. Yet, “For our sake [God] made [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Italicized words are mine. Death was inevitable for Jesus if sinful man is to be reconciled to God. Therefore, all our sins were borne by Jesus when He died on that Roman Cross.

Paul had to seriously consider what it meant for Jesus to take his place on the Cross. Therefore, with holy boldness he could declare, “I am crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” In other words, Paul sees himself as having died when Christ died. And he makes a compelling argument for this. He says, “For one who has died has been set free from sin.  Now if we had died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died to sin, once for all.” (Romans 6:7-10). 

Christians must therefore consider themselves as being dead to the old life and its practices, and yield the new life to God. It is very obvious that the death of the Lord Jesus really made a positive impression on Paul. For he stated, “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” (Philippians 3:10). Paul also wrote to Timothy, “The saying is trustworthy, for: if we have died with him, we shall also live with him” (2 Timothy 2:11). After death is resurrection. Jesus died, was buried and rose from the dead the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

“The believer is identified with Christ in His death.” Writes William MacDonald. “Not only was He crucified on Calvary, I was crucified there as well — in Him. This means the end of me as a sinner in God’s sight.”

“The believer does not cease to live as a personality or as an individual. But the one who is seen by God as having died is not the same one who lives. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The Savior did not die for me in order that I might go on living my life as I choose. He died for me so that from now on He might be able to live His life in me.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary p. 1880, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc., Nashville, Tenn.).