Galatians 2:20
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
Somehow this verse was brought to my attention when I first became a Christian, some seventy years ago. It has grown in my thinking until it certainly is one of my "favorite" passages in the Bible.
Every evening I pray that for the remainder of the night and throughout the following day it will be Christ who is thinking, speaking, and behaving in my body.
He will be living in my place. Meanwhile, I will be seated and resting in Christ at the right hand of God, having fellowship with my Father.
This is how I choose to live the remainder of my days on the earth.
I have been crucified with Christ.
Every day I choose not to fulfill my own desires but to permit Christ to give me what He wants me to have. In fact, I ask the Lord to give me His desires for me and to fulfill them as He will.
If you are of the opinion this is not a crucifixion, not a death of the old man, you have not tried it.
It is a crucifixion "with Christ," not some sort of self-mortification. Christ is involved in every element of my crucifixion.
When we truly receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, our new born-again nature is lifted in Christ to the right hand of God.
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)
Am I claiming that Christ is living in my body on the earth and my spiritual nature is at the right hand of God? That exactly is what I am saying. My spiritual nature is in Christ in God, and I endeavor each day to focus on that fact, refusing to be involved in the present confusion in the world.
I love to be at rest at God's right hand, having wonderful fellowship with Him.
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. (I John 1:3)
At each moment I choose to look to Christ so that my thinking, speaking, and behaving are what He is doing. This is how Christ lives with His Father, and this is how I choose to live with Christ.
Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. (John 6:57)
Every time I think of it I ask Jesus if I am where I am supposed to be and doing what I am supposed to be doing. If His answer to either question is "No," then I get busy and find out where the problem is.
You know, Christ told us in the fourteenth chapter of the Book of John that He would come to us. I do not know to what extent this was true in years gone by, but it certainly is true today.
We can walk in conscious fellowship with Christ and God today, but we have to keep praying that this will be true of us.
I have been encouraging this relationship for myself for many years. I can say truthfully that it is stronger today that at any time in the past.
It is one aspect of being led by the Spirit.
I have been deceived on some occasions, and have had to humble myself and confess that I was wrong, and make amends whenever Christ showed me what to do. Being led by the Spirit is an art, and like any other art, it has to be practiced constantly.
If we keep on pressing into Christ, pretty soon we are enjoying the Presence of the Lord.
In America, with its numerous material attractions, it is difficult to keep our mind in the heavens with God; but it is well worth the effort.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. (Romans 8:14)
Over the past forty years I have written many books, booklets, and essays. Each of them has come to me as a burden, much like prophesy. I do not claim they are infallible, but some believers may find what has been written to be helpful during their discipleship. They really were not an intellectual effort, the result of a critical analysis of the Scriptures. They have been, I think, the burden of the Word of the Lord.
But you can judge.
Next Part And I no longer live.