I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live, *I*, but Christ lives in me; but [in] that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the [faith] of the Son of God, who has loved me and given himself for me.
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The Setting
Galatians 2:20 stands at the heart of Paul's defence against legalism, where he announces that the believer's old life has been judicially ended at the cross and a wholly new life — Christ Himself — has taken its place. The verse links justification, identification with Christ in death, and the daily walk of faith into a single thread.
Crucified With Christ — The End of the Old "I"
The verse begins with a verdict already passed at Calvary: the believer's natural standing is over. Kelly draws out how radical this is — not merely Saviour received, but self ended:
William KellyHe next announces the true secret of it all: "I am crucified with Christ." It is not merely that I have found in Christ a Saviour, but I am crucified with Christ. My very nature is dealt with. All that I have as a living man in the world is gone — not, of course, as a mere matter of fact, but, what is far more important, as a matter of faith. The history of the flesh — its sad and humbling history — is soon over; but the history that faith opens into never closes.
This is not progressive self-mortification but a finished verdict. Another writer is emphatic that Scripture never asks us to die to sin, but to reckon ourselves dead because Christ, who is our life, has died:
MagazinesAll the sentimental talk about crucifying being a lingering death, is the setting aside the plain and imperative sense of these passages. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." (Gal. 2:20.) We have died in Christ; that is the doctrine of Scripture.
Two "I"s — Christ Now the Living Spring
Andrew Miller unpacks the seeming paradox of "I live, yet not I" as two distinct selves: the old self crucified, and Christ the new life within.
Andrew MillerHe speaks of two "I's "; the old "I," or self, as slain — or crucified. The new "I," as his new life — Christ in him. The first, he treats as dead, and for ever done with; the second, as his only life now... Self, wretched self, which is the end and object of the natural man, in all he does, is gone — gone, I mean, to faith. Christ enters and takes the place of self. "For me to live is Christ" — is to have Christ, not self, for my end and object.
Mawson uses the picture of grafting — the wild briar cut down so the rose-scion can flourish:
J T Mawson"NEVERTHELESS I LIVE." Grace had given him a place in God's tillage, the only place of true life. "YET NOT I, BUT CHRIST LIVETH IN ME." The life of the heavenly scion was seen in him and not the energy of the old briar... He brought forth the heavenly flowers in the joy of what he had learnt Christ to be... glad to be nothing himself and less than nothing that Christ might be everything.
Life by the Faith of the Son of God
The same Christ who is the source of this life is also its sustenance. Faith does not look inward at one's own love but outward to His.
William KellyAnd this life is sustained by the very same person who is its source. "The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me," etc. It is not a question of my loving Him, though this is and must be true of the saints; but this would tend to throw the soul on self, and it is not the reckoning of grace. What comforts the soul, what strengthens and keeps it up, is that He "loved me, and gave Himself for me."
The contrast with the law is sharp. Where the law demands and condemns, the Son of God draws the heart by personal love:
Norman AndersonHe still lived in the responsible condition here upon earth, but he lived to God, for he has Christ for his life. He lived by faith — faith which has the Son of God for its object; and the Son of God exerts the most powerful influence, unlike the law which demands and prohibits, and accuses and condemns the man incapable of complying — "the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me."
The Practical Test
Doctrine here flows directly into walk. Darby presses the verse home as a daily examination:
J. N. DarbyI am dead; I have died; Christ is my life; He is all to me; am I, then, living as if He were all?
Mackintosh adds that this identification is the very power for Christian testimony — to be "the expression of Christ in His absence":
C. H. MackintoshThe power of our path — of our walk in this world, is the understanding, through the Holy Ghost, of our identification with Christ in all our ways, and our being set in the world to manifest Him... The Christian should be the living, breathing expression of Christ.
Summary
- Judicial death. "Crucified with Christ" is a settled verdict of faith, not a gradual process — the old self is gone, its history closed at the cross.
- Two I's. The old self is slain; Christ Himself is the new "I," taking the place of self as the believer's only life and object.
- Sustained by faith. The new life is kept up by looking outward to the Son of God's love, not inward at our love for Him.
- Contrast with law. Law demands and condemns; the Son of God who "loved me and gave Himself for me" motivates and empowers.
- Daily test. "Christ is my life — am I, then, living as if He were all?" Identification with Christ becomes visible expression of Christ in the world.