Galatians 2:20 is a very familiar verse to us. This afternoon we will speak more about it. In the last message, we covered the meaning of an overcoming life. We know that the overcoming life is Christ, and we know that the overcoming life is Christ living in us. The question is how can we enter into the experience of this life. Christ wants to be our life and He can make us victorious. But how can Christ be our life? How can Christ live out His life within us? We have heard the gospel and know that Jesus is the Savior, but how do we take Him as our Savior? We know the salvation of the cross, but how can we be joined to the salvation of the cross? The question we will address in this message is how to be joined to Christ, including what we should do before Christ can become our life and before He can live within us. This afternoon we need to look at Galatians 2:20.
We will not consider the beginning of this verse or the end of this verse. We will begin with the middle of the verse. There is a wonderful expression in this verse: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” We can say that it is no longer I but Christ. What does “no longer I...but...Christ” mean? These five words mean victory. They speak of the overcoming life which we have been talking about for the past few days. The overcoming life is simply (1) “no longer I” and (2) “but...Christ.” This is the overcoming life. As long as it is “no longer I” and as long as it is “but...Christ,” there is victory. “No longer I” plus “but...Christ” is victory, and all problems are solved.
We saw in the last message that the meaning of the overcoming life is no longer I but Christ. But some questions remain: How can a Christian be no longer himself but Christ? How can one attain such a life? What way should one take before he will become no longer himself but Christ? This is why we have to study Galatians 2:20 carefully. According to Galatians 2:20, “It is no longer I...but...Christ” is in the middle. Before this portion there is a sentence, and after this portion there is another sentence. We have to see Paul’s starting point from which he experienced “no longer I...but...Christ.” If we see this, we can take the same way, and we will also be “no longer I...but...Christ.” Hence, we have to pass through what Paul passed through and follow the same way that Paul took. His way must also be our way.
Now let us find out how one can be “no longer I...but...Christ.” We have to start from the first sentence of this verse. “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” How did Paul reach the point where he could say that it was “no longer I...but...Christ”? This is a very familiar word. “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live.” The “I” is out; it is on the cross. The “I” has passed away. Hence, I can say that it is no longer I. However, brothers and sisters, the truth concerning crucifixion with Christ on the cross is not being preached for the first time among us. We have known for a long time that we are crucified with Christ. Why has the doctrine of our crucifixion with Christ not worked with us? Brother Lu, how many years have you heard about the doctrine of crucifixion with Christ? You have heard about it for over ten years. Is it working in you? Please be honest with us. How much has it worked in you? Not much. I would ask Brother Chi the same question. How much has the doctrine of the cross guided you? How effective is it in you? Do you have the power of Paul? Brother Chi said that he felt that he was beginning to have more power in the last few days. We have known the doctrine of crucifixion with Christ for over ten years, but it has not worked in us. We may say that it has worked a little, but it has been so little that it amounts to almost nothing. We cannot say as Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ,” and we cannot follow with the words, “It is no longer I who live.” It seems as if the doctrine has not produced much effect in us. I am not merely repeating the doctrine of the cross this afternoon; we know too much already. We want to see the extent to which this crucifixion with Christ should work in us and what we should do before we can say that we are crucified with Christ.
Brothers and sisters, when the Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross, we did not put Him to death, nor did we put ourselves to death. Christ Himself died there, and God included us in His death. We are all familiar with this. Yet I would ask one thing: While it is true that God has crucified us, what should we do and what process should we pass through before we can say in reality that we are crucified with Christ? In the past we saw what God has done for us, but we did not see where our responsibility lies. We have seen that God has crucified us, but we do not know how we should view our own crucifixion. This afternoon we want to consider the responsibility that we must bear in our crucifixion with Christ.