Crucified

September 14, 2021

I’ve discovered that I get myself into trouble when I fail to distinguish between what God has done and is doing in my life and what he expects me to do. If I’m not careful, I’m sure to get them backward. Paul’s letter to the Galatians illustrates what I mean.

Four times in this letter, Paul speaks of crucifixion, one of which refers solely to the death of Christ, the other three of our identification with him in death. Christians have become so used to speaking of such identification that we tend to forget how odd this language really is. We don’t find this kind of talk in business circles, in politics or education. Only in religion do we speak of identifying with someone in death. 

Paul speaks of our being crucified in three different ways. First, he says, “I have been crucified with Christ” (2:20). He wasn’t as I believed for years, speaking of putting an end to his sinful ways, but of his good works. He has been talking of all the things he did to earn God’s favor (cp. 2:16), and how the Cross puts an end to human striving and self-justification. It’s not only our sins that need to be crucified; it’s our goodness, too, as I have mentioned elsewhere.

The second time he uses crucifixion language is in 5:24, where he says “those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Notice the change in how he speaks of crucifixion. Before, he said it was something that happened to him. Here, he says it is something he must do. This is where we so often get tangled up. On the one hand, we strive to prove ourselves to God when we should simply receive the work he has done for us in Christ. On the other hand, we expect God to step in and miraculously fix our passions and desires, funneling them into holy and productive channels, when this text clearly says this is our job. When we transpose these two crucifixions, we either puff up with pride at how well we are doing, or we sink into failure because we haven’t put forth the necessary effort to put to death the sinful desires we all have.

The third time Paul speaks of crucifixion, he says, “God forbid that I should boast except in the Cross of Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world” (6:14). Here he speaks not of the internal and personal battles against sin or self-righteousness, but of the world around him. When we understand and live out the first two crucifixions, this third comes almost automatically. This world with all its temptations and strivings no longer has a hold on him, which enables him to glory only in the Cross of Christ.