Crucified With Christ

Galatians 6:14- "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world."

Here we see first that the apostle Paul decided to "boast" only in the cross. In other words he decided to put his confidence in the finished work of Jesus Christ at the cross. I have often heard people talk about "crucifying the flesh," but in Galatians 5:24 Paul wrote, "And those who are Christ's have (past tense) crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." The word "have" is in the past tense, telling us that the flesh has already been crucified! I don't have to try to "crucify the flesh" (the old sin nature) because Jesus already did it! In Galatians 2:20 we read: "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." Here Paul said, "I have been (already) crucified with Christ." Paul realized that he was a new creation because Jesus died on the cross and rose again and that he was now able to be a revelation of Jesus to everyone he met. Paul did not have this confidence because of his own effort, but because of what Jesus did. Paul believed that Jesus has already overcome and worked from that position of victory. In my own life I found myself experiencing greater victory and greater joy when I realized this truth that "the flesh" has already been dealt with. Let us look to the Lord, believing that we are free at this moment because of what He did for us and let us follow Him as He leads us into the experience of His finished work.

In Galatians 6:14 we also see Paul stating that through the cross he was dead to the world. This means he was free from the world's influence. In the Bible we are consistently told that believers are not to be like the world. The Lord has called us to not be influenced by the world, but to be an influence in the world. By dying on the cross for our sins and rising from the dead Jesus set us free from sin and gave us a new nature so that we can be a reflection of Him to the world around us. In Matthew chapter 5 Jesus called His followers the light of the world. In that verse (Matthew 5:14-16) Jesus did not tell us to be the light, but said, "You are the light of the world." He then told us to let our light shine by showing with our actions who God is.

At this moment you are free, you have overcome, and you are totally righteous because of Jesus. He did the work and finished it and now you can be a expression of who God is to the world around you, bringing light into the darkness because, "... greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." (1John 4:4)