Verse Study: Galatians 2:20-21

Verse Study: Galatians 2:20-21 

Having posted the “fill in the blanks” puzzle yesterday, let’s actually study out this passage in Gal.2:20-21 and find out what Paul is teaching us.

Gal 2:20-21  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.  [21]  I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;

This is a statement of faith. Though we have never experienced the actual cross ourselves, we must reckon that we too have died to this flesh life, even though we continue to live in it. You might live, but your mind needs to believe that you died with Christ. You must come to reckon it as true. How do we do that? Stare at the phrase. Study it out: cross referencing this with similar verses Paul writes to gain deeper understanding of it. Meditate upon it. Let it sink into your mind until it become as real and accepted as the physical objects around you. When we grow in knowledge of the truth it will start to naturally manifest in you and you will start to bear the fruit of that knowledge through your mind becoming renewed to the truth. 

Notice these other statements that Paul makes about being crucified with Christ,

Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  [7]  For he that is dead is freed from sin. … [11]  Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  [12]  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  [13]  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:

If you are dead, who lives your life, and how? Well, it says that Christ lives in you. The activity of your life should start to increasingly manifest Jesus Christ; his ways, his thoughts, his personality, his character, his speech. How? Paul tells you in Rom.6:12-13. Read it again (in the passage above). “Let not sin reign…!” Is that an instruction? Yes. Must I do something about it? Yes.   Please note that this is NOT your own will power. This is not your own mental ascent or your own determination. No! When Paul says “yield yourselves” in verse 13, he is saying that you give yourselves over to the doctrine forming in you through studying it. You don’t try to do anything, you do the opposite and yield, meaning you do nothing and simply allow the word of God take control. You choose to obey the working of the word within you and allow it to work out of you. That is when “Christ liveth in you”.

Have a look at what Paul says just 3-verses on,

Rom 6:16-17  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?  [17]  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Friends, this passage above should knock your sock off! You can yield to sin, by just continuing to allow your flesh do its thing and take control as it has always done, or you can yield to obedience, allowing the word of God, the grace doctrine you are studying, to take control. It can only take control if you yield to it. Remember, it is not you living, but Christ in you. Yield to the working of the word of God in you, choose to obey it, and you will see the fruits of righteousness start to manifest in your thoughts, your actions, your speech, and your character. This is you being crucified with Christ, no longer living, but the life of Christ living in you. Paul reminds the Corinthians of this very principle of truth by saying,

2Co 4:10  Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

Can you live the life of Christ? Absolutely NOT! Only Jesus Christ can live that life. So, the only way to have him live in you is to do nothing but yield in obedience to the workings of the word of God in you. Needless to say, but can you see how utterly important it is to get the word of God into you. How can Christ live out of you when Christ, the word of God, is not in you? We must spend time in the word, study it, get it into our minds and into our hearts. Only then can it constrain you and compel you in your thoughts, and only then are you able to yield to it. This should clarify the rest of the verse saying, “and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

The word “frustrate” means to make void, or to cancel God’s grace. If we return to doing the law, as the next part says, we are nullifying the cross work of Christ. When we rely on our own righteousness, we are declaring that what God has done for us in Christ is not enough. 

We don’t earn God’s grace through our actions. We don’t need to perform religious rituals or do good deeds to receive it. God offers us salvation as a free gift. If we believe we can earn salvation and God’s approval through our actions, we are undermining grace. This would mean that Christ’s death was pointless, also meaning that you are not truly believing that what Christ has done is all sufficient for your salvation. Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone.

God’s grace is about giving us what we don’t deserve. Salvation is a gift (Romans 4:4). Grace and merit are opposites. If God gives salvation by grace, then it’s not something we achieve on our own. If we do the work, then we can take the credit, not God. But if God does the work, then He deserves the glory.

Rom 11:6  And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. 

Injecting our own sense of righteousness into the processes of salvation or sanctification undermines the effectiveness of Christ’s work on our behalf. God’s grace and human effort are mutually exclusive; one must choose between them as they cannot coexist simultaneously.