In Galatians 2:20 Paul declares, “I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God.” Here the expression the Son of God denotes Christ’s person, which is for the impartation of God’s life into us. Hence, the faith in which we live God’s life is in the Son of God, the life-imparting One. The Son of God loved us and purposely gave Himself up for us that He might impart the divine life into us. The life which we now live in the flesh is not bios, the physical life, or psuche, the soulish life, but zoe, the spiritual and divine life. In contrast to the way we live the physical and soulish life, we live the divine life not by sight or by feeling. The divine life, the spiritual life in our spirit, is lived by the exercise of faith, which is stimulated by the presence of the life-giving Spirit.
One secret of experiencing Christ living in us is revealed in a phrase in Galatians 2:20—in faith. Paul did not live by his own faith; he lived by the faith that is both in and of the Son of God. This indicates that we need to live by a certain kind of faith. However, this faith is not something that we ourselves have. Rather, it is the faith of the Son of God. What we need is not only faith that is in Christ but also faith that is of Christ. The faith is His, not ours, but we can be in this faith.
In speaking of faith, Paul refers to “the faith of the Son of God.” This expression implies that the faith mentioned in this verse is the faith of the Son of God, the faith which He Himself possesses. However, this phrase also means faith in the Son of God.
Paul wrote the book of Galatians both according to truth and according to his experience. According to our Christian experience, the genuine living faith which operates in us is not only of Christ but also in Christ. Hence, Paul’s meaning here actually is “the faith of and in Christ.” Paul’s thought is that the faith is both of Christ and in Christ.
We have pointed out that faith is our appreciation of what the Lord is and what He has done for us and that genuine faith is Christ Himself infused into us to become our ability to believe in Him. After the Lord has been infused into us, He spontaneously becomes our faith. On the one hand, this faith is of Christ; on the other hand, it is in Christ. This faith is Christ revealed to us and infused into us. Faith is related not only to the Christ who has been infused into us but also to the Christ who is continually infusing Himself into us. As Christ operates in us, He becomes our faith. This faith is of Him and also in Him.
Paul concludes Galatians 2:20 by referring to the Son of God as the One “who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” In writing these words, Paul was filled with appreciation of the Lord Jesus. Otherwise, at the end of such a long verse there would have been no need for him to speak of Christ loving him and giving Himself up for him. He could have concluded with the expression the faith of the Son of God. But as he was speaking of the way he now lived, his heart was filled with gratitude and appreciation. Faith comes from such an appreciation of the Lord Jesus.
In 2 Corinthians 5:14 and 15 Paul says, “The love of Christ constrains us because we have judged this, that One died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all that those who live may no longer live to themselves but to Him who died for them and has been raised.” As we consider these verses, we can see that Paul’s faith came from an appreciation of the constraining love of Christ. The more we appreciate Christ’s constraining love, the more faith we will have. This faith is not produced by our own ability or activity. Rather, it is produced by the working in us of the Christ whom we appreciate. In our appreciation for the Lord Jesus, we will say, “Lord Jesus, I love You and I treasure You.” As we speak such words to the Lord, He operates within us and becomes our faith. This faith brings about an organic union in which we and Christ are truly one. This organic union is a basic and crucial aspect of God’s New Testament economy.
Moreover, since the very One who loved Paul and gave Himself up for him now lived in him, the love of Christ constrained Paul to live no longer to himself but to Christ. The love of Christ constrained Paul to love Him and to take Him as his life and his person. Likewise, since Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us that He might impart Himself as the divine life into us, we should now love Him and live by Him.
Experiencing Christ as the One who has given Himself up for the believers and who lives in them is not a matter of mere doctrine; it is altogether a matter of life and love. We love Christ and simply desire to live a life that is Christ Himself. As a result, we cannot but give up religion and instead enjoy Christ.
In summary, God’s economy is not that we try to keep the law in the strength of our flesh; His economy is to work Himself into us. The Triune God has become the processed God. Through incarnation, Christ came in the flesh to fulfill the law and then to set it aside. Through His resurrection, Christ has become the life-giving Spirit, ready to enter into us. Whenever we call on His name out of our appreciation of Him, He comes into us and becomes the living faith which operates in us and brings us into an organic union with Him. God’s New Testament economy is for the processed Triune God to be wrought into us to become our life and our being. If we see this, we will be able to proclaim that we have been crucified with Christ and that we live no longer. Nevertheless, Christ lives in us, and we live by the faith that is in Him and of Him. Our old person, the old “I,” has been crucified, but the new person, the new “I,” still lives. Now we live by faith in the Son of God and of the Son of God, a faith that produces an organic union in which we and Christ are one. There is no comparison between keeping the law and such an organic union. In His economy God’s intention is for the processed Triune God to be wrought into our being to make us a new person, a new “I.” The old person, the old “I,” the “I” without God, is over, but the new person, the new “I,” the “I” with the Triune God in it, still lives. We live with Christ and by Christ. Furthermore, we live by faith, which is the means to bring us into oneness with Him. In this organic union we are one with the Lord, for we have one life and one living with Him. When we live, He lives. He lives in us, and we live with Him. We live by Him, and He lives in us. If we do not live, He does not live, and if He does not live, we cannot live.