Study on Galatians - Week 05

NO LONGER I, BUT CHRIST LIVING IN ME

Scripture Reading: Galatians 2:19-20

Key Verse(s):

Gal. 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in
me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Excerpts from the Ministry:

Galatians 2:20 does not speak of an exchanged life. Here Paul says, “No longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me.” Then he goes on to say, “And the life which I now live in the flesh I
live in faith, the faith of the Son of God.” On the one hand, Paul says, “It is no longer I who live”;
on the other hand, he says, “I live.” If you consider this verse as a whole, you will see that there is
no thought of an exchanged life. Here what is presented is not an exchange; rather, it is a
profound mystery
Paul says, on the one hand, “no longer I” and, on the other hand, “I live.” How can we
reconcile this?...Romans 6:6 tells us that our old man has been crucified with Christ. This verse
helps us to see that the very I who has been crucified with Christ is the old “I,” the old man. As
regenerated people, we have both an old “I” and a new “I.” The old “I” has been terminated, but
the new “I” lives.
Now we must go on to see the difference between the old “I” and the new “I.”...According
to the natural understanding, some would say that the old “I” is evil, whereas the new “I” is
good. This concept of the difference between the old “I” and the new “I” must be rejected. The
old “I” had nothing of God in it, whereas the new “I” has received the divine life. The old “I” has
become a new “I” because God as life has been added to it. The “I” that has been terminated is
the “I” that was without divinity. The “I” who still lives is the “I” into which God has been added.
There is a great difference here. The old “I,” the “I” without God, has been terminated. But the
new “I” still lives, the “I” that came into being when the old “I” was resurrected and had God
added to it. On the one hand, Paul has been terminated. But, on the other hand, a resurrected
Paul, one with God as his life, still lives.
In 2:20 Paul says, “Christ lives in me.” According to the concept of an exchanged life, our
life is terminated and Christ lives…It is rather easy to understand that Christ lives. But it is
difficult to understand how Christ lives in us. This does not mean that I have been crucified and
live no longer, and that Christ lives instead of me. On the one hand, Paul said, “no longer I”; on
the other hand, he said, “Christ lives in me.” The phrase “in me” is of great importance. Yes, it is
Christ who lives, but it is in us that He lives.
Before His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus said to the disciples, “Because I live,
you shall live also” (v. 19). Christ lives in us by causing us to live with Him. Christ does not live
alone. He lives in us and with us. He lives by enabling us to live with Him. In a very real sense, if
we do not live with Him, He cannot live in us. We have not been altogether ruled out, and our
life has not been exchanged for the divine life. We continue to exist, but we exist with the Triune
Study on Galatians - Week 05

God. The Triune God who now dwells within us causes us to live with Christ. Hence, Christ lives
in us through our living with Him.
In John 6:57 the Lord Jesus said, “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the
Father, so he who eats Me shall also live because of Me.” The Son did not live by Himself.
However, this does not mean that the Son was set aside and ceased to exist. The Son, of course,
continued to exist, but He did not live His own life. Instead, He lived the life of the Father. In
this way the Son and the Father had one life and one living. They shared the same life and had
the same living.
It is the same in our relationship with Christ today. We and Christ do not have two lives.
Rather, we have one life and one living. We live by Him, and He lives in us. If we do not live, He
does not live; and if He does not live, we cannot live. On the one hand, we are terminated; on the
other hand, we continue to exist, but we do not live without Him. Christ lives within us, and we
live with Him. Therefore, we and He have one life and one living.
“I,” the natural person, is inclined to keep the law that I might be perfect (Phil. 3:6), but
God wants me to live Christ that God may be expressed in me through Him (Phil. 1:20-21).
Hence, God’s economy is that “I” be crucified in Christ’s death and Christ live in me in His
resurrection. To keep the law is to exalt it above all things in my life; to live Christ is to make
Him the center in my life, even to make Him everything to me.
Paul says that the life we now live in the flesh we live in faith, the faith of the Son of God.
We live the divine life, not by sight or by feeling in the way we live the physical and soulish life.
The divine life, which is the spiritual life in our spirit, is lived by the exercise of faith stimulated
by the presence of the life-giving Spirit.
On the one hand, this faith is of Christ; on the other hand, it is in Christ. However, it is
too simple merely to say that this faith is Christ. We need to say that it is Christ revealed to us
and infused into us. Faith is related not only to the Christ who has been infused into us, but also
to the Christ who is infusing Himself into us. As Christ operates in us, He becomes our faith.
This faith is of Him and also in Him.
[Paul] concludes the verse by referring to the Son of God as the One “Who loved me and
gave Himself for me.” In writing these words, Paul was filled with appreciation of the Lord
Jesus…In our appreciation for the Lord Jesus, we shall say, “Lord Jesus, I love You and I
treasure You.” As we speak such words to the Lord, He operates within us and becomes our
faith. This faith brings about an organic union in which we and Christ are truly one.
God’s New Testament economy is for the processed Triune God to be wrought into us to
become our life and our very being. If we see this, we shall be able to proclaim that we have been
crucified with Christ and that we live no longer. (Life-study of Galatians, pp. 85-93)

Study Questions:

1. Explain the difference between the old “I” and the new “I” in Galatians 2:20.
2. How is faith related to the appreciation of the Lord Jesus?