David Yarbrough
Galatians 2:20 (CSB)
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
What did the Apostle Paul mean when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ”? The first clue is found in the next sentence. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Paul has experienced a change in his whole identity. Before his conversion, Paul believed his purpose was to destroy Christianity. His conversion was unbelievable to many in the early church, and it turned him from friend to foe in Judaism. The ones who had sent Paul out to destroy the church turned on him after he became a Christian and attempted to kill him.
Paul compared his pre-Jesus religious experience to knowing Christ when he said in Philippians 3:8 (CSB), "More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ." It could be said that after his conversion, Paul entered the Kingdom Witness Protection Program. He’s given a new identity (in Christ), a new purpose (gospelizing everyone), a new location (seated with Christ), a new King (Jesus), a new home (the Kingdom of God), a new personal history (the old is gone, the new has come), and a new family (Eph. 6:23).
When you come to Jesus for salvation, everything about you changes in the spiritual world, and you're given a new life (Rom. 5:18). You, like the Apostle Paul, are given a new identity, a new purpose, a new location, a new King, a new home, a new personal history, and a new family. Taking our position in the Kingdom of God not only involves renouncing our sin but also surrendering our lives to the King. Now that you're a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17), you have entered into the witness program (Acts 1:8).
The Kingdom Witness Program requires you to relinquish your life to Jesus (Lk. 9:23), which means you voluntarily die to this world and yourself. When you do, you will find your new life, as it says in Romans 6:8 (CSB): "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him." Jesus makes it very clear that dying to self and entering the Kingdom is impossible without humility. Jesus said in Matthew 18:3: "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.”
To be crucified with Christ is a daily discipline (Lk. 8:23; Rom. 12:2). Pride and selfishness are still alive in our flesh and are welling up daily to try and take control of our minds (Rom. 8:12–14). The act of crucifying our flesh is a daily resolve of the will. This is only done through consistent prayer (1 Thess. 5:17).
When the Apostle Paul says he was “crucified with Christ,” he does not mean that he was there physically on a cross next to Jesus the day Jesus was crucified, but that Paul so identified with that event that it was at the very core of his identity.
My parents were married many years before I was born, but I so identify with that union because it is at the core of my existence. Without my parents getting married, I would not exist. We should be so identified with Christ that the heart of our existence is directly linked to His death, burial, and resurrection. Because apart from that, we would not exist as a born-again believer in Christ Jesus.
Living under the Kingdom authority and rule of Jesus is going to prove to be an impossible task if you haven’t’ crucified the flesh along with its sinful desires. But take heart; you're not alone in this journey. You have the life-transforming power of the Holy Spirit within you (Eph. 1:13), guiding you, stirring you, and giving you the desire to join God in His work. You have a new identity in Christ (1 Cor 1:30); you have a position of authority because of your union with Jesus (Eph. 2:6); and you have a Kingdom purpose (Acts 13:36).