Galatians 2

Scripture

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.

Observation

14 years after receiving his commission to be an apostle to the gentiles, Paul visits with the leaders of the Jerusalem church, not to have his apostleship approved but to confirm that all were in agreement as to their respective calling and mission fields. Peter later meets Paul in Antioch where Paul challenges him concerning his hypocrisy when, during a visit by representatives of the Jerusalem church, Peter began to separate himself from gentile believers and insist that they follow Jewish dietary customs and rituals as a requirement of their faith. Paul reminds Peter of the central truth of the gospel, that salvation is by grace through faith alone and that no one will be justified by works.

Understanding

I remember being arrested by Galatians 2:20 and realizing that it's truth was my only hope, considering how absolutely depraved my human heart is and how totally hopeless it is to try to produce anything good from that fallen condition. Scripture says that my human heart is deceitful above all things and that, as surely as sparks from a fire fly upward, so is my human heart inclined to evil all the time. This being so, how utterly futile and foolish is it for me to try to be righteous on my own merits. Can a fresh water spring produce salt water, or can a fig tree produce olives? I remember coming to the understanding that my only hope to live a life that was pleasing to God and that showed my love and gratitude for His saving a wretch like me is to reckon the old man as dead in order to allow Christ’s resurrection life to animate me. I need to stop trying to be righteous and realize that I already am righteous by virtue of being “In Christ” and to let His righteousness be revealed in me. My daily challenge is not to try to live a righteous life by my own effort but to live a life that is so crucified (dead) to the flesh that the life of the indwelling Holy Spirit is free to produce the fruit of righteousness in and through me. Christ clearly informs me of the impossibility of me, as merely a branch, ever producing fruit on my own and that my only hope is in abiding in the True Vine that can and does produce fruit through me. In recognizing this truth, I am free to focus on the one thing that God requires of me, that is to lay down my life, my will, my self, and my ego in order to allow Him to move in and through me.

Life Application

Truth be told, I am not very good at this. I have a very strong ego and my flesh constantly wants to come back from the dead and re-take the throne of my life. I want to be right; I want things to be done my way; I want to make the decisions and determine the direction for my life - a life that the Bible says is no longer my own; I was bought with a price. I need strive to be in such constant and intimate fellowship with God the Spirit that I can sense His conviction and discern His voice warning me when I am walking in my own will and relying on my own resources to do that which only He can do through me and to be whom He has already made me. My efforts need to be focused not on struggling but on surrendering.

 

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-Gary Parker