The following is adapted from the “Growing in the Grace of God” course, a free theology course taught by Pastor Bob Hoekstra available at the Blue Letter Bible Institute.
I have been crucified with Christ; 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 for me.
(Gal 2:20 NKJV)
You and I, who know Jesus Christ, have been crucified with Him. That person we were— that man of nothing but sin and guilt, nothing but alienation and separation—died on the cross with Jesus Christ when we were granted the faith to believe by the grace of God our Father. Here is the simple truth of the believer’s life: “It is no longer I who live.” It is no longer just I in this life. The life that I had, died on the cross. The life I live now is no longer me living—so much better, it is Christ who dwells in me.
This is a mystery; this is a great truth unveiled at last by the words of the Apostle. “Christ lives in me.” Love to meditate on that. Be more encouraged and come to greater wisdom and greater revelation, apprehending the extent of Christ’s influence on the believer. The Creator of the universe, the Redeemer of men’s souls, lives in me!
“And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God.” We get up each morning trusting in Him. We face the things that confront us, trusting in Him. We go through the obvious and the perplexing and the unexpected, the routine and the impossible, all the while, trusting in Him. The Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for our lives grows and develops us so that we might trust him daily and work unto righteousness by our knowledge of him.
The intimacy of these truths are staggering, mind-renewing, and faith-building. Christ lives in and through us. What riches of grace that is! It defies imagination that God would come to live in and through a person like any of the sons of Adam! Words to describe our joy for our position in Christ slip and slide from our grasp. There is nothing like our relationship with Christ save for the Godhead itself: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.