Galatians 2:15-21 (NRSV)
Read Galatians 2:15-21 on biblegateway.com
Verse 15We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; Verse 16yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. Verse 17But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! Verse 18But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. Verse 19For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; Verse 20and it is no longer I who live, but it is 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. Verse 21I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
Devotion
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (v. 20)
The good news is that we are dead. The life that we live now is Christ living in us. The challenge is for us to live in this in-between dead/alive/dead mystery. It would be much easier if all of me died in Christ and so that only Christ can live in my body.
But that is not the case.
I am reminded often of my alive and dying self. It is my desire to live only for Christ, but I am still a sinner. Daily I am reminded of my desire to serve myself. Daily I must confess and die. Daily Christ gives me new life.
This relationship between the Divine and human weaves through our moments of this life and points us to the next. I was given my life by God. I died in my sin. I was reborn in Christ. Alive. Dead. Alive. Soon-to-be-dead again, but alive in Christ in a way that only my imagination can paint.
I need this life-giving Christ everyday.
Prayer
Lord of life, make me alive in Christ, dead to sin, and soon to be with all those who have gone before us in a new life with Christ. In Jesus' name. Amen.