Dead Man: Galatians 2:19-20
Only through the power of God can someone look at me and see God’s love for them instead. For me, that’s the pinnacle of existence. That’s how I know I’m walking with the Lord. When I interact with someone and they feel like they’ve interacted with Jesus instead of me, I am step-in-step with my Lord.
Today is a special day for me. I get the pleasure of discussing my favorite verse in the Bible. Before I do, though, look at verse nineteen. Through the Law we died to the Law. What does that mean?
In one sense, the Law shows why we are not righteous. We cannot attain the Law. Being sinful humans, we break the Law. That’s why Jesus had to come and die for our sake.
Since we cannot attain the Law, we have died to it. The Law measured us and we were found lacking. While it is a great standard to reach for, we will never measure up. We don’t cast it aside; we simply recognize we will always be found wanting. Again, that’s why Jesus had to come and die for our sake.
Then Paul speaks my favorite words in all the Bible.
“For I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
I am a dead man. I mean that with the soul of my being. It’s not a platitude. It’s not a pithy saying. It is the standard to which I daily rise and shine.
What does being crucified with Christ mean? The Greek word here is synestauromai (συνεσταύρωμαι). It literally means to affix with nails. The cool dynamic of this word is its person, tense, and voice. This verb is in the third person perfect passive, which the Greeks used to denote an action of God (or gods). It is action done by someone to the subject of the verb, an action started in the past and continuing through the present. This is why it is reserved for the divine. Only an eternal divine being can act throughout the past and into the present. Don’t miss this point. Being crucified with Christ is an action God does to us.
In the same way that I cannot save myself, I cannot force God to live inside of me. I receive salvation from God. I receive Christ to dwell within me. It is God’s action. He crucifies my sinfulness, He causes me to die to the Law, and He brings Jesus to live in me.
Only through the power of God can my sinfulness die. Only through the power of God can the evil in my nature be overcome. Only through the power of God can I become a new creation. Only through the power of God can Christ live in me. Only through the power of God can someone look at me and see God’s love for them in my place.
