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I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST

Galatians 2:11-21

Key Verse: 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

  Last week we studied how Paul fought a spiritual battle in order to preserve the truth of the gospel. He did not compromise with the legalistic Jews, who claimed the requirement of circumcision for the Gentiles in order to be saved. Paul did not give in to them, but fought so that the truth of the gospel might remain with the Gentile believers. The truth of the gospel is that Christ died for our sins and rose again from the dead and that both Jews and the Gentiles can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ only by God’s grace.  In this multi-racial and multi-cultural society, we may be tolerant of the differences and the diversity of race, religion, culture, and so on. However, we must not compromise for the sake of the truth of the gospel. We must fight a spiritual fight like Paul so that the truth of the gospel may remain with us all the time. We also teach and help our students and children to remain in the truth of the gospel.  Amen.

  In today’s passage Paul continues to defend the truth of the gospel. He especially rebukes Peter when Peter did not live according to the truth of the gospel. Paul also teaches us how to live in the faith in Jesus Christ as Christians and what to live by faith in Jesus means to us.

First, Paul rebukes Peter (11-14) Look at verse 11. “When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.” Peter visited the Antioch church after Paul and his companions had visited Jerusalem and received the official approval of their Gentile ministry. Peter visited Antioch to see the work of God among the Gentiles with his own eyes. He was impressed by the changed and joyful lives of the Gentile believers in that church. Christ’s love was among them. There was real freedom and joy in their fellowship. Peter thanked God and wanted to join the Gentile believer’s beautiful fellowship. But he made a big mistake which stood against the truth of the gospel.

  Look at verses 12,13. “Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.” Eating together at the same table means becoming the same family members.  Peter was eating with the Gentile believers all kinds of food, disregarding the Jewish dietary customs. According to the Jewish dietary customs based on Leviticus 11, the Jews are allowed to eat only animals that have a split hoof completely divided and that chew the cud, such as, ox, sheep, goats and so on. They should not eat a pig because it has a split hoof, but does not chew the cud. They treated pigs as unclean animals and did not eat them at all. The Moses’ law also forbids eating unclean birds such as eagle, vulture, kite, owl, bat and so on. There was a bad news to those who love fish. The law does not allow eating any fish which has no fins and scales such as octopus, mackerel, whale, shark and so on. Even though John the Baptist ate locust, the Jews must not eat flying insects that walk on all four legs because they are detestable to them. Despite such strict dietary law, Peter was eating all kinds of delicious meat and fish with the Gentile believers. Oh! Pork chop! Fried octopus!

  In the past, as a Jew, Peter had been strict in keeping this Jewish dietary custom. But one afternoon while he was praying, he saw a vision of a large sheet which contained all kinds of four footed animals, reptiles, and birds of the earth. Then a voice came to him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” Peter replied, “Surely not, Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” (Ac 10:9-16)  This vision taught Peter to accept the Gentile believers as his own brothers and family members in Christ Jesus. Right after this incident, Peter was invited to the house of Cornelius, the Gentile centurion, whose household became believers and were baptized by the Holy Spirit through Peter’s gospel message. (Ac 10:44)

  So Peter had no problem eating with the Gentile believers because he was free from the Jewish dietary law. However, while he was eating delicious Turkish beetle soup, certain men came from James, the leader of Jerusalem Church. Among them there were the legalistic circumcision group who sharply criticized Peter who was eating with the Gentiles. So, out of fear Peter stood up and drew back and separated himself from the Gentile believers. The other Jews joined Peter and even Barnabas was confused by Peter’s abrupt behavior.  Peter was caught by Paul who believed that Peter was clearly in the wrong. Paul even said that Peter’s act was hypocritical.  Look at verse 14. “When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?” Paul meant that Peter’s act was hypocritical because Peter ate like the Gentiles, freed from the Jewish dietary law, but he was not free from another Jewish law, which is circumcision.

  Then, why did Paul rebuke harshly Peter, who was the top disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ? It was because of Peter’s influence. If one of the believers in Jerusalem Church acted like Peter, Paul could have endured his fault. But Peter was the top leader in the church. The higher position he has in any church or organization, the more influential he gives to other members.  In fact when Peter drew back and moved his seat, even Barnabas was confused and led astray. Paul did not compromise with this. He did not mind who they were if they acted against the truth of the gospel. He severely rebuked Peter in front of all, both the Jews and the Gentiles. Paul rebuked Peter publicly so that Peter might repent of his hypocrisy and that the Gentile believers might not be discouraged or confused. Paul’s shepherd heart for the Gentile believers and his zeal for the truth of the gospel made him bold and courageous. Paul could do so because he lived before God, not before men. May God grant us Paul’s shepherd heart and zeal for the truth of the gospel. Amen.

Second, being justified by faith (15-16) Verse 16 is the key verse for Galatians and the core of truth of the gospel. Look at verses 15,16. “We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” In verse 16 the words “being not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Christ Jesus” appear three times. This repetition emphasizes relevance. No one on this earth, whether they are Jews or the Gentiles, can meet the standard of God’s righteousness. Even though you keep 99 traffic rules, but violate one out of 100, you are still a law breaker. You are guilty. You cannot get out of jail until you pay the penalty of your sin. So Paul knew that it was impossible for men to become righteous, perfect before God by observing the law. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Ro 3:23) But God made the impossible way become possible for men to become righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. Men become righteous and justified through faith in Jesus Christ. The word “justified” means “declared innocent, not guilty.” Men become justified not because of what they have done but because of what Christ had done. Men become righteous before God when they believe that Jesus died for their sins and rose again from the dead and when they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. (Ro 10:9,10)  In God’s salvation there is no favoritism, no racism, no localism. God’s grace is given equally to all those who come to him with repentant hearts. 1 John 1:8,9 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Lord, I have sinned against you. Forgive all my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness so that I may be saved from your punishment and death. Amen.

Third, I have been crucified with Christ (17-21) Look at verses 17,18. “If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker.” Here Paul’s logic is that we should not commit sin any more, because we are justified through faith in Jesus. Salvation is God’s grace. The Bible says, “For the penalty of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.” (Ro 6:23) As forgiven sinners, we must not sin again. God’s grace is not the license of sin. (Ro 6:1) Paul explains the reason in verses 19,20. Look at verse 19. “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.” By Moses’ law Paul was sentenced to death because he did not observe all the laws. But after he died, he was free from the law because the law was not master over him anymore. It is like the marriage law which Paul explained in Romans 7. Marriage law is effective for a wife only while her husband is alive. If he dies, she is free from the marriage law. In the same way, Paul died to the law and he was not any longer under the power of the law. He was free from the law and now belongs to another, Jesus Christ, who died for him and rose again for him. (Ro 7:4) Paul’s death to the law brought to him new life with Christ Jesus. So, he said, “...I died to the law so that I might live for God.”

  Look at verse 20. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Paul confesses that he has been crucified with Christ. What does ‘being crucified with Christ’ mean? It means that Paul died with Christ Jesus. When Christ Jesus died on the cross, he died for the sins of the world including Paul’s sin. When Paul accepted this, he died with Christ and was buried with Christ. So Paul no longer lived, because he died. After Paul died, Christ lives in Paul because Christ rose again from the dead. Now the old Paul lives no longer, but Christ lives in Paul. In other words, Paul’s old self died with Christ and now his new self lives with Christ.

  Paul explains more about this in Romans 6. “…We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Ro 6:2-4) Baptism is one of the important ritual ceremonies for Christians. Baptism means ‘immersion’ by dipping into the water and coming out of the water. When you are under the water, it means that your old self is dead. When you come out of the water, you become a new person. You are no more an old person. So, water baptism in the Bible history symbolizes new creation and new beginning. When God judged the word in Noah’s time, the whole earth was under the water. God started a new beginning with Noah’s family after the water judgment. When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, they were under the water. They had a baptism ceremony. When they came out of the Red Sea, God desired for them to become a new people, a priestly kingdom for all nations, not a slave people.

  Since we have been crucified with Christ Jesus, we no longer live in ourselves, but Christ lives in us. We entrust the ownership of our lives to Christ Jesus. We have no reason and no authority to claim our own right over our lives because we are already dead. Have you ever seen someone who is dead? The dead person has no right, no power, no strength, no feeling, no desire, no thoughts, and no voice. The dead are just quiet and don’t move at all. If we allow our old self to still rule over our thoughts, our feelings, and our desires, we are not dead. We are not completely dead, but pretending to be dead. Being crucified with Christ Jesus means crucifying our old self on the cross. Paul said in 5:24, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” If you are still angry, you did not die. If you are still legalistic, you did not die. You must die, die with Christ. Let us die so that Christ may live in us, rule our thoughts, control our feelings, and determine our future. Let us hand over the ownership of our lives completely to our Lord Jesus Christ.

  Look at verse 20 b again, “…The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” How can we trust in Jesus? How can we entrust the ownership of our lives to Christ Jesus? We can do so because he loved us and gave himself for us. What more proof of his love can you ask from Jesus, who gave himself for you? Jesus loved you and died for you. He gave his life for you to save you from eternal death and punishment. He prayed for you on the cross for the forgiveness of your sin. He was with you when you walked through the valley of death. He watched over you when you were wandering in the darkness of sin and temptation.

  We become righteous when we believe in Jesus and trust in his love. We are saved not because what we have done, but because what Jesus had done. We are justified not because we are better than unbelievers, but because we are repentant sinners. There is nothing add to or remove from the truth of the gospel of Jesus. If someone tries to add to this, Christ died for nothing and our salvation is not from the grace of God. (21) In verse 20 Paul used the present perfect tense, “I have been crucified with Christ.”  This means our crucifixion with Christ may continue every day, even today. So, Paul said, “I die every day.” (1 Co 15:31a)

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