The apostle Paul says many shocking things in the book of Galatians. He pronounces a curse upon those who preach a false gospel (Gal. 1:8–9). He recounts the time he rebuked Peter and Barnabas for straying from that gospel (2:11–14). He calls the Galatians “foolish” and “bewitched” (3:1). He even facetiously wishes emasculation upon those opponents of the gospel (5:12)! But one of the most shocking statements Paul makes also happens to be one of the most familiar. It is also Cairn University’s One Scripture, One University verse for the 2024–2025 academic year:
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who 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” (Gal. 2:20).
Unfortunately, the idea of crucifixion has become almost blasé for modern Christians. It has lost its shock value. We have become numb to the cross’ horrors and meaning. We hang crosses on the wall, wear them on a chain around our neck, and display decorative crosses on our mantle. You would be hard-pressed to find a church without a lifesized replica behind the pulpit. We have seen the cross and heard about it so many times that it has become neutered of its force.
So let us remember: the cross was death. The cross was agony. The cross was humiliating public execution for the worst of criminals. The cross was judgment. Yet Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ.”
He identifies with Jesus in the crucifixion. What Christ suffered, Paul suffered. As Christ died, so did Paul. And so do all believers. In fact, the crucifixion has relevance in a believer’s past, present, and future existence.
“I have been crucified with Christ,” Paul writes. “Have been crucified” translates a Greek verbal form called a perfect passive. Passive means that the action of the verb happens to the subject. Criminals do not put themselves on the cross. They were crucified. Here in this passage, Paul is not talking about actively crucifying his own sin or making some sort of daily effort to die to his own self or flesh.1 Paul does not crucify himself. Neither do we. It is an act of God at the moment of our conversion. This glimpses into the past reality of our salvation.
The “perfect” form of the verb often carries the force of a past action with continuing results in the future. Paul has been crucified at some point in the past, but the effects still impact his life today. This touches on both the present aspect of salvation with echoes that continue into the future.
Before becoming a Christian, Paul was a stellar Jew. He was a Pharisee of the highest degree, having studied under the best tutor (Acts 22:3). Like all Pharisees, he strove to live his life in accordance with the Mosaic Law. But by the time he wrote Galatians, Paul recognized that no one can be justified by doing works of the Law. It is only by faith in Christ that a person is justified (Gal. 2:15–16). Daily, Paul continued to feel the effects of this crucifixion of his old way of life. “I have been crucified with Christ” is a statement that relates to his past, his present, and everyday into his future.
He goes on to say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” What a beautiful paradox! The day that Paul responded in faith to Jesus Christ, he died. His old life hung up there on the cross, crucified with Christ. But though it killed him, he yet lives! How is this possible? Christ lives in him. Christ spiritually resurrects him and makes him alive. His identity is wrapped up with Christ in both death and life.
This crucifixion and subsequent life in Christ does not permit believers to live licentious lives, indulging our flesh while knowing we are justified before God. Instead, it should lead us to see the effects of a radical spiritual transformation.
The trouble is, even though our hearts have been radically regenerated and God declared us innocent (justified), we still live in these fleshly bodies. We will continue to sin because our flesh has not yet been changed. Our bodies have not yet been glorified.
It is the perennial struggle of every Christian. We have been radically changed, from death to life. Our old self was crucified with Christ. Jesus lives in us. Yet we still struggle with this body of sin. And when we return to our sin time and again like a dog returns to its vomit (Pr. 26:11), we feel incredible shame and guilt. We may wonder, “How can God love me?” We wonder, “Will I ever be good enough for Jesus?” Or, “How can I truly be saved if I struggle like this?”
This is why Paul reminds us that we live by faith in the Son of God, not in our own goodness or ability to keep God’s law, but we live by faith in Jesus Christ. He paid the penalty for our sin. He lived a righteous life, and his righteousness is now ours (2 Cor. 5:21). We recognize that just as our good works did not bring us into right standing with God in the first place, so our bad works are not going to reverse God’s declaration of “justified!”
Therefore, this death on the cross and new life in Christ does not give us freedom to sin but freedom from sin. It is precisely because we have been crucified with Christ and Christ now lives in us that we can have victory over our sin. We are no longer slaves to it (Rom. 6:5–6).
After commenting on our salvation, Paul closes the verse with a marvelous description of our Savior: “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” (Gal. 2:20b).
The idea of undergoing crucifixion—even for the sake of salvation—must have seemed horrific for Paul’s earliest readers. Yet when we look at the love of Christ displayed on the cross, we see the crucifixion under a different light. Christ gave himself for us. Jesus died on our behalf. It is through his death that we might have life. The crucifixion, though an object of horror, has become through the love of Christ a display of comfort and love and hope.
Although the thought of being crucified with Christ is shocking, it carries with it profound theological truth that touches upon our past salvation, present sanctification, and future glorification. May it motivate us to live not according to our flesh but by faith in the Son of God, who loved us enough to die for us.
- Though that concept may be found elsewhere in Pauline writings (e.g.,1 Cor 15:31; cf. Rom 8:36), the emphasis here is on the act of God crucifying the sinner’s old self. ↩︎
This article was originally published in the Fall 2024 issue of Cairn Magazine.
