Galatians 2:20-21 Bible Teaching

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Galatians 2.20-
March 31st 2019
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So we left off with Paul providing us with some passages that have echoed throughout the halls of Christian history when he wrote:

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

These passages are so ripe with meaning, so full of insight, and frankly, so timely in light of some recent events that have happened in the community of ex-Mormons, that in preparing I sat staring at them and re-reading them over and over for nearly twenty minutes.

We recall that Paul said in the previous verse 19 said “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.”

People sometimes to be quite literal when reading scripture or even in conversation and in verse 20 it seems that Paul decides to further explain what he actually meant by

“For through the Law I am dead (to the Law)”

What was Paul’s life before he became dead to the law?
And what was it that took Paul’s former life?

We all know that Paul was once “alive” (or thought that he was alive) as a Jew under the Law. He had a zealous heart that lead him to unwittingly do evil to Christians. What took that life away from him? He says, it was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. His actual death on the cross.

Paul accepted or received the fact that Jesus of Nazareth gave Himself over to His brethren (the Jews) after living – and then fulfilling, the Law on their behalf – and in placing his faith and former life on this, Paul experienced death to His former man metaphysically . . . as much as Jesus experienced death to his fleshly man.

This is the mystery; this is the unknown and unprovable fact about Christ and faith on Him – that all who receive Him actually, in the spirit sense of things, receive all that He did, was and is.

And this is what leads and guides the convert for the rest of his days here, and grants him or her entrance into the Kingdom there.

And so just as Jesus Christ actually died on a cross for the sins of the world, so do we – or should I say, so did Paul.

Of course, its obvious that he was not crucified actually, right. He asks rhetorically in

1st Corinthians 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

A literal crucifixion is not the point at all. And yet he certainly did say that he WAS crucified with Christ, didn’t he?

He explains his meaning of this in more detail in Galatians 6:14 saying:

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”

This passage let’s us in on what he means by his “having been crucified with Christ” as here he says that by Christ’s actual crucifixion,

“the world is crucified unto me, and I am crucified unto the world.”

That is powerful imagery – that in and through Christ’s actual literal physical crucifixion Paul says that in his life, “the world has been crucificed (put to death)” (meaning to him, in his mind and soul) and that he (relative to the world and its ways – the ways of the flesh), has also been crucified or put to death to the world.

This is perhaps the best definition of how the crucifixion of Christ applies to those who are his by faith – the World is crucified to them and they are crucified to the world.

Can you hear it – it is what he says.

The longer I walk in the faith the more the world takes its last breath in my soul. Yes, I resuscitate it on occasion in my life, and yes, I allow myself to seek its favors every now and then, but Paul says in his life the world was put to death and his former man was put to death in terms of the world.

Having experienced this himself he goes on in a number of other places in the Record and petitions the believers in that day to do the same.

The message was so important to the church at Corinthians he says:

1st Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

See, while this crucifixion is not the only thing that is imputed to us metaphysically or spiritually by God’s grace through Christ, His crucifixion IS the first thing that has application to us.

Not his perfect life, not his burial, not resurrection, – his crucifixion.

Paul makes this plain to the church at Corinth. And it is why he wrote to the believers (like you and me) to the Church at Rome:

(6:6) “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”

And then later in Galatians (5:24) we will read. “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”

We note in that last passage that it is the individual who allows their flesh to be crucified as Paul says:

They that ARE Christs HAVE crucified the flesh. More on this in a minute because it is certainly not by strength or might or religion that this occurs.

In and through our looking to Him and His life, His crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection we each provided with a template for the way we will choose to live our our Christian life!

And it is all focused and made possible by and through Him.

Look to the board for a minute:

CHRIST CHRISTIAN INDIVIDUAL
1st Vicariously 2nd Spiritual Template

Obeyed the Law Obeyed the Law By His Spirit we obey
written on stone the Laws on Heart

Lived a perfect life of Love Fulfilled the 2 Great Enables us to love
Commandments perfectly through His Spirit

Put to Death Died for our sin We too are crucified with Him
And thereby justified before God

Buried Took on the grave Our old person is buried with Christ

Resurrected Rose victoriously We live in the Risen Christ
over the grave rising up to new life daily
to bear fruit to God and His Glory
(This is sanctification)

This illustration helps us better understand what Paul means when he says:

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me:

So even though Paul has been crucified, yet he still lives. This is the important point. Christians in their former selfs are certainly put to death. HOWEVER, Christians OUGHT to live – more abundantly truth be told – but Paul adds the caveat, saying

“Yet not I, BUT CHRIST lives IN ME!!”

Did you know this, that Christ is living in you or that Christ can live in you.

The idea blows my mind – and yet I trust and experience Him often. Not me. Him in Me. That line of Paul’s is interesting, “But Christ lives in me.”

When I was LDS the teaching was that it was impossible for Christ to live in anyone because He had a body of flesh and bone and that the proper description was that the Holy Spirit, a separate and distinct personage who represented the Father, that is who lived in us – bestowed on us by the laying on of hands (of course by one holding the proper priesthood authority).
But here Paul does not say the Holy Spirit lives in him – he says Christ.

Are they one and the same? Yes and no.

Yes as they are all God. No in that Christ Himself, the mediator between the Old and New Covenant, once lived a human life, and overcame his own humanity on our behalf.

Having done this, I can’t help but wonder if the spirit of Christ, though synonymous with the Spirit of God, is somehow distinct.

In Philippians 1:19 Paul writes:

For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

In Romans 8:9 he says:

“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Even Peter said

1st Peter 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify showing that it was Christ and his spirit in them then.

Romans 14:7-8
7 None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.
8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

I am convinced that unlike the LDS idea of a separate Spirit person in us, or the Trinitarian notion of the third person of the Holy Trinity is in us, I am convinced that it is literally the Spirit of Christ, which is somehow synonymous with the Spirit of God but perhaps includes the very spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ and is therefore able to miraculously interact with human beings in their mortal plight.

I have no idea what this looks like, what it means, or how it works, but the Spirit of Christ is distinguished in the Apostolic Record and I believe it bears with it powers that are only accessible in and through Him.

For this reason, Paul wrote

Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

For this reason, Paul says here in our text for today:

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”

Paul readily admits that

He (his former man) has been crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, he (his new man) lives
(But he lives only by the qualifier that it is NOT he who lives (his man has been crucified) but that Christ lives in Him.

Christ. The Christ, who as the Word of God took on flesh and then offered himself up in that flesh – to God on our behalf.

Paul’s point here in these first lines is that once he came to understand and receive Christ by faith, he, Saul, died, rose to new life (as Paul) and then with Christ in him, walked.

In harmony with this idea Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 5:15

And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Now, let’s hit on a key component to this thing that Paul describes for us about living, but it not being us that lives, but Christ that lives in us, and how we therefore ought to not live unto ourselves.”

Take this seriously, folks:

Ready? When we read the Gospels, we read a report on how Christ lived as a man. We have clear depictions on how he related to the world around him, how he responded to situations, what he spent his time doing, talking about, what his theologies were, and how he responded to life in flesh.

In the Gospel’s we learn that Jesus was tempted in all things, we learned that he had the will of a human being, that he made choices, that he spent time with his disciples training them, that he responded to those in need, that he preached the kingdom, and that he went to the level of the individual to speak with them.

We see that though He was innocent he offered himself up to be mocked and beaten and then asked his Father to forgive those who did such things to Him.

We see that He submitted to the will of His Father and then we learn from scripture that we are to submit to Him.

That is the order – His Father, Our Lord, us.

We know that he spoke the truth, that he corrected, but in terms of this world he was humble, and embraced humility.

We know that he did not enjoy darkness, He had nothing to do with evil, and his heart was for the sinful, the lost, the suffering.

It is in these things – because they are the things that He was about – that we allow Christ to live in and through us.

These things.

Jesus himself said the all familiar:

John 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

JESUS FRUITS is the Goal, folks. It is in and through our bearing them BY ABIDING IN HIM . . . that the Father – His Father and our Father is glorified.

We must be careful to maintain the fact in our minds and hearts that all of the Principles are spiritually discerned and applied and NOT physically mandated or manifested.

We, like Paul, still live in a physical world. We, like Paul, have to earn a living, we have to face temptations, we have to constantly choose Him in us and his ways or the ways of our former woman or man.

He did this in a sense (with his former man being his flesh and will) and we do to.

But our ability to do it – LISTEN – our ability to overcome is ONLY in and through Him in us, by our abiding in Him, and our allowing Him to bear fruit in and through us.

This happens ONLY when we remain – CRUCIFIED – a condition of utter humility, contrition, shame, powerlessness – which perfectly describe what most of us fear.

We want to be empowered, shameless, and proud.

But this is NOT who Christ was in His death on the cross, was he? So if we are crucified WITH Christ, and not longer live to ourselves but live with Him – HIM – in us as our guide.

So Paul adds

And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.

I do not live my life by my ways, strengths, insights and abilities. I live by my FAITH in the Son of God – what He did, said and was – and my trust in such.

“Who loved me and gave himself for me,”

John says we love him because he first loved us.

In the understanding of His love, and his subsequent selfless sacrificial offering on our behalf, individuals WAKE UP and see themselves for who they are before God without HIM, and who they are with Him.

And they break, and they change, and they begin to learn to let Him reign as crucified members of His Kingdom. Paul adds the final verse of the chapter which says it all:

21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

The word frustrate that is used here means to abolish; or make void, to render wholly ineffective. Set aside is another way to say it. In other words, it does not mean what we mean by frustrate – it is a far more invasive and serious term.

God has provided a plan of his Grace – defined as unmerited favor by many – for the world by and through faith on His Son.

I personally believe that His grace is not predicated on our faith – that it is extended to all because it is grace – unmerited because of Christ. If it was available only by faith it would not be unmerited, would it.

However, to those who are His, which would be those who have faith in Him, faith is requisite for it is only by faith that human beings can please Him.

In other words His daughters and sons are children of faith, and his Sons and Daughters place their faith ON HIS SON.

That is irrefutable.

So Paul, being a child of God by faith in and through His Son, explains the one thing than challenges the unmerited favor God extends to all human beings but ESPECIALLY those who believe:

And he says:

I do not make void the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

That is a serious line, my friends – I do NOT MAKE VOID the grace of God – and how does he imply the way that he would make void the Grace of God?

He tells us when he adds

For if righteousness comes by the Law, then Christ died in vain.

Let me step back because the implications are profound.

The unmerited grace of God through Christ is unmerited and extends to all today since the wrapping up of the Biblical age.

It is for this reason that Paul said in 1st Timothy

1st Timothy 4:10 For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe.

But for those who are His, who are Sons and Daughters of God, those labor and suffer reproach, who are crucified with Christ, who abide in the vine, who are joint-heirs with Christ, whose after earth home is within the New Jerusalem in the presence of God the Father and His Son, righteousness comes by faith and never ever by the Law because we too realize that if righteousness comes by the Law (LISTEN CAREFULLY) then Jesus Christ died in vain.

Do you hear it?

That if RIGHTEOUSNESS comes by the Law THEN Christ died – he suffered the scourging, the stripes, the humiliation, the shame, and the crucifixion – in vain.

(beat)

Some of you know that a man of some repute having left Mormonism for Christ has now turned from Christ to the Law.

For Him, Christ died in vain – meaning that His offering on behalf of this man is meaningless.

That this man has come to believe that Jesus Christ was not the promised Messiah and has now returned to the Law for his justification before God.

Again, Jesus death by crucifixion was made void in His life. I do not judge him. That is the job of another. Nor will I condemn him. He has the unalienable right as a free agent to do and believe as He chooses.

Nor am I fearful that his decision will place Him in hell – as I believe that God’s unmerited gift through His son is sufficient for his justification.

What I also am convinced of, however, is that he is no longer abiding in the vine, that he has turned from His first love, and that he now chooses to be judged by the Law having made void the Grace of God believing that righteousness comes by the law.

It as an exact turning that the citizens of Galatia had done, having once received Christ and the Good News from the mouth of Paul.

See, and I just saw this posted in social media so I am not alone in this. But who was the enemy in the Apostolic Record?

Was it Satan?

No. Satan was the accuser of the brethren.

Was it the Romans? The Jews?

No. It was not flesh and blood – they carried out the trouble on believers – but they were not the enemy.

Who or what was?

The Law – the Mosaic Law.

It was perfect but people are not and so the Law became an enemy to Christ.

For this reason the scripture calls the Law

The ministry of death (2nd Corinthians 3:7)
The Ministry of Condemnation (2nd Cor 3:9)
That the Law is the source of WRATH (Romans 4:15)
The Law is the Power of Sin (Romans 7:8)
The Law blinds (2nd Corinthians 3:14-16)

And now that if Righteousness comes by the Law THEN CHRIST DIED IN VAIN!!!!!!

Jesus war was with those who refused to see Him as a better way than the Law.

Paul was at war with those who insisted that the Law was necessary to be justified before God.

And we run into people – well meaning people, who have somehow come to believe that the Law – religious laws, the Mosaic Law – ought to either replace or be incorporated into what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

So after establishing these sound beautiful principles in the last two verses of chapter two Paul now opens chapter three up with words that can and should be said to any and all who think that they can, in some way, shape or form, justify themselves before God by the law, and he says:

3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

So he starts off and says:

3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth . . .

The original word here means you Galatians who are “so void of understanding.”

O Galatians, so void of understanding.

I get the sentiments of this statement from Paul. How could you be so dull of knowledge!? What is it that has been overlooked in your comprehension of what the Lord has done on our behalf?

I find myself saying this to myself over and over in the face of people who appear to get the Good News, then do an about face and embrace some approach or teaching that denies it in some sense or another.

Where on earth did you get so far from understanding? And all we are left with in terms of a response is either they have been beguiled OR they never had the understanding we thought they had from the start.

We remember that when we started our study of Galatians that this term translated, “Foolish Galatians” is an expression similar to what was applied to them by in secular history like Callimachus, and Hillary, who was himself a Gaul but calls them idiots, a term Paul uses to suggest that they are lacking in character which lead them to be easily led astray by the arguments of false teachers.

And so Paul asks:

“Who hath bewitched you?”

Literally, who has fascinated you as if by and through magic arts or charms. And what he means here is that the change in view was not by sound reason or good judgment but there had to be some sort of “lure” “charm” that enticed them to move off the truth and to embrace a non- truth, or as he puts it:

“That ye should not obey the truth.”

This phrase is lacking in a number of MSS, by the way.

Looking to scripture to discover insight, we know that since we are talking about being mislead away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and embracing the Law as a means to justify ourselves before God, that James says:

13 Let no one say when they are tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any person:
14 But every person is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

I would rewrite this passage to read like this in the cases of people abandoning the grace of God for Law like this:

14 But every person is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed to reembrace the law.
15 Then when lust hath conceived it is by the strength of the Law, and the Lust by the Law bringeth forth sin (which is the strength of the law): and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (or the complete denial of the Grace of God and therefore the continued distance from God).

Paul concludes, and we will conclude too, with this last line:

. . . before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

1 (RSV) O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?

1 (TCNT) Foolish Galatians! Who has been fascinating you–you before whose very eyes Jesus Christ was depicted upon the cross?

In other words, His crucifixion (again note that it is the crucifixion that Paul speaks to hear and not the resurrection) but that his crucifixion was presented to them so clearly in terms of what it was and what it was for that it was as if they saw it with their own eyes.

Who has tricked you -YOU before whose very eyes saw Jesus depicted on the cross as the MEANS for your TOTAL AND COMPLETE JUSTIFICATION before God?

And he then asks in the face of this rhetorical question:

2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

And adds

3 Are ye so foolish? That having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

And we will discuss these passages . . . next week.
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