Galatians 2:17-21: Crucified with Christ

Galatians 2:17-21: Crucified with Christ

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and today the next passage we come to is Galatians 2:17-21. It says,

17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but 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. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we know that in order to rightly understand both what this passage is teaching and how it connects to our lives, we need the Holy Spirit. So please, send your Spirit to minister to us through this passage today in a most powerful way. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

One of the highlights of being a parent—for me, at least—has been teaching my kids how to ride a bike. So far, I’ve taught three of my four children how to ride a bike. And the most enjoyable part of it definitely comes at the end—right after they successfully ride their bike without training wheels for the very first time. You can just tell from the expression on their face that they feel an incredible sense of accomplishment—as they should.  

And the way I’ve approached it with all three of them is to first let them ride their bike with training wheels for a long time—like, at least a year or two—so that they can become thoroughly comfortable with it and develop muscle memory. Then, I remove the training wheels, have the child get on their bike on the street in front of our house, and gently hold the back of their seat with one hand and one of their handlebars with my other hand and sort of run with them and help them stay upright as they slowly ride their bike down the street. Our street also has a slight downhill slope, which ends up being pretty helpful. 

Then, after we do that a few times, I do essentially the same thing—except, after running alongside them and gently holding onto them for a few steps, I just let go and let them continue on without me. So, one moment I’m holding onto them to make sure they don’t fall, and the next moment I’m not holding onto them anymore—and they’re on their own. And with all three children so far, that approach has worked pretty well. 

However, even though that might be a decent way to teach children how to ride a bike, a lot of people seem to think that God does something similar to that with us. They may be very aware of the fact that God’s at work within us in all sorts of wonderful ways as we first put our faith in Jesus. They may understand that God’s the one who opens our eyes to the truth of the gospel and changes our hearts and forgives our sins. 

Yet some people seem to imagine that, after God gives us a good boost at the very beginning of our spiritual lives, he more or less takes his hands off of us and leaves us to our own devices so that it’s now mainly on us to live faithfully as Christians. In their mind, God gets us started but then basically tells us that we need to take it from there. And even if many Christians wouldn’t actually say something like that out loud, that’s nevertheless the mentality they seem to have as they go about their daily lives. They live as though—now that they’ve become Christians—it’s more or less entirely on them to live for God. 

Yet, as we’re going to see in our main passage of Scripture today of Galatians 2:17-21, that’s not at all the way things actually work. To use some theological words, God’s involved just as much in our sanctification as he is in our justification. That is, he’s involved just as much in our lifelong journey of spiritual growth as he is in our initial conversion experience. And our understanding of that reality makes all the difference in the world when it comes to our ability to grow and thrive as Christians. So, let’s see what Paul has to say to us in these verses. 

To remind you of the context here, some false teachers called Judaizers were teaching that the Gentile—or non-Jewish—Christians needed to first start observing the Old Testament law in order for their Christian faith to be valid. This included observing the food laws of the Old Testament, in which God prohibited his people from eating certain foods. Naturally, of course, the Gentile Christians wouldn’t have been in the habit of observing these food laws since they weren’t Jews, and the Judaizers had a huge problem with that and were basically saying that these Gentile believers weren’t genuine Christians. 

So, in the previous two verses of Galatians—Galatians 2:15-16, which we looked at last week—Paul was emphatic in his declaration that people are “justified”—or made right with God—not by observing the Old Testament law but rather simply through faith in Jesus. This means that we don’t earn a place in heaven through our own moral accomplishments or religious observances. Instead, God actually gives us eternal life as a free gift through his Son Jesus. 

You see, even though we’ve all sinned against God and therefore deserve God’s punishment in hell for all eternity, God loved us so much that he sent his own Son into this world in order to rescue us. Jesus entered this world as a human being—fully God, yet also fully man—and proceeded to live a perfectly sinless life and eventually die on the cross in order to atone for our sins. That means Jesus suffered the punishment for our sins on the cross so we wouldn’t have to suffer that punishment in hell. Then, after three days, Jesus was triumphantly raised from the dead and therefore is now able to save everyone who puts their trust in him for that rescue. That’s the message we call the gospel. 

And that’s the only way we can be saved. The only people who will be saved from their sins and enter heaven are those who renounce all confidence in their own moral efforts and instead direct their confidence toward Jesus alone. That’s what it means—in the language of verse 16—for us to be justified “not by works of the law” but rather “through faith in Jesus.” 

Then, after presenting this teaching in verse 16, Paul defends it in verses 17-18. He writes, 17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 

Now, these verses are admittedly a bit dense and difficult to understand. Basically, though, Paul’s speaking from the perspective of a Jewish Christian—that’s who the “we” is in this verse. And he’s arguing against the Judaizers of his day who claimed that Jewish Christians who ceased to obey the requirements of the Old Testament law would at that point become “sinners”—just like the Gentiles. So, a good paraphrase of verse 17 might be something like this: “But if, in our belief that we’re justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, we Jewish Christians are accused of being ‘sinners’ alongside the Gentiles since we’ve stopped observing the Old Testament food laws, does that mean Christ is actually leading us into sin?” And, of course, Paul’s answer to that at the end of the verse is emphatic: “Certainly not!” he says. The idea that Jesus would facilitate sin is absolutely ridiculous. 

Paul then turns the tables on his opponents in verse 18. Instead of those who believe in justification by faith alone being sinners, it’s actually the Judaizers who are transgressing God’s will. Paul states, “For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.” For a professing Christian to go back to the Old Testament law as a requirement for salvation would be, in effect, rebuilding what they tore down. And that would make them “a transgressor.” 

After that, Paul makes a very important statement in verse 19: “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.” Last week, we discussed the fact that the Old Testament law functions as a mirror that reflects back to us our true condition and shows us just how sinful we really are. Apart from the law, we’re often able to fool ourselves into thinking that we’re pretty decent people. But when we see how high God’s standards for moral perfection actually are, we become aware of just how short we fall of those standards.

And it’s this realization of his sin that led Paul to—in his words here—“[die] to the law” as a means of salvation. So, when Paul says that “through the law I died to the law,” he’s essentially saying, “Though the law’s function as a mirror showing me my sin, I died to the law a means of salvation.” 

He then describes the result in the final part of the verse: “so that I might live to God.” In other words, something’s now possible that previously wasn’t possible—namely, being able to “live to God.” One commentator insightfully writes, “The implication is that before [Paul] came to faith, while he was trying to save himself through keeping the law, Paul never really lived for God. He was being very moral and good—but it was all for Paul, never for God. When Paul was obeying God without knowing he was accepted, he was obeying to get a reward—for what he could get from God, not out of sheer love for God Himself. Now that he is justified and accepted, Paul has a new motive for obedience that is far more wholesome and powerful…. Paul wants us to understand that our acceptance [by grace and through faith] gives us a new and stronger motive for obeying God than justification by works ever could.”

So, it’s only when Paul was freed from his old mentality of obedience in order to earn God’s favor that he was able to have a new mentality of obedience as an expression of love for God. You might compare it to the difference between the way someone relates to their boss versus the way they relate to their spouse. In all likelihood, they put considerable energy into serving and pleasing their boss. Yet their primary motive for doing so is to earn something—such as a paycheck and perhaps even a raise or a promotion. However, they hopefully have a much different mentality when it comes to their spouse. Even though they might have the same general goals of serving and pleasing their spouse, they’re hopefully pursuing those goals with a much different mentality. Instead of seeking to earn something, they’re hopefully doing what they do simply as an expression of love for their spouse. 

And I believe that’s the thrust of what Paul’s saying here in verse 19. Once he got out of the mentality of doing good things in an attempt to earn God’s favor, he was finally free to simply love God and do good things as an expression of his love for God. And hopefully that’s our mentality as well. We shouldn’t be serving God because we’re seeking to earn something or achieve something but simply because we love God and are so grateful to him for saving us. 

You know, many times, if we’re not careful, even those of us who are Christians can fall into a pattern of doing the right things with the wrong motives. So, it’s important for to examine our hearts and ask ourselves why we do the things we do. Perhaps we’re very diligent about practicing high moral standards and having a consistent time set aside each day for Bible reading and prayer and serving in the church and giving generously of our financial resources and doing all the things we know we’re supposed to be doing. But what’s our motive for doing those things? Is it in any way because we think God will love us or accept us more if we do them? Or is it perhaps to look good in front of others or conform to their expectations? Hopefully not. Hopefully all of our obedience to God is a manifestation and an overflow of our love for God. That’s what Paul means when he speaks of finally being able to truly “live to God.” 

We then reach the climax of this passage in verse 20. Paul states in the first part of the verse, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” When Paul says here that he’s “been crucified with Christ” and that it’s no longer he who lives, he’s speaking of the fact that the sinful person he used to be has been put to death. His old self with all of its pride and self-sufficiency and other sinful patterns of thinking and living has come to a decisive and definitive end. 

And now, Paul says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” In other words, it’s not that old sinful self that lives but rather Christ who lives within Paul and—we might say—through Paul. I love the way John MacArthur says it. He writes, “The true Christian life is not so much a believer’s living for Christ as Christ’s living through the believer.” Again, “The true Christian life is not so much a believer’s living for Christ as Christ’s living through the believer.” 

It kind of reminds me of a particular Christmas tree ornament that my family has. It’s a white ornament made of some type of glass or maybe ceramic material that has a picture of the nativity scene painted on it. Yet it also has a small hole in the bottom that’s designed to give you a place to insert one of the lights from the Christmas tree. The ornament also has a lot of tiny holes all over it so that the light from that colored light bulb of the Christmas tree can find its way out and be visible. So, this ornament by itself looks fine, but when you put a light inside of it, the effect is remarkable. And the ornament ends up being so beautiful not just because of the ornament itself but because of the light shining in and through that ornament. 

Similarly, those of us who are Christians shine with the radiance not of our own light but of Christ’s light within us. In effect, as Paul says, it’s not we who live but rather Christ who lives within us and who is expressing his glorious attributes through us. Of course, it’s not that we lose our human agency or that we become robots or puppets. Nevertheless, it’s still Jesus who’s guiding and empowering us every step of the way on our spiritual journey. 

So, the main idea of this passage—drawn chiefly from verse 20—is that Christians have been crucified with Christ and therefore now live in an entirely new way in Christ. Again, Christians have been crucified with Christ and therefore now live in an entirely new way in Christ.

And one reason I’ve phrased the main idea in that particular way is to bring out a larger theological concept that pervades this passage of Scripture—the concept of our union with Christ. In order to understand this passage, you have to understand what it means for us to be united with Christ. 

Even though this biblical concept of union with Christ isn’t often talked about, it’s actually quite central not only to this passage but to the gospel itself. In fact, there’s not a single gospel blessing that those of us who are Christians enjoy that doesn’t come to us through our union with Christ. Our union with Christ is the source of every gospel blessing we enjoy. 

In some ways, it’s similar to the source code that’s behind all the programs on your laptop and all the apps on your phone. For example, if you’re using Microsoft Word, there’s a source code behind that program. You can’t see the source code, but the only reason you’re able to use Microsoft Word is because of the source code behind it. Similarly, we might talk about various gospel blessings such as having our sins forgiven, being declared righteous in God’s sight, being reconciled with God, becoming a new person, being adopted as God’s children, experiencing a progressive growth in godliness throughout our lives, and one day enjoying our eternal inheritance in heaven. But the only way all of these blessings come to us is through our union with Christ—where God thinks of us as being with Christ and in Christ. 

We actually find those very phrases in our main passage. In verse 17, Paul speaks of us being “in Christ.” And in verse 20, he speaks of being “crucified with Christ” and of Christ living “in” him. And these phrases aren’t at all unique in the New Testament but are part of an incredibly widespread pattern. 

For example, in Romans 6:5-8, Paul writes, 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. So, the basis of us dying to our old way of life and living as new people is our union with Christ in his death and resurrection. 

In addition, perhaps you’re familiar with Ephesians 2:4-6. Paul writes, 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” And 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” So, the reason we’re clothed with the righteousness of Christ is because we’re united with him. Indeed, this is the only reason we’re not condemned. As Paul says in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

It's also by virtue of our union with Christ that we’re born again and become new people. 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” And indeed, every other spiritual blessing we enjoy only comes to us by virtue of our union with Christ. As Paul states in Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” And all of this only scratches the surface of the verses in the New Testament about our union with Christ.

So, to state it concisely, we’re loved because God loves Jesus—and we’re in him. We’re viewed as righteous because Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life—and we’re in him. We’re forgiven of our sin and dead to our old way of life because Jesus died on the cross—and we’re in him. We’re new people and are looking forward to having glorified resurrection bodies one day in heaven because Jesus was raised from the dead—and we’re in him. 

Perhaps a good way to say it is that God the Father “thinks of us” in this way. Union with Christ means that God thinks of us as sharing in the perfect obedience of Christ, the sacrificial death of Christ, the victorious resurrection of Christ, and, for that matter, the heavenly ascension of Christ and the eternal reign of Christ. God thinks of us as being united with Christ in all of these ways, which means that we get to enjoy all of the blessings that belong to Christ as if we ourselves had earned them. 

Perhaps a couple of illustrations would be helpful. I think I’ve used the illustration before of being in an airplane. Whatever happens to that plane happens to you. If the plane goes down, you’re going down. If the plane, on the other hand, reaches its destination safely, you reach your destination safely. To a certain degree, your welfare is inextricably linked to the welfare of that plane. Whatever happens to the plane happens to you, and whatever it accomplishes is what you accomplish. That’s similar to the way in which we’re “in Christ” and united with him. 

Another way to think of it is like a joint checking account. Imagine that the entirety of Elon Musk’s wealth was in a checking account and that your name was also listed on that checking account as well. That would mean, in a certain manner of speaking, that the entirety of Elon Musk’s fortune belonged to you. You would own it all and would be legally permitted to draw from the vast riches of Elon Musk whenever you desired. All of his vast financial resources would be fully available and accessible to you at any time. That would be pretty cool. Yet, dear friends, the glorious truth of the gospel is that we have a joint checking account with someone infinitely wealthier and greater than Elon Musk, Jesus Christ. And because of our union with Christ, we can freely draw from all of his infinite riches and resources at any time as if they were our own. In a certain manner of speaking, they are our own.

And returning to our main passage in Galatians, we see how the doctrine of our union with Christ connects with our sanctification—or our ongoing growth in godliness. Paul states that because he’s been “crucified with Christ,” it’s now no longer he who lives but rather Christ who lives “in” him. The implication is that Paul has been united with Christ not only in his death but also in his resurrection. The resurrected Christ now lives within Paul—as is the case for all true Christians. This means that our sanctification is the product of our union with Christ and is the outworking of Christ’s own life within us—just like the Christmas tree ornament I described earlier. We shine with his light. 

So, don’t think for a moment that, after our initial conversion experience, God takes his hands off of us and subsequently leaves us to our own devices—so that, from that point on, it’s primarily on us to live for him. No, we’re not only justified through our union with Christ but also sanctified through our union with Christ. Even though we certainly have an active role to play in our sanctification, our role has to be seen within the larger context of God’s role in our sanctification. Our growth in godliness isn’t really a human achievement at all but rather a manifestation of God’s grace at work in us and through us. 

And I’m convinced we have to understand that in order to truly grow and thrive as Christians. This means there has to be a massive shift in our mentality. If there’s any way in which we’re relying merely on our own efforts our own abilities in order to grow in godliness, we have to decisively break away from that mentality and recognize that, just as God’s the one who’s ultimately responsible for our justification, he’s also the one ultimately responsible for our sanctification. 

This is the mentality Paul describes in the second part of verse 20 when he says, “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.” So, not only are we justified by faith, we also live “by faith” as the ongoing mentality that defines our lives and facilitates our continued spiritual growth and transformation. This means that we look to God and rely on his grace in order to experience genuine transformation. 

Of course, there’s certainly a human component as well since there are countless commands in the Bible related to our pursuit of Christian virtues and our practice of various spiritual disciplines. Yet God’s power and grace are still foundational. I think Philippians 2:12-13 strikes the perfect balance. Paul says to 12 …[W]ork out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. So, our working out of our salvation is based on God’s work within us. You might say that everything we do in our pursuit of sanctification should be done with a view toward drawing more from the grace that God provides.

Perhaps the best illustration of this is from Jesus himself in John 15, where Jesus talks about a branch abiding in the vine. He states in John 15:4, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” That’s the key to our sanctification. It’s all about abiding in Christ—which involves actively relying on Christ, communing with him in prayer, drawing nourishment from his Word in the Bible, and seeking to behold his glory as the primary catalyst of our transformation. 

In addition, the fact that our sanctification is an outworking of our union with Christ means that true Christians won’t continue to willfully give themselves over to sin. You know, there are some historically who have criticized the teaching of justification by faith alone by saying that it removes our primary incentive for godliness and results in people feeling free to indulge in a sinful lifestyle since they know they’ll be forgiven anyway. Yet that argument falls short for a number of reasons—one of them being that it ignores the biblical teaching of our union with Christ. The reason a genuine Christian won’t continue in sin is because we’re united with Christ in both his death and resurrection. 

So, in a certain sense, we’re actually not able to continue living a life of sin. Our changed hearts and the presence of Christ in our lives won’t allow us to live that way. So, if you’re able to freely give yourself over to sin for an extended period of time, I’m just not sure how it would even be possible for you to be a genuine Christian. As Paul tells us in Galatians 2, a definitive mark of someone who’s been united with Christ is that their old self has been crucified with Christ so that it’s now no longer they who live but Christ who lives in them.