10-21- ‘01 FAITH- CHRIST LIVING IN ME
A. Armstrong
Galatians 2:20
“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.
In this portion of scripture, Paul is relating an experience he had with Peter and some other Jews.
He said in verse 12 that Peter had gone down to Antioch and was fellowshipping with the Gentiles. He ate his meals with them, etc.
But James sent certain men down to Antioch [who were Jews], and when they arrived, Peter separated himself from the Gentiles.
He did this because he feared those that were of the circumcision. The other Jews that were with Peter followed his example and separated themselves also. It was so bad, that even Paul’s companion in ministry, Barnabas, did the same.
So Paul withstood Peter to the face.
[Although Paul does not tell us Peter’s reaction to this confrontation, we do know that when they were in Jerusalem, debating concerning the Gentiles following certain works of the law, that Peter stood with Paul.]
Galatians 2:14-16
14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,
16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
V14- If thou being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews…
Peter knew that he was justified by faith, and not by doing the works of the law. He knew that he was saved by the same faith as the Gentiles. He lived after the manner of the Gentiles- that is justified by faith in Christ, not by the works of the law.
So Paul’s question was, ‘Why do you compel the Gentiles to live as the Jews do?’
By his act of separation according to the OT law, he was in essence saying to the Gentiles that serving Christ by faith alone without becoming a Jew by works was not enough.
It was the same as to call them unclean. And God had already said...
Acts 10:15
...What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
And it was the same as to say to them, ’the blood of Jesus isn’t enough to save you.’
Paul felt compelled to withstand this double-standard.
It was dangerous to the gospel.
1st - It was hypocritical. He said one thing (Galatians 2:9) but lived something else (Galatians 2:11-12).
2nd - It was yielding to fear [He followed the crowd simply because they put pressure upon him—even when he knew better.]…
2Tim. 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear….
3rd - It was esteeming some persons better than others…
James said that is evil thinking.
V15- We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles…
Paul was simply stating here, we were born Jews. That is, into the nation chosen by God as his people. Not born into a nation of sinners, [those who had not been called the people of God].
Even though we are Jews, we know that….
V16 - [Knowing that] a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ…
Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Those Jews who had received Jesus Christ as their savior, by that very act, admitted that the law could not save them. If it could, then they would not have needed Christ,
Heb 7:19
19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
And Paul wrote in….
Romans 10:4
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.
This verse fits perfectly with ‘for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.’
It says that Christ is the END OF THE LAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. The word ‘end’ means -point aimed at; purpose; levy paid; uttermost ending.
That tells me that…
Gal 3:24-26
24 [Wherefore] the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Christ was the ‘point aimed at’. He was the purpose for the law in the first place. WHY? Because the law showed us the exceeding sinfulness of sin. It taught us that we were under the penalty of death. It pointed to the way of escape…Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:19-20
[19] For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
[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.
Paul had formerly expected to be justified by the Law.
He had endeavored to obey it. It had been the object of his life to comply with all its requisitions in order to be saved by it.
But all this while he had not fully understood its nature; and when he was made fully to feel and comprehend its spiritual requirements, then all his hopes of justification by it died, and he became dead to it.
The law, in a sense, was a sinking ship. And everyone who clung to it as their hope of salvation on life’s sea was going to be greatly disappointed. It would not save them. It COULD NOT save them. It brought them to the place of salvation, but they had to forsake the hope of that ship and cast themselves upon Christ, the rock of their salvation in order to be saved.
I get a picture of this in my head.
A ship tossed about by the great storm. Nearing the rock. Those on board have put their trust in this ship for so long that it is hard for them to turn from it to the rock. Some will not. They continue to trust in it. But others recognize that it only means death to cling to it’s shelter. That to be saved, they must cast themselves upon the rock, or they will be dashed to pieces against it.
To cling to that ship was death. And to cling to the law as any means or hope of salvation in it, was also death.
Paul recognized that he could ‘live unto God’ through the works of the law, so he ‘died to the law’ [no longer trusted it as a means of salvation. No longer put his hopes in the works of the law] so that he might live unto God in the only way that was possible…
“I am crucified with Christ.”
Rom 6:4-7
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
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.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Gal 5:24
24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 6:14
14 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.
Col 2:12
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
Col 3:3
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
NEVERTHELESS I LIVE…
Rom 6:11
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, BUT ALIVE UNTO GOD through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:13
but yield yourselves unto God, AS THOSE THAT ARE ALIVE from the dead,
Eph 2:5-6
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ…
6 And hath RAISED US UP together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Col 2:13
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, HATH HE QUICKENED together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Yet not I, BUT CHRIST LIVETH IN ME…
John 14:20
20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, AND I IN YOU.
2 Cor 4:10
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that THE LIFE also OF JESUS might BE MADE MANIFEST IN OUR BODIES.
Eph 3:17
17 That Christ may DWELL IN your hearts by faith;
Col 1:27
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; WHICH IS CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory:
The LIFE WHICH I NOW LIVE IN THE FLESH I LIVE BY THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD…
Rom 1:17
17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.
2 Cor 1:24
for BY FAITH YE STAND.
2 Cor 5:7
7 (For WE WALK BY FAITH, not by sight:)
2 Cor 5:15
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.
John 6:56-57
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, EVEN HE SHALL LIVE BY ME.
It is in verse 20 that we find the main point today.
One man said…
“Engrafted into the death of Christ, we derive energy from it, as the shoot does from the root."
It is our vital union with Christ whereby we draw our strength to live the Christian life.
It is the indwelling Christ through His Spirit who lives His life in us as we yield to Him.
The indwelling Christ makes the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ a living reality.
Having died with Christ in his death, the believer now lives with Christ in his life. In fact, this new life in Christ is nothing less than the risen Christ living his life in the believer.
The risen Christ is the operative power in the new life, as sin was in the old.
It is by the Spirit that the risen life of Christ is communicated to his people and maintained within them . . .. The believer’s present life . . . is lived in faith–union with Christ, the Son of God.
Paul pointed out that we are justified by faith alone.
But he also points out that not only is our beginning faith, but it continues to be faith…"the life which I NOW live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God."
We live this new life by His resurrection power. Christ wants us to make ourselves available to Him so He can live His life in and through us. We have been "raised to walk in newness of life."
Faith is not a ‘one time’ thing. It is not just the initial trust in Christ for salvation.
I have talked to people about salvation who have told me…
‘I was saved years ago… one woman said, ‘I got saved when I was nine years old at a tent meeting.’ This she trusted in for her eternal life.
But she was not LIVING by the faith of the Son of God; not walking in the newness of life.
The life of Christ was not being lived ‘through her life.’
But to ‘live by faith’ is a continuing faith. It is not a once in a lifetime thing, but a continual living..
One man said, ‘It is faith alone that justifies, but faith that justifies is not alone.’
The Presbyterian minister, A. B. Simpson, writes of this indwelling life of Christ. He said, “I shall never forget the morning that I spent in my church reading an old book I discovered in my library. As I poured over that little volume, I saw a new light.
The Lord Jesus revealed Himself as a living, all-sufficient Presence, and I learned for the first time that Christ had not saved us from future peril and left us to fight the battle of life as best we could; but He who had justified us was waiting to sanctify us, to enter into our spirit, and substitute His strength, His holiness, His joy, His love, His faith, His power for all our worthlessness, helplessness and nothingness, and make it an actual living fact. “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20). It was indeed a new revelation. Throwing myself at the feet of the glorious master, I claimed the mighty promise––“I will dwell in them, and walk in them”
2 Corinthians 6:16
…as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them…
We can only declare ‘when I am weak, then am I strong’ if Christ abides in us; if the life we are living in the flesh, we are living by the faith of the Son of God.
For it was Christ who said to Paul…
2 Cor 12:9
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Christ doesn’t save me to pursue my selfish pursuits. He saves me so He can live out His life in me as I surrender to Him.
Col 3:1-4
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
For ye are dead, and your YOUR LIFE IS HID WITH CHRIST in God.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
CHRIST IS OUR LIFE.
We sing ‘He Abides with me.’ The truth is, that if he abides WITH me, then he abides IN me. He didn’t say that he would come and take abode next door to us, but move right INTO us.
His promise is not to be nearby if we have need of him. It is “I will dwell IN them, and WALK IN them.
And that scripture doesn’t stop there, but says...
2Cor. 6:16
…ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
His being our God is in direct correlation to his dwelling in and walking in us.
Christ, in the person of the Holy Spirit, dwells within, sanctifying our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit and enabling us to approach the throne of God in prayer . . . "
Galatians 4:6 tells us…
Because we are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Sprit who calls out ’Abba, Father’.
It is because of this that we have access into the very throne room of God…
Eph 3:12
12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Faith is the bond of union with the risen Christ.
To live by faith is tantamount to "living by the Spirit.
By faith, we draw daily on the promises and provisions of the resurrection life of the indwelling Son of God.
One clear evidence that we possess a living faith is that we are yielding to Christ as our indwelling Lord.
Therefore, since Christ is living in our hearts by faith the desire of our heart is to yield to Him.
SONGS: He Keeps Me Singing
Living By Faith
He Abides.
