January 13
Paul says that even though he was crucified, he lives. Does Paul mean to say that he was raised from the dead with Jesus also? If so, why have we not heard about this before now? Finally he says he is not really living at all, but Christ lives in him. To the natural mind, of course, this all sounds very strange. This is why we must discern spiritual things spiritually.
It should be obvious that Paul is talking about something other than a physical crucifixion and a physical death, burial, and resurrection. Although he says, “I was crucified with Christ” he does not mean that he was present with Christ in the flesh at the moment of crucifixion; instead, he intends to show us something much more profound.
We will soon discover that this experience of being crucified with Christ is not unique to the apostle Paul, but is true of every born-again child of God. Not only Paul, but all disciples of Jesus have been crucified with Christ.
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This is the spiritual mystery that we are in Him and He is in us……..
Amen! Once we accepted JESUS CHRIST IN our life, we must die to sin because It’s no longer we who live but Jesus Christ. The old has gone, the new has come. As children of God let’s abide in His Word. Praise the Lord!
Elena, That is only half of it. We die to sin, but if we haven’t died to SELF, sin still has the root to grow. That root has to be cut off – removed, and that is self – selfcenteredness, self-satisfaction, self- will, self-EVERYTHING. Sin could have no part in Jesus, because there was no “self” in Him. He had one purpose – to do the will of His Father. It is only when “I” start to exert my”self” that sin has an entry. We can die to sin, but the hardest part is to die to self, continually, until self is dead, and Christ’s life is the life I live…..There is no place in me for two people. One must go, and the other live…..as Chip loves to quote often, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”(John 3:30) 🙂
In the context of the correction Paul was bringing to the Galatians, it seems that he was emphasizing death to self, primarily self effort. In the New Covenant, we are not justified nor do we grow spiritually by any type of self effort. I recently listened to Chip’s series From the Cross to the Throne. It gave me a greater appreciation of the message of the cross; especially how the cross we chose to carry as disciples make the provisions of Christ’s cross a reality in our lives.