Galatians 2:20

Galatians 2:20

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

Crucifixion made pain & simple

• Crucifixion was a death reserved for slaves & the Roman Empire’s “low-life”

• The word for “to crucify” (stauroō) was not spoken in polite company – it was considered profanity

1st century Jerusalem*

Modern reconstruction

*Jehohanan son of Hagalgol

• crucified: sustaurow, sustauroō = sun + stauroō = together + crucified

• This word refers to the action of together crucifying - when Christ was crucified we were crucified together with Him

• The very same Greek word is used in Romans 6:6, “…our old man was crucified with…”

• The word is a perfect passive indicative verb

Key word in Galatians 2:20

Perfect passive indicative?

• Perfect: completed past action with ongoing results into the future; the perfect tense implies completeness & permanence

• Passive: we are the receivers of the action; God is the one who has carried out this action on our behalf & not ourselves

• Indicative: it is a statement of fact; it is not simply a possibility or a hopeful outcome

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Galatians 2:20


• People who were there didn’t see that• We don’t remember being there• Nobody around us can look at us & tell

we were there that day

So how do we know we’ve been crucified with Christ?

• We do not know on the basis of anything we can sense, arrive at by reason, or feel

• We know this only by revelation from God in the New Testament Scriptures

Chester Beatty papyrus – about 180 AD - Revelation

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Resurrection Sunday - April 11, 2004

Galatians 2:20

Oh good! I died! – page 1 of 4

OK, but what does it mean?

• “our old man was crucified with Him” Romans 6:6

• “died to sin” Romans 6:2• “you also were made to die to the Law”

Romans 7:4• “I died to the Law” Galatians 2:19• “the world has been crucified to me, and

I to the world.” Galatians 6:14

Our old man was crucified with Him?

• The old man – who we were before faith in Christ – was crucified together with Christ

• When the old man died, so did our identity & history in the old man

1st Adam

Me Me Me Me

OK, but what does it mean?

• “our old man was crucified with Him” Romans 6:6

• “died to the sin” Romans 6:2• “you also were made to die to the Law”

Romans 7:4• “I died to the Law” Galatians 2:19• “the world has been crucified to me, and

I to the world.” Galatians 6:14

We have died in relationship to…

• “the sin” - Romans 6:2

• As unbelievers, we were in unbreakable bondage to the sin nature (Romans 6:16-19)

• The inevitable outcome of that slavery to the sin nature was death (Romans 6:20-23)

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It’s about a Roman soldier’s pay

• Every Roman soldier would receive his pay that was due him & for which he had worked hard (earned wages: opsonia)

• But on special occasions, such as when a new emperor came onto the throne, the soldiers might receive additional pay by the grace of the emperor (free gift: charisma)

Romans 6:23 as Roman soldiers understood itFor the wages* of sin is death, but the free gift* of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

*opsonia = earned wages for which every Roman soldier worked very hard*charisma = unearned bonus pay, given only by grace from someone much higher in authority


• “the Law” - Romans 7:4; Galatians 2:19• Since the time of the apostles, there

have been groups within Christendom who have tried to sell people on the idea that a Law principle of one kind or another will allow them to earn life

• Our having been crucified with Christ on the cross, in contrast, caused us to be dead in relationship with the Law

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Galatians 2:20


“So how do you like this ministry”?”

• The Law is a ministry of death (2 Corinthians 3:7)

• The Law is a ministry of condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:8)

• The Law is a curse (Galatians 3:13)

• No one will be justified by works of the Law (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16)


• “the world” - Galatians 6:14• In order to understand what Paul means

by “the world”, substitute “the culture”• One anthropologist said, “Culture is

what we do without thinking”, & that’s probably a good way to understand it

• It is the system of false assumptions, viewpoints, values & perspectives that are “built in” to the society around us

Buried…isn’t that a bad thing?

• “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism* into death”, Romans 6:4

• “having been buried with Him in baptism*”, Colossians 2:12

*baptizo simply means “to be placed into” something

So why is being buried so important?

• Our having been crucified with Christ focuses upon the action of dying & the changes in personal identity, personal history & the relationship to the sin nature, the Law & the world

• Our having been buried with Christ switches the focus from one of dying to one of confirmation & recognition of death

• There is also one more purpose which we will see shortly

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Now the one more reason for our having been buried with Him

• “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12

• “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father...” Romans 6:4

Galatians 2:20


• The “I” that has been crucified is my old man (Romans 6:6)

• So it is the old man (“I”) that no longer lives (Galatians 2:20)

Hey! What’s going on in there?

• But rather than simply being identified with Christ in His death, burial & resurrection, His resurrected life is the life in me!

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Galatians 2:20


Galatians 2:20


• The first half of the verse describes what is true of every believer

• The second half describes the moment by moment (now) basis for living

A Galatians 2:20 Timeline

• The unbeliever is entirely enslaved to the Sin Nature

• The believer is indwelt by the resurrected Christ

Sin Nature

Sin Nature

Sin NatureChrist

Christ

Galatians 2:20 expanded & explained

“By God’s doing, who I was prior to believing in Christ has been positionally & irreversibly crucified with Christ, so as to separate me positionally from the sin nature; and who I was prior to that point is no longer the “me” who lives, but ever since that point in time the resurrected person of Jesus Christ is resident in me; and the living which I am now doing each moment in this human body is by means of faith in the Son of God – His life - who loved me regardless of my prior state and identity and gave Himself up for my eternal benefit."

I’m not just waiting until I die for the resurrection of Christ to impact me

• By my faith in the resurrected living person of Christ, His life is the very life expressed in this body…right now…every moment in which my trust is placed in Him

• And Galatians 2:20 makes clear that this Christ is not just some hypothetical Jew who lived 20 centuries ago, but the very one who loved me to the point that He gave His life for me

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And the resurrection is also…

• Right in line with the way in which God has determined to work in the lives of those who believe in Him

• God’s working entirely by His power, by His love, entirely by His resources

• God asking nothing more of me than to believe

• Saying that I don’t earn anything, work harder of my own resources or contribute anything to the process

His life

• “…and I give eternal life* to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”

John 10:28* present active

indicative: “I am constantly giving them life eternal”

His life • Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

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Galatians 2:20


Galatians 2:20

Documents

old man

christ lives

action god

son of god

law galatians

withthe word

crucifiedthis word

greek word