Crucified With Christ; Christ Lives in Me (Continued) (Galatians 2:15–21)

“That I might live for God,”—that is, to live for God. One lives for God who dedicates all his thoughts, desires, feelings, words, deeds, and all his labors to God, to His glory, to pleasing Him, according to His holy will. And those living under the Law lived for God, but only outwardly; their inward man did not serve Him. Despite this they were considered righteous as having fulfilled the external conditions of justification. Now, he says, I, by God’s grace being born again in the Lord, both inwardly and outwardly, with my whole being am directed toward God and live for Him truly, “that is, with immortal and uncorrupted life” (Ecumenius). Or so: before the Lord’s coming, whoever wished to live for God had to live by the Law of Moses; for such was God’s will. Now it is different: God in the Lord Jesus Christ has established a new, better, and more efficacious way of living for God. Therefore, whoever now wishes to live for God, that is, fully according to His will, truly to please Him, must abandon the Law and believe in the Lord: for such now is God’s will, that to live for God is no other way than in Christ and through Christ. If I, he says, had merely abandoned the Law, left it simply not to restrict myself by the Law, that would be worse than being under the Law. But I abandoned one law in order to take up another, a better one; I continue to move in the same realm in which the will of God reigns; I abandoned the Law in order to live for God, as before, in slavery to the Law, I thought to live for God. But then there was no true life in me; and now I perceive it in me and live by it, with the assurance that, living thus, I live for God.

Where then did holy Paul find this new life? In being crucified together with Christ. “With Christ,” he says, “I have been crucified.” By these words he shows how, having abandoned the Law, he came to live for God. He speaks as if to say: do not think that abandoning the Law was easy for me. No. It was the same as crucifixion. Why was Christ crucified? In order to fulfill the will of the Heavenly Father, who “so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16). This will I came to understand, and in order to follow it, I offered everything in sacrifice—everything that was so dear to my heart—our religious convictions and the love of my people. Was it easy for me to abandon what I had been accustomed to from childhood, what I valued so highly and cherished so dearly?! But, having understood that such was God’s will, I tore this from my heart. Did I not see that in abandoning the Law I would incur the hatred of my people, whom I love and whose glory and well-being I count as my own? But I delivered myself to all sufferings from those I love, rather than to sin against the will of our Heavenly Father, so clearly revealed to me in the Lord Jesus Christ. My change was painful, like death. It was grievous to turn away from the Law, terrible to arouse dangers all around and to place myself in a state of expectation of death at any hour. But I delivered myself to pain and death, clinging to Christ in faith and laying all my hope of salvation on Him alone. I was and am in the state of one crucified, in being crucified together with Christ.

But in this there is still more. Crucifixion together with Christ is visible here; but how does new life according to God flow from this?! For a new life to begin, the above-mentioned moral change alone was not sufficient. This change is only a preparation for new life. Life itself is formed by being born from above, which is accomplished in baptism. Holy Chrysostom says: “But how, someone will say, was he crucified with Christ, when he was alive and breathing? That Christ was crucified is clear; but how were you crucified and living? By the words: ‘I have been crucified with Christ’—he pointed to the manner of life after baptism, by which the members are mortified.” “I was crucified together with Christ; for I was buried with Him in baptism” (blessed Theodoret). “I was spiritually crucified together with Him and died with Him through baptism” (blessed Theophylact). As the one being baptized into Christ’s death is immersed and comes out of the baptismal font in the renewal of life, the Apostle depicts extensively in the Epistle to the Romans (Rom. 6:1-13). In this moment of new birth the soul feels and from this same moment begins constantly to feel that it already possesses in perfection everything it expected and could expect from the Law, which therefore turns out to be unnecessary—and that the new life that has begun is so blessed that compared with it all sacrifices are nothing. Thus that which during the turning to Christ the Lord caused mortal pain and threatened with deaths has now disappeared: that which was dead has been swallowed up by life in Christ Jesus the Lord.

Gal. 2:20. 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.

I am dead, he says, but not to be dead, but to live a different life, a more perfect one. I have been crucified together with Christ; and Christ, living even in crucifixion, has filled me with His life: He has come to live in me. Now it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. This is not merely moral in the sense that I am wholly devoted to Him and dedicate all to Him—my thoughts, feelings, deeds, words, and everything external, as well as internal—I plan nothing for myself, everything for Him, so that it is as if I do not exist, but only He exists in me, and pleasing Him is my only concern: but really and essentially He is in me. I am united to Him, and He to me. I have been grafted to Him as a wild olive, and He has filled me with His life. He works in me with His all-working, directing everything to God’s glory and my salvation and that of others. From Him comes the awakening, from Him also comes the strength. It is not that the personality disappears; but so that the soul consciously and freely surrenders itself to Christ’s all-working. And He works in the soul according to the soul’s desire, seeking, and loving reception of His working; so that in deed it turns out as if the soul itself acts. For “whoever is united to the Lord is one spirit with the Lord” (1 Cor. 6:17). It is by faith that Christ dwells in the hearts (Eph. 3:17), and that is fulfilled which He promised: “You are in me and I am in you” (Jn. 15:4). Therefore: whatever the believer does that is truly of value in God’s eyes, he does it not without Him (Jn. 15:5). Without Him no one can do such deeds.

Ecumenius writes: “For this reason Christ lives in me, that in me nothing displeasing to Him occurs. Or so: He lives in me, working, ruling, being everything for me.” Holy Chrysostom depicts both sides of this mystery of life in Christ more extensively: “Having said: ‘it is no longer I who live,’ he pointed to the manner of life that follows baptism, by which the members are mortified. What does it mean: ‘Christ lives in me’? That, he says, I do nothing that is displeasing to Christ. For just as by life he means not general life, but sinful life, so by death he means freedom from sins. For in no other way is it possible to live for God except to die to sin. Thus, as Christ died bodily, so also I have died to sin. ‘Put to death, therefore, your earthly members: sexual immorality, impurity, passion,’ he says (Col. 3:5). Also: ‘our old self was crucified with him’ (Rom. 6:6), that is, in the baptismal font. Now, if you remain dead to sin, you will be alive and living for God; but if you again rise for sin, you will lose this life. But Paul is not like that: he remained dead to sin throughout his life. See how strict and pure his life is, and above all admire this blessed soul before others! He did not say: I live, but: ‘Christ lives in me.’ Who would dare to dispute the truth of what is said? Although he entirely gave himself to Christ, refused all that is temporal, and did everything according to His will, yet he did not say: therefore I live for Christ, but, which is much more important, ‘Christ lives in me.’ For just as sin, when it dominates a person, lives in him and governs his soul according to its will: so when a man, having mortified it, does what is pleasing to Christ, such life of his is no longer the life of the man, but of the One living in him, that is, of Christ acting in and governing him.”

“And the life I now live in the flesh.” This is a conclusion from the preceding. To live according to the flesh means to live carnally, sensuously, in the lusts of the flesh; and to live in the flesh means to live in the body visibly to all, in this present life. The Apostle draws attention of his listeners to how he held or conducted himself visibly to all, and speaks as if to say: what if I visibly to all conduct myself thus and so—that is, free from all obligations of the Law, neither offering sacrifices nor undergoing ablutions, not observing either the Sabbath or the festivals, and accounting circumcision as nothing, if I live thus visibly, it is because “I live by faith in the Son of God;” I do not rely on anything else, have placed all my hope of salvation on Him alone, with the firm assurance that He will forgive my sins, correct my life, and lead me into His eternal Kingdom. By this faith I live; it constitutes the whole structure of my inner life. The sacrifices of the Law and all the precepts of the Law had value because they prefigured Christ—the Son of God. But now, when the Son of God has come and given Himself for us, all the Old Testament ordinances have lost their significance. We must abandon the Law and cling to Christ by faith: which I do. I have counted everything as rubbish, that I may gain Christ—and I live solely by faith in Him. The Son of God, who loved us, came to earth, gave Himself for us, became our Mediator, the Propitiator of God’s righteousness, the Giver of God’s grace, which grants us new life. This I receive and appropriate to myself by faith and wish to know nothing else. That is why I live as you see me living, that is, in complete separation from the Law! Here, according to the remark of holy Chrysostom, lies a powerful reproach to those to whom Paul’s address was directed. He speaks as if to each of them: “Christ loved you so much that He gave Himself; and when you had no hope of salvation, He brought you to such a great and exalted life; and you, having received such blessings, turn back again to the old.”

Holy Chrysostom at this point draws special attention to why holy Paul appropriates to himself alone the perfect salvation accomplished by the Lord for all. “What are you doing, Paul? Why do you appropriate to yourself what is common to all and refer to yourself alone what was done for all people? For you did not say: him who loved us, but: ‘him who loved me.’ And the Evangelist says: ‘God so loved the world’ (Jn. 3:16); and you yourself in another place say: ‘He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all’ (Rom. 8:32). Why then does he speak thus here? He represented to himself the whole hopelessness of human nature and the unspeakable concern of Jesus Christ for us, and from what He freed us, and what He granted us, and, contemplating all this, was wholly inflamed with love toward Him; therefore he speaks thus. For the Prophets also often call their God, who is God of all, their own, speaking thus: ‘O God, O my God! Early will I seek you’ (Ps. 62:2). Besides, he showed that each of us is bound to Christ with such just gratitude as we would be bound if He had come for him alone. For He would not have refused to take upon Himself such mediation even for one; because He loves each individual person separately just as much as He loves the whole world. Moreover, although the sacrifice was offered for all and was sufficient for the salvation of all; yet only those who believed made use of its blessing.”

Gal. 2:21. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the Law, Christ died for nothing!

“To set aside means not to believe, to despise, to treat as worthless” (Ecumenius). The Apostle speaks as if to say: I cannot do otherwise; for if I should continue to hold to the Law, then I would set aside, despise, and treat as worthless grace. Or so: The Lord Himself approaches me so graciously, on the basis of faith alone, granting me both forgiveness of sins and inner renewal: how can I set aside this grace and continue to bind myself with the bonds of the Law? Holy John of Damascus says: “By grace, he says, I have become free. Why then, by returning again to the Law, should I not incur reproach upon grace, as if it were not powerful to give life?” “For (after the coming of grace) he who continues to live according to the Law dishonors grace as insufficient for salvation” (blessed Theodoret). According to Ambrosiaster, holy Paul speaks as if to say here: “I cannot show myself ungrateful to God’s grace and not remain unshakeable in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that I have been blessed by no one as by Him, and that if I compare to Him another (the Law), from which I have received no help, I thereby show contempt for Him.”

“If righteousness could be gained through the Law,” δικαιοσύνη—righteousness, the life pleasing to God, the salvific life,—“then Christ died for nothing.” If the Law provided both forgiveness of sins and inner rectitude and sanctification, then there was no need for Christ to die. He died precisely in order to provide us with these two essential goods—forgiveness of sins and sanctifying grace, which no one else could provide and without which we have no salvation. For as long as we are under sin, not forgiven, we have no access to God. But even if we were forgiven, if we were not inwardly renewed and did not receive the strength to walk unfailingly in God’s will, we would all remain unworthy before God. The Lord Savior died for us and nailed our sins to the cross. Then, having ascended to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit from the Father. Therefore, to those who believe in Him He grants both forgiveness of sins and the salvific grace of the Holy Spirit. Without these two we have no salvation. Consequently, Christ, who has provided them to us, did not die in vain. But if the Law could provide these goods, then there would be no reason for Christ to die, when the Law already provides everything necessary for salvation.

The Apostle, indeed, states here only a general principle; the conclusion from it he leaves for each to draw for himself, on account of its extreme obviousness. Namely: but Christ did not die in vain—it is impossible to say that Christ died in vain; consequently, righteousness is not through the Law.

Holy Chrysostom says upon these words of holy Paul: “What sin is greater than this, what words are stronger than these for conviction? For if Christ died, it is evident that the Law is not powerful to justify us; but if the Law justifies, then Christ died in vain. But would it not be foolish to call useless and in vain this so terrible and surpassing human understanding, Work, this ineffable mystery, which the Patriarchs awaited with longing, which the Prophets predicted, and at which the Angels trembled with awe—the work which by right should be recognized by all as the chief cause of God’s providence for us? In this way the Apostle presents as the extreme degree of foolishness and absurdity to regard so great and important a work as vain.”

“This word is very powerful,” writes blessed Jerome, “against those who after faith in Christ think that they ought to observe the precepts of the Law. If righteousness is through the Law, then Christ died in vain. Or let them show how Christ did not die in vain if the works of the Law justify; but however foolish they may be, they will not dare to say that Christ died for nothing. Therefore we must complete his speech here by the following reasoning: but Christ did not die in vain; and conclude: consequently, righteousness is not through the Law.”