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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Two Stages of Man, #5
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. (Galatians 2:20)
Rabbi Paul defended himself with the above statement.
Paul is saying, "It is true that I am not under the Law of Moses. But this does not mean I am free to sin. It is that my first personality has been crucified with the Lord. Now I am living by the Life of Christ as I place my faith in Him. I am under a new law, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ. The Life of Jesus does not transgress the eternal moral law of God!
"I do not observe the Law and statutes of Moses. Neither do I sin against God. I am living under a new and better covenant."
Dying that Christ Might Live.
If we are to become "man," if we are to reach the mark set before us, we must submit to the program of crucifixion specifically designed for us as an individual. We must reckon ourselves dead with Christ and alive with Christ. The old man, the first personality, cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, cannot ever become a chariot of God. The new born-again creation itself is the Kingdom of God. It is Christ in us, the hope of the glory to come.
The fruit that came from the life of the Apostle Paul is beyond our ability to estimate. But this vast eternal fruit came from Paul's death and new life, not from the human abilities of the student of Gamaliel. It is true also that the vast eternal fruit proceeding from the Lord Jesus has come to us from His crucifixion and resurrection. Both the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul are chariots of God.
The Book of Second Corinthians emphasizes the sufferings of Paul and the manner in which Paul viewed his sufferings.
For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: (II Corinthians 1:8,9)
Paul had the sentence of death in himself. It is impossible to accomplish God's will in our life until we have the sentence of death in ourselves. To have the sentence of death in ourselves is to commit our life to God to the point we are not overly concerned about whether we die or whether we live.
It is difficult to keep from being apprehensive about dying until we understand completely it is God's power that is keeping us alive. When Abraham stood with knife in hand, ready to do away with all hope of having an heir, of fulfilling the promise of God to him, he was ready to proceed with the sacrifice. Why? Because he had the sentence of death in himself. He believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead if need be.
To be continued.