My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (NLT)
True Christianity, according to God’s Word, is based on a relationship with God through his Spirit in us, not on being good enough. So why do we so easily fall back into self-effort and other false attempts to earn Salvation? For one thing, we forget about the cross. On the first “Good” Friday, Jesus died to pay the price for all of our sins, past, present, and future.
Another even more common area of forgetfulness is what happened when we accepted him and invited him into our lives. At that very moment, our old nature, as the controlling aspect of our life, died, and a new spiritual life was born inside through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul calls it, being “crucified with Christ.” When the Holy Spirit came in, he brought supernatural help to know God, to understand His Word, to live as His child, and to comprehend God’s forgiveness. Through him, we can say “no” to sin, as well as “yes” to serving out of love and relationship. We don’t need self-effort! But, when we forget the Holy Spirit in our daily lives, the only thing left is to depend on ourselves. We need to re-connect to the reality of being crucified with Christ every day
How real to you is your “crucifixion with Christ?” Paul implies because of it, Jesus, in the person of the Holy Spirit, lives in us. So like Paul, we can live the rest of our time our earthly bodies, trusting in the Son of God. The Easter Season is upon us, so let’s consider Christ’s crucifixion as our model and enter into a life of freedom and power like never before.
Do you remember when you first believed? The joy, peace, and anticipation were like fresh air. I suggest, if you have the opportunity, take time today to talk to Jesus or even write him a letter to thank Him for it all. Don’t forget to say, “I love you.”
The secret of the Christian life is that we need to die every day.
-SHC