At times anyone can become discouraged in running the Christian race and Satan whispers to us, “It is hard to be a Christian and heaven is so far away.” When this occurs we must search our life and see if it may be due to the fact that we have not surrendered all to Christ.

Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). There are three things stated in this passage which encourage us to remain faithful.

1. “I am crucified with Christ..." Christ is not in anyone who persists in living the old sinful life. We must become dead, in a sense, before we can be made alive. Paul had just said he had died to the law that he might live to God (2:19). Paul was dead to the law and sin, but he had been made alive through the gospel. Paul’s death was not physical as was our Lord’s, but he had "died" to worldly things and sin; as well as to the works of the law. Before Christ can live in us we must become "dead" to the old life of sin.

2. “...but Christ lives in me.” Even though I may be dead to sin, Christ cannot be in me unless He lives in me. Paul says he was dead, yet he lived. He immediately explains that it was not him who lived but Christ that lived in him. The effects of Christ’s death on the cross had made Paul dead to the sinful life he lived before he was converted. Now he has a new life by Christ and therefore Christ lived in him. Christ was the source of this new life Paul lived. Jesus had said, “…I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Christ then is this source of new life which Paul lived. Before Christ can be in us, we must let Him be the guiding principle in our new life. We must become dead to the old life and let Christ rule in our new life.

3. “...the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.” The one who lives by faith lives as faith directs. It is not possible for one to be pleasing to God without faith (Heb. 11:6). Faith is a condition of the mind which trusts in the Lord and responds completely to His will. This is why the gospel is called “the faith” (Jude 3) because it is the power that directs our obedience.

Before we can live by faith, God must have spoken to us through His word (Rom. 10:17) and we must yield to it. We must live by faith... or Christ will not be in us.

Bill Feist