Galatians 2:20, commentary and pictures

The old selfish self is put to death with Christ so that it no longer rules as the center, and Christ Himself comes to live in the believer by faith through the Holy Spirit as companion and life of the soul. The life that remains in the flesh is then lived by personal trust in the Son of God who loved each sinner individually and gave Himself on the cross, and that love becomes its foundation and motive power. This death to self must be renewed daily through thorough conversion, repentance and painful detachment from idols, for the self-centered I readily rises again and while it lives it strives for mastery. When self dies Christ takes possession of heart and mind, cleansing the inner temple and giving strength for obedience, so that character is supernaturally transformed into His likeness and made fruitful in love and good works.

Death to Self

To be crucified with Christ is for the old selfish self to be put to death so that it no longer rules as the center of life, and the believer no longer lives for selfish ends but belongs to Christ and uses every power in His service. Earthly and selfish interests no longer engage the soul, mind and strength, the life is not of the world but follows Christ's character in self-denial, self-sacrifice, patience, gentleness and willing obedience, shining as holy light. The inward change brings meekness and self-government where uncontrolled temper was, the life is hidden with Christ in God so that words, spirit and actions display Christ rather than self and glorify God.

Death to self must be renewed daily because the self-centered I is difficult to kill and readily rises again when given opportunity or encouragement. Indulging self-sufficiency and trust in supposed wisdom and self-confidence turns one from the right way and can make one an instrument against the truth, and merely belonging to the church or knowing the truth does not make one a Christian. Dying daily means seeking abundant salvation in God's appointed way by complying with scriptural conditions, humbly accepting humiliating reproofs and warnings instead of rising against them, living not by human impulse but by Christ's Spirit in calm trust and obedience to His law.

Being crucified includes being crucified to the world with its selfish interests, affections, lusts, pleasures and mammon service, which is the opposite of loving pleasure more than God. It means crucifying the will, the hardest crucifixion, coming under Christ's generalship, warring against one's own defects instead of criticizing others, and placing the will in unison with God's will as Christ kept His will on God's side in perfect obedience though tempted in all points and free as Adam in Eden to yield. Few professed followers after faithful self-examination in the light of God's Word can truthfully say this describes them, for panting after earthly enjoyment and worldly vanity proves a false foundation while panting after assurance of God's love, pardon, peace, righteousness and true holiness with affections set on heaven proves the true life of faith secured for glory when Christ who is the life appears.

Self must pass through a severe conflict of death in which self-confidence and self-assurance, a set will and independent course of one's own choosing, unholy ambition, wrong habits and love for worldly attractions are given up and the cross is lifted in self-denial and sacrifice. While self lives it quivers at every touch and strives for mastery, and those who seek the heavenly pearl without entire surrender remain almost Christians, almost saved, near the kingdom yet unable to enter, without rest, peace, harmony or joy, and to be almost but not wholly saved is to be wholly lost. When self is crucified the believer gains victory to overcome in Jesus, receive the faithful's reward, and follow God's opening providences with grateful heart, determined life and eye single to His glory in sickness or health, in abundance or want.

Crucifying self means subduing a quick impetuous temper and controlling the passions, refusing to act from impulse, to judge and condemn without understanding, or to take others' duties, while possessing the spirit in patience with calm thankful mind. It means the death of pride falsely called sensitiveness that feels blamed by an opposite word, claims to be used wrongly and wronged, disputes wisdom and authority, overthrows candid reason and calm judgment, and then excuses itself by deep feeling and suffering which does not excuse before God. It means laying aside self-esteem, self-exaltation, self-love, jealousy, evil-surmising, resentment and desire to retaliate when reviled, neglected or slighted, with harshness and dominating spirit, so that neglect and slights are not taken to heart and reproach, scorn and insult are not felt, and every thought and passion is brought into subjection to Christ in meek quiet spirit bearing contradiction without rage.

The change is so marked it is represented by death, a passing from vigorous active life to death, and by baptism in which the believer is crucified, buried in the likeness of Christ's death and raised with Him to walk in newness of life. It is not modification or improvement of the old life but transformation of nature with death to self and sin and altogether new life wrought only by the Holy Spirit, renouncing sin and Satan, giving up self that took too much room, and devoting body, soul, spirit and all powers to service under God's mighty working. Its marked evidences are pure peaceable gentle merciful good fruits and works of meek wisdom conformed to Christ in will, temper, spirit, meditations and thought, in quietness and assurance forever, so no one need be deceived whether it has happened and one who lacks it must make seeking it with all the heart the all-important business of life.

Self dies through thorough conversion, repentance, humility, heart work and painful detachment from idols, sought through individual fasting and prayer with broken spirit and full consecration, choosing God's way instead of one's own. Until self dies one remains in bondage to sin, unconverted without saving understanding of the Word and without obedience, unable to overcome, to be sanctified, to reflect Christ's character free from all sin, or to be used for God's glory without domineering over others. Reconciliation requires self crucified and Christ living in the heart by faith, expressed in a life not of the world but shaped by Christ's obedient example through love and self-giving.

Crucifixion of self is hard yet is life to the soul, requiring toils, conflicts, self-denials, humbling reproofs, suffering and sacrifice, treading where Jesus leads even in tears, trials, bereavement, sorrow for sin and mastery over depraved desires, unbalanced character and unholy temper. It requires earnest effort of the entire being in complete consecration leaving no chamber of the mind for Satan, presenting self a living sacrifice with sacrifices feeling like life-blood from the heart, daily dependence on the Holy Spirit, bringing thoughts into subjection, and conduct reflecting the preciousness of Jesus rather than worldly frivolity as the closing sands of history make faithful witness urgent. Though submitting is hard, God works in the best way to separate cherished sins, and through constant conflict and simple faith looking away from self to Jesus and trusting the cleansing merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, the life becomes thoroughly converted with eye single to God's glory and Christ dwelling within in perfect harmony with Father and Son.

The desire to be hidden in Jesus and crucified includes acknowledging personal mistakes and errors and mourning unlikeness to Christ, knowing that following the Saviour more closely would lessen that unlikeness.

Christ Dwells Within

To be crucified with Christ and yet live means Christ Himself lives in the believer by faith through the Holy Spirit, with self surrendered and the present life lived by faith in the Son of God who loved and gave Himself. He abides within as companion and guest and as the life-blood of the soul, supplying ever-recurring wants, working through the faculties to lead the believer to choose His will and act out His character. That indwelling changes the heart, and the true Christian life is fellowship with Him whose highest desire is to become increasingly like Him and to follow His character apart from the world. It leaves nothing to boast about and no ground for self-exaltation, for the only hope is His righteousness counted to the believer and worked in and through the believer by His Spirit. Such faith in the great gospel of truth makes a person work for Him with heart and mind and soul and strength, and the heartiness of zeal testifies to the measure of faith.

Those wholly united with Him have self swallowed up and hidden in Him, so that Christ rather than self is acknowledged, revealed and exalted. The life is hid with Christ in God, sustained by the Holy Spirit's gracious influence that brings every thought into subjection to Him. When His love abides in the soul the believer reflects His character, with life, time and strength belonging to Him and devoted to His works rather than self. Then natural temper and self-centered traits no longer spring readily into action, for Christ is the center and source of the spiritual life, His grace its sustenance and His glory its great aim. This living faith is shown by works, in zeal to do His will and in compassionate service for those lost in sin.

That connection is kept by faith and by continually giving the will to Him, and as long as it is kept He works in the believer to will and to do what pleases Him. With Him working within, the believer displays the same spirit and does the same works of righteousness and obedience. Self no longer rules, for wills submitted to His will are acted through by His abilities and animated by His Spirit rather than lived for self. This requires wholehearted service, since a divided life between competing masters makes a person an ally of the enemy of righteousness. When the will is submitted and the person acts through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit sanctifies and imparts vital influence and shares the glory the Father gave to Christ.

Christ formed within as the hope of glory energizes the whole being, and this comes by eating His flesh and drinking His blood through daily receiving, believing and practicing the Word until life is molded to the divine similitude. The written Word brings the searcher to the flesh and blood of the Son of God, and through obedience the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. As bodily blood is made by food eaten and must be renewed daily, so spiritual life is kept only by daily eating of God's Word as meat and drink, feasting on its instruction. That daily entrance of the Word gives light and understanding, opens the heart, renews the spirit of the mind, and makes the believer grow up in Christ the living Head like a branch firmly united fiber by fiber and vein by vein to the vine. Those who live this way put away frivolity and amusement-loving habits as unfit for their life and experience, and His sympathy and grace are revealed in how they treat one another. Such a life becomes a living exposition of truth in home and church, bowing before God in self-humiliation and unfeigned gratitude and praising Him as altogether lovely.

When self dies Christ takes possession of heart, mind and soul, with self dethroned and no longer holding supremacy. To be emptied of self, pride and love of supremacy is to have silence in the soul, with self yielded to the disposal of the Holy Spirit, seeking no highest place and no ambition to crowd into notice, counting the highest place to be at the Saviour's feet, looking to Jesus, waiting for His hand to lead and listening for His voice to guide. Giving the tyrant self to Jesus to be crucified brings victory, with mind and whole being dispossessed of self so He abides as companion and Master, bringing hush and silence, windows opened heavenward, warmth of the Sun of Righteousness, chambers of the mind filled with pure heavenly atmosphere, communion past conception, and pitifulness and tenderness with all fierceness and dominating spirit gone. He enters, cleanses and works in and through the person when cherished idols are given up and everything tarnishing is cleansed from the soul-temple as He casts out the buyers and sellers. Then the Spirit finds unobstructed entrance, the whole being hungers and thirsts after righteousness in perfect conformity to God's will, the cold hard heart is melted, and God is glorified through the person. This inward change brings the meekness and self-government that uncontrolled temper lacks.

Christ living within gives inner strength for obedience and service, so that every holy thought, pure desire and godlike purpose comes from Him. The believer's life becomes part of His life, expressed in wearing His yoke and carrying His burdens, and that transformation of character makes the yoke easy and the burden light. Strength and effectiveness come not from trust in self but from trusting God and depending wholly on Him rather than on self, with continuing communion and humble reliance on divine grace. Confidence in self puts one in danger of falling, for without Him a person can do nothing but in Him there is efficiency. No longer working at cross-purposes with God, the believer stops ruling and planning for self and yields to be molded after the divine similitude, responding to every touch, with prayer becoming conformity to God's will rather than asking God to conform to human plans. When self dies He lives His character in the believer's character and the two are blended, the human heart worked after His heart and human thoughts becoming His thoughts, making the believer like Him and one with Him with a harmonious life.

Living by Faith

The present life in the flesh is lived by faith in the Son of God who loved and gave Himself, with that love and self-sacrifice as its foundation and motive power. The true Christian life is fellowship with Christ in which self is surrendered and Christ lives within, and the believer's highest desire is to become increasingly like Him. The old selfish life is crucified with Christ, and the life now lived in human weakness is shaped by faith in Him who loved the believer and gave Himself for him. This life is not produced by natural temperament or human strength but is supernatural, hidden with Christ in God, from whom come courage and resistance against evil for the Christian warfare. No renewed heart stays renewed without a constant supply of divine grace, and no one stays converted without constant watchfulness, humbling the soul before God, holding fast to God while God holds fast, keeping the heart with all diligence, keeping the body under, and building on Christ Jesus as the only foundation and plan of salvation lest self-confidence, evil propensities, appetites, passions, old habits, the unruly tongue, and preaching to others while becoming a castaway prevail. By faith the believer appropriates the grace of Christ to supply the necessities of the soul, receives the heavenly gift and imparts it to souls longing for light, an experience to be prayed for, believed with heart and soul and strength, and striven for in a time of defilement and corruption of faith and in the closing scenes of history, so as to represent truth in all its purity and not fall short of God's standard.

Living by faith is not mere agreement that Christ is the world's Saviour or assent to gospel truth. It is receiving Him as a personal Saviour, trusting His saving grace, coming to Him according to His word, believing saving grace is received, and appropriating His promises. Christ gave Himself for the redemption of the race so all who believe may have everlasting life, and those who appreciate this sacrifice receive a clean heart, sit together in heavenly places in Christ, enjoy joy and peace in communion with Him, love Him with heart and mind and soul and strength as His blood-bought heritage, see clearly without worldly policy or aims, and are one with Christ as He is one with the Father. As faith receives and takes in the principles of truth they become part of the person and the motive power of life, shaping thoughts and developing character. As the suffering woman received healing by touching in faith while the pressing crowd received no vital power, so spiritual healing comes only by the touch of faith and not by casual contact.

To live by faith is to commit the keeping of the soul to God as unto a faithful Creator, to trust in Him, to rest in His love, to talk and think of Jesus, to put away doubt and dismiss fear, and to lean on Him with childlike trust. Self is lost in Christ and not made the center, with no dwelling on self, personal faults and weaknesses, or anxious fear about whether salvation will be gained, because dwelling on self turns the soul away from Christ the source of strength and life and breaks union and communion with Him. God is able to keep what is committed to Him, and those who leave themselves in His hands are brought off more than conqueror through Him who loved them, conquering by courage, by faith, and by abiding in Christ, which is the only hope for stopping self-destruction, repenting of grieving the Spirit with destructive and false words, and receiving pardon and peace. This means trusting a power out of and above ourselves and exercising faith in unseen support waiting for the demand of the needy and dependent, trusting amid clouds as well as sunshine, trusting Him as a present Saviour daily and leaning heavily and continuously. It means not reserving full deliverance from evil only for heaven at final deliverance but receiving it in present life, taking in day by day the goodness laid before us, singing of present deliverance and present enjoyment of His love, so that the peace of Christ comes into the soul and wear and friction almost entirely cease, with ceasing of anxious forecasting and settling of matters beyond control, enjoying the present, and separation from dependence on human wisdom and help while relying on His wisdom and power. Where this faith is present the children of God are wise and powerful according to reliance on His wisdom and power and are strong and happy, with love to God and neighbor, calm peace, and Christ as an all-sufficient Saviour and never-failing source of strength in trouble, while where it is lacking there are selfishness, withholding, fearfulness, distrust, defensive self-seeking and warfare in one's own favor, loss of healthful calm peace and love, perplexity, distressing fears and surmisings of evil, an unsettled uneasy mind that exhausts vitality and disqualifies for duty, and ultimate loss.

The life of faith is the privilege of every believer and the plain, near path to peace and rest in the narrow way of holiness through the wisdom of Christ's righteousness, not laborious striving, distant seeking, intricate human wisdom, doubt and troubled hearts, but resting in the love of Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life plainly revealed in the word. It is a precious faith inspired by God that gives strength and nobility of character, and holy obedience enlarges the natural powers. It forms a series of triumphs strengthened by God, not always recognized or understood at the time, but with results reaching far into the future where they will be fully known and we shall see and know as we are known. Even amid suffering and trials afflictions can prove the Lord and make Him precious to the soul, for through every experience God works for the good of those who love Him, and His people may have consolation, joy, and peace in this life.

Faith that receives Christ is living and active, expressed in obedience and action rather than abstraction. The true believer abhors sin because it caused the Redeemer great suffering, does not continue in sin so grace may abound, wars against the inclinations of the natural heart, lives by faith rather than sight, and does everything to God's glory with Christ first and best in everything. Following Christ means resisting impulsive actions shaped by circumstances and feelings, as well as fretfulness, envy, faultfinding, jealousy, and selfish vanity, for these traits are out of harmony with His life and retaining them prevents overcoming. In temptation the believer looks to Jesus and lives by Christ's life within rather than relying on self, and living connection joins Christ's power with human effort and makes fruitful service possible. This experience leads believers to labor for the good of others as Christ's ambassadors, calling people to be reconciled to God.

Loved and Gave Himself

The Son of God personally loved each sinner and gave Himself by crucifixion, laying aside royalty as the Majesty of heaven and Commander in the heavenly courts to come as a man subject to the law. Clothed in humanity and passing through infancy, childhood, youth and manhood as Substitute and Surety at the head of humanity, He pledged His own life that the transgressor might be spared and have another trial, showing how to employ probation in obedience to the Father rather than the enemy, for if He were not subject to the law He could not be Saviour and take away sin. His life given in agony and blood paid the price, and though guiltless He bore human guilt so the undeserving sinner may stand without fault before the Father and receive eternal life, and remembering this gives certainty and strength to choose Him under temptation. He was fastened to the cross for me personally to give eternal life in His kingdom, so that the life now lived in the flesh is looking to Him for salvation, cleansing from all filthiness of flesh and spirit and perfecting holiness through His grace and in His name by trusting His blood alone. His blood speaks better things than that of Abel, becoming wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, and to be crucified with Him is to glory only in the cross by which the world is crucified to the believer and the believer to the world. With hands once pierced for their redemption He makes seeing Him in glory a joy unspeakable, so that even those who fall faithful at their post will come forth in the resurrection of life, be made like Him, behold His pierced hands stretched in blessing and welcome, and count present toil and suffering as nothing beside patient waiting till trial ends in victory. He loved fallen men and women and gave Himself in wonderful sacrifice to cast out the prince of this world and place them where by grace they can regain what was lost by sin, enabling them by His power and instruction to live the same life He lived in this world, having in conflict with Satan all the help He had and becoming more than conquerors. All that is possessed came through the mercy of One who loved and gave Himself and died, so it is privilege and duty to glory in nothing save the cross, to practice the truth, to give unworthy selves and all to Jesus, to live for Him who died, to have life hid with Christ in God, and thus to have men debased by sin exalted through His righteousness to eternal glory.

His self-giving love applies to each person individually as though that person were the only one in the universe, giving infinite value and providing an Intercessor before God's judgment seat. He gave His life for me personally, and resting in that personal love is the ground for saying, I will trust Him, for He gave His life for me. His love for His redeemed is greater than a mother's love for her child, and unlike human love it never changes. No circumstances and no distance can separate from Him, for wherever a person may be He is at the right hand to support, maintain, uphold and cheer, and when cried to for help His hand is stretched out to save. Jesus first loved me and gave His life for me, and love for Him arises because He first loved.

Because the Son of the infinite God was crucified at Calvary in matchless love and wonderful grace, you and all that you have belong to God. He gave all He had and then Himself out of love for each sinner, and that sacrifice calls for a whole-hearted response of surrendering life to His service and separating from those opposed to Him. To live with Christ living within is to present self to God in supplication as His servant, to freely give Him His own, and standing in view of the cross to ask what He wants done, which is to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Those redeemed by His giving of Himself are indebted to Him, so their powers are to be used in His service rather than for selfish interests, shown by integrity in every duty and business dealing and by rejecting selfishness, deceit and worldly gain that would compromise faithfulness. The gift of His life for you calls you to seek to please and glorify Him and makes it grievous to treat the soul lightly or yield it to Satan.

His love and death are the ground of pardon, healing and salvation, not human merit, and the ground of Christian strength and victory as the Holy Spirit works power in those who follow Him into close personal knowledge of God. His self-giving love at the cross directed to each person is the basis for confidence in God's mercy, so when Satan tempts to doubt that God will have mercy, doubt is resisted by trusting God's promises. His love calls for giving Him all trust, praise and honor rather than looking to any person for light or strength, for lifting up Christ warms, encourages and strengthens the heart. He now lives and intercedes, so hope and faith rest on His atonement and continuing mediation, and each sinner may claim by faith the merits of the crucified and risen Saviour because He died for that person.

Gratitude for His willing, cheerful obedience unto death on the cross constrains to consecrate all one has and is to His work, to love, self-denial and willing sharing of His sufferings, refusing no duty under the constraining influence of divine love and proving faith always by willing, cheerful obedience and perfect conformity in thought, word and deed to the divine will. The old selfish life is crucified and Christ lives within, and the present life is lived by faith in Him who loved and gave Himself. His personal love and self-sacrifice governed Paul's faith, hope and life, and because Paul had given his life to God and was hidden in Christ he trusted God for grace to live as a Christian and faced danger, imprisonment and suffering with courage and confidence rather than shame or despair. Jesus loves each person individually and gave Himself, so one carrying a heavy load is not alone but has help, and when tempted may flee to Him as a stronghold in simple, full trust, receiving wisdom from God known by its fruits that enables wise action giving no place to the enemy. The Prince of heaven dying on the cross out of love must have that love revived, strengthened and spread among the churches with power through the principles He brought, made effective in benevolent enterprises to be established without delay, for standing before the cross and seeing Him dying removes selfishness and forbids closing the heart and refusing to give. He gave His life for each husband and each wife personally, so neither is to merge individuality in the other but each has a direct personal relation to God to ask what is right and wrong and how best to fulfil life's purpose, giving Him the wealth of affection as first and last and best in everything, and as love for Him deepens love for each other is purified and strengthened.

Being crucified with Him because He was crucified for me is to be accepted without complaint in gratitude for goodness, mercy and loving watchcare, with subdued and broken heart before Him in prayer and in reading the Word, and with hunger and thirst for more and still more of Jesus in this life. He loved all and gave Himself for all without distinction as the same Redeemer, for all have the same heavenly Father and are preparing for the same heaven as earth's history nears its close. Therefore no child of God should have a proud, haughty heart, turn from any soul who loves God, or cease to labor for any soul for whom He died, and no difference is to be made because of caste, nationality or color of skin in assembling, seating or fellowship, for color is no measure of a soul's value. When His love is cherished as it should be and the sweet, subduing spirit of divine love fills the soul-temple there will be no caste and no pride of nationality, but each will help whoever needs tender regard and consolation of whatever nationality, for by the mighty cleaver of truth all have been quarried out from the world and God has taken all classes, nations, languages and nationalities into His workshop to be prepared for His temple.

Transformed Character and Victory

The Christian life is not produced by natural temperament, strength, or improvement of the old life but by supernatural transformation of nature through the effectual working of the Holy Spirit, in which self is crucified with Christ, sin as an offense to God is expelled from the soul, and Christ lives within the believer. This change is a death to self and sin and an altogether new life, a new nature and new birth in which the believer draws spiritual nourishment from Christ by faith in the Son of God who loved and gave Himself, and from this union come courage and resistance against evil. Everything good in men and women is fruit of the Spirit teaching righteousness in life, and living the character of Christ is how God is glorified and is the greatest work that can be done in the world, for God will make perfect only those who die to self. Without Christ living within, selfishness grows into unrighteous dealing that injures others and the soul and renders all human doings worthless, while with Him within selfish traits are cut away, self is broken, and the life is bound up with Him, which is the only hope even for managers of institutions who must receive an entirely different spirit by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. When the whole being is surrendered, self no longer rules and Christ is revealed in the life, as beholding Jesus daily and practicing His virtues makes spiritual understanding clearer and genuine faith is practiced with Christ as the hope of glory.

Beholding Christ and His glory daily changes character into His likeness until the life becomes a living exposition of truth and a living witness others can see, reproducing Christlike self-denial, self-sacrifice, patience, gentleness, meekness, humility, purity, courtesy and love. The repentant believer no longer lives for selfish ends but belongs to Christ in the plan of redemption, using every power in His service and revealing Christ in all he does, with words, spirit and actions representing Jesus and glorifying God. This means ceasing to carry and display self and being cleansed from all taint of self-sufficiency by humbling before God and beholding Christ's character and loveliness until changed into His likeness as a partaker of the divine nature. That life with Christ living within removes fear of not being noticed, brings lowliness of mind, enables love for brethren and making room for them to connect and supply deficiencies, and makes a person able in humility to represent the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. When self dies through the Spirit's work Christ's life is revealed, the old self is put aside, and the life now lived by faith in the Son of God who loved and gave Himself is no longer centered on self but reveals and exalts Christ and shapes character and conduct.

Dependence on Christ rather than self, with continuing communion and humble reliance on divine grace, gives the mind and heart and soul triumph over the lower nature, because Jesus as personal Saviour alone awakens the soul and to have Him is to have life. This life lived by faith must be taken into the inner chambers of the mind and into daily conduct, to be practiced and taught, so that the believer lives Christ's life in everything. No renewed heart stays renewed without constant supply of divine grace and no one stays converted without constant watchfulness, humbling the soul before God, holding fast to God with God holding fast, keeping the heart with all diligence, keeping the body under, and building on Christ as the only foundation and plan of salvation, lest self-confidence, evil propensities, appetites, passions, old habits and the unruly tongue get the better and one become a castaway after preaching to others. In temptation the believer is to look to Jesus and live by Christ's life within rather than relying on self, and this life governed no longer by self but by Christ's will and power brings daily victory over sin and rest in assurance of being safe with Christ in God. Confidence in oneself puts one in danger of falling, while Paul remained faithful only because his whole faith was placed in God's power with Christ living in him and the life in the flesh lived by faith in the Son of God who loved him and gave His life for him.

True religion, the only religion of the Bible, is forgiveness only through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour and righteousness by faith in the Son of God. It means the life of Jesus Christ dwells in the soul as the active principle of love imparted by the Holy Spirit, and only that inward life makes the soul fruitful unto good works. The love of Christ in the heart is the force and power of every message for God ever spoken by human lips. To depart from this faith is to depart from Christ and from God, to love one's own way and forsake the way of the Lord, to refuse to have Him reign and choose the religion of apostate Israel, giving place to skepticism; and this righteousness by faith has been slighted, spoken against, ridiculed, rejected and denounced as leading to enthusiasm and fanaticism, so that without coming into unity of this faith the future is imperiled. Being dead to the world and living by faith is the sure foundation of hope of everlasting life built upon Christ, on which welfare of soul and eternal happiness depend, proved in the closing scenes when panting after earthly enjoyments shows a false foundation and panting after assurance of God's love and making calling and election sure shows the true life of faith. It means affections taken off earth and set on heaven with less and less interest in perishable treasures while eternal things engage the whole interest, urgent especially for the aged whose probation is nearly ended, whose time is short and whose energies are worn, yet whose hearty full service even at best weak is wholly acceptable.

Entering vital union requires feeling need of atoning blood, change of heart, submission of will to God as sole ruler, and painful detachment from pride, selfishness, vanity, worldliness and every cherished idol, for trying to attach to Christ without detaching from idols makes the Christian life hard, fickle and variable. No one is reconciled until self is crucified and Christ lives in the heart by faith, in personal union entered by self-renunciation, faith and obedience, choosing Christ because He first chose us, in utter dependence for those naturally at enmity and proud of heart rather than nominal acceptance. It requires battle and struggle to renounce self-will, war against temptations without and within, gain victory over self and crucify affections and lusts, overcome pride and self-sufficiency and bring the human will into perfect agreement with God's will, yielding the will wholly to God without which one cannot become as a little child or cooperate with God. Then the union begins like a dry lifeless branch grafted into a living tree to become a living branch of the True Vine bearing the fruit Christ bore, drawing all nourishment directly from Him and not from another branch, living not to human will nor to please the Lord's enemies but to serve and honor Christ in love for His self-giving. Once formed it is preserved only by continual earnest effort, guarding every avenue of the soul, praying for divine help, resolutely resisting and denying and conquering self, with courage, watchfulness and hour-by-hour day-by-day cooperation and daily hourly communion drawing life from the parent vine to bear fruits of the Spirit, while mere assent with affections clinging to the world only emboldens disobedience. This experience in harmony with the Word costs sacrifice of self, humility of mind and realization of utter dependence, learning to sink self into Christ so Christ lives within, and as the quick powerful Word contacts human faculties by beholding Christ with the eye of faith the mind becomes strong and vigorous unto work for others; true conversion as a truly changed heart, not semblance of religion, begins with deep sense of need and receiving light, love, peace and joy in the Spirit, yields whole affections and life to Him who gave His life, constrains to unselfish service until it becomes life-practice, and grows daily into Christ's life with heaven's peace and continual fruit-bearing.

Dying to self and being born again lets Christ live in the believer as a living active principle, a power that keeps holy, continually quickening, reviving, strengthening and sustaining with life through His righteousness. It means not keeping the mind stayed on self, preferences, fancies, peculiar identity, personality and individuality that separate from fellow laborers, including national distinctions such as Americans or Europeans, Germans or Frenchmen, Swedes, Danes or Norwegians, but learning of Christ and maintaining His character instead. Having Christ within lets the Christ in one meet the Christ in another, with the Holy Spirit giving union of heart and action that testifies to the world they are children of God and enables harmonious work, bringing spiritual health, elevation of thought, nobility of character and heavenly-mindedness with victory over selfishness and evil-surmising as more than conquerors. Whether one is dead to self-love through union with Christ, the opposite of being full of self-love and selfishness, is proved by how tests are met, for God orders surroundings and strait places to make known what is in the heart, favorable positions do not settle character, and the struggle is fierce because the prince of darkness exerts all power to retain possession, but those who live this life have a mighty Helper. The present life is lived by faith in the Son of God with Christ abiding in the heart shaping thoughts, affections, hopes and expectations, with loving His appearing as highest joy, and as Adam's sin brought death so Christ's righteousness imparts life, for He was made sin that we might become God's righteousness in Him and partakers of divine nature have promise of eternal life where death is not extinction. This life of faith is joined to repentance and trust in Christ's blood as atoning sacrifice through which sins recorded in heaven can be blotted out.

The renewed person belongs to God, lives day by day by faith, walks humbly, finds favor, grows into complete character and does the good work taught by Christ, even in fallen nature doing all God expects. Christ lives within and is formed within as the hope of glory, seen in a life that makes others better, lived in perfect content resting in Christ's love and trusting the Redeemer and Life-giver to work out salvation, drawing nearer to endure as seeing Him who is invisible, a contentment worth infinitely more than gold and silver and precious stones. Being crucified with Christ is shown in practical obedience and service to the sick, needy and poor, with transformed character and works of kindness, patience, generosity, industry and honesty, and confessing Christ is seen where self is surrendered and inward life founded on His love and self-sacrifice is made visible through such care. This living faith is shown by works in zeal for Christ, readiness to do His will and compassionate service for the lost, and by full surrender entering vital relationship and identification with the Saviour, resting in God's love and committing the soul's keeping to Him as faithful Creator in sacred sanctified freedom, living in the truth with truth living within as heir of God and joint-heir with Christ. Such a one, eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God, reveals patience, long-suffering, Christlike courtesy, goodness, purity, sanctification and holy dignity enriched with heavenly endowment, and Christ living within produces Christlike tenderness, kind gentle words full of comfort, hope and love, and untold solicitude for souls willing to make any sacrifice to draw the lost to the cross.

Unity With Christ

Receiving Christ by faith brings a living, organic oneness in which believers become part of Him like branches part of the vine, nourished by its roots and drawing life directly from Him rather than from another branch, and this is not a mechanical or artificial fastening like tying a branch to a vine. The life lived in the flesh is the life of the Son of God derived from Him who is life, lived by faith in the One who loved and gave Himself, to serve and honor Him rather than to follow human will or please His enemies. Mere agreement that one is united to Christ while remaining attached to the world, its pleasures and dissipations is not enough, but only encourages disobedience, so the believer must detach from worldly pleasures and sin, submit the will to God, and maintain the union through prayer and effort. Entering that vital and enduring union requires feeling need of the atoning blood, change of heart, submission of the will, and painful detachment from pride, selfishness, vanity, worldliness and every cherished idol with struggle against outward and inward obstacles, for trying to attach to Christ without detaching from idols makes the Christian life hard, fickle and variable. Once formed it is preserved only by earnest prayer, untiring effort, courage, watchfulness, and grace to resist, deny and conquer self, with Christ first made possible at infinite cost and chosen as first and last and best in everything, bringing forth fruit of righteousness.

That vital connection unites heart with Christ's heart, submerges the will in His will, makes the mind one with His mind, and brings the thoughts into captivity to Him, where mere baptism and church membership without a changed heart cannot avail. Oneness with Christ depends on renewing of the mind by the Holy Spirit through cooperation with the Word of truth, so that self is dead and Christ lives within giving strength to walk in newness of life, receive forgiveness, and become a cleansed vessel sanctified and fit for the Master's use. The believer places himself under divine rule, submitting the will to God at every step and inquiring His way and methods in preparation for the coming of the Lord in the clouds with power and great glory, becoming a channel of light molded after the divine similitude. This life requires daily reception of the Holy Spirit, which brings eternal life to the soul, for to eat His flesh and drink His blood is to have vital saving union and partake of the divine nature so that God's character is revealed.

Union with Christ naturally produces union of believers with one another, one in Christ as Christ is one with the Father, with Christ in one meeting Christ in another. Having Christ within as a living active principle that keeps holy means putting aside minds stayed on self, preferences, fancies, peculiar identity and individuality that separate from fellow laborers, and maintaining the character of Christ instead, so the Holy Spirit gives union of heart and action testifying that they are children of God. When self dies and Christ's love is cherished, loving one another as Christ loved is learned in His school and becomes necessary for serving Him and bearing His burdens, and with self submerged and Christ living within true love springs forth spontaneously rather than by strained effort. Letting Christ carry on sanctification in heart and mind makes believers complete in Him and perfect in one through sanctification of the truth, answering His prayer for oneness and honoring rather than grieving His heart of love.

Being bound up with Christ means receiving His life and grace within, which uplifts the whole person, makes His life visible to others, and sets apart to do the work He did on earth in His spirit and love. The believer united with Christ in His death no longer lives by self-sufficiency but can use all powers for the work God gives, with life become part of Christ's life expressed in wearing His yoke and carrying burdens so the yoke is easy and the burden light. Through faith anyone may become one with Christ in obedience and service, and by abiding become a partaker of His resurrection-life so He is glorified, possessing the inward life needed to do the personal work no one else can do and to wear the crown of life. As the living branch draws sustenance from the parent stock and bears much fruit and cannot be separated by storm or frost, so the true believer abiding in Him reveals Christ's character by good words and actions, does God's works, represents and speaks of Him, grows in spiritual understanding, and is safe against assaults.

Self crucified and Christ reigning makes oneness possible only by giving up special preferences and individual ideas, conceding differences of opinion, and refusing to separate over disagreement or to make precise rules over little things, lest believers weaken themselves spiritually and rob themselves of needed experience. This self-crucifixion practiced by coming to Calvary overcomes selfishness, prejudice, dissension, evil-surmising and self-righteousness, and by crucifying self to esteem others better brings spiritual health, elevation of thought, nobility, heavenly-mindedness and unmistakable evidence before heaven, church and world that believers are God's sons and daughters. It requires drawing with Christ and wearing His yoke as laborers together with God in different lines of responsibility, hearing and obeying Him in His Word to bear test and answer His prayer, and seeking the Lord daily, for without His love all profession is as sounding brass. Union with Christ gives a character identified as Christlike which property cannot give, putting interest into every movement, power into all actions, and harmony with His perfection, while a softening subduing love dwelling in the heart makes union genuine and spurious faith leads only to self-confidence, criticism and quenching of Christlike love so all efforts at union not founded on His love will fail.

In the churches there must be a crucifixion of self so that the vital breath of the Christ-life is in the soul. That death to self repents of loss of love for Christ and for the brethren as grievous sin and puts away evil speaking, which seals death to spirituality and causes dearth until repented of and forsaken, to be dealt with uncompromisingly yet with kindness, courtesy and continued love.

Service and Witness

Galatians 2:20 describes the experience produced by spiritual truth in which the old self is crucified with Christ and Christ lives in the believer, and the present life is lived by faith in the Son of God who loved and gave Himself. This experience leads believers to labor for the good of others as Christ's ambassadors calling people to be reconciled to God. The church must be composed of such men and women whose life is sunk out of sight with self gone before her light can shine forth to the world in clear distinct rays, with heavenly messengers waiting to communicate. Such devoted bearers of the message of salvation point sinners to the Lamb of God and by works of righteousness and pure true words lift fellow men out of degradation, while self-seeking clouds the view of Christ and self-indulgence that lets Satan gain control crucifies Christ afresh. Christ's self-sacrifice, sympathy and love are to be revealed in the Christian's character and work, and love for those He died to save makes the Christian a link in God's work of seeking and saving the lost through living consecration to God. Decided victories come because God sees that Christ has been received by faith and is revealed in the life as an inward receiving that becomes outward revealing, so that the work stands forth in exalted purity and the cloud hanging over the work is rolled back upon the originator of sin.

Having Christ live within is the guiding head that must direct missionary labor and shape every effort made for God, and without Him workers are like a hand without a head to guide it. Workers who cannot truthfully say Christ lives in them are not inspired by the Lord in their so-called missionary work, and work that devotes so much time and energy to the lowest classes while neglecting other fields will not see the best results. Self must be put out of sight and die so Jesus can appear and the human will must die to become as God's will before God can work through ministers, melting them over and cleansing them from every defilement. A great work must be done in them before they can be filled with the power of God and grasp His rich promises, and they must draw nigh to Him to realize His rich blessing. Service that honors God is permeated by Christ's Spirit with self set aside so Christ may live and work in the believer, for Christian service has little value unless imbued with the Spirit of Christ, since workers are God's agents and their work and means depend on His presence and power. Christ living in the life makes the truths advocated forcible and leads souls to accept Him, for keeping close to the Lord and being imbued with His Spirit causes the light to shine forth, and present truth presented in the simplicity of godliness is seen and accepted.

The verse means first giving oneself unreservedly to the Lord and hiding one's life with Christ in God, then living the present life in the flesh by faith in the Son of God. That life of faith is a life of self-denial that makes a person His helping hand, using labor and means to share enjoyed advantages with others both at home and across the waters in distant fields, including helping establish and carry forward school work. The life lived in this world wholly for Christ is a life of daily surrender giving Him free-will service, with each soul as His own jewel, where self must be hidden so that Christ appears as the worker and mind and heart cooperate with the divine Worker to do through Christ the good it is in their power to do, bringing a large work to pass and gaining great victories. Being crucified with Christ means dying to self and surrendering to God to do His work and letting the light He has given shine forth in good works, not laboring alone for God's grace and divine power stand ready to cooperate with every human effort to enlighten the ignorant and those who do not know the end is at hand and to break the spell of worldly enchantment the enemy has cast on souls. God will not do the work for man, for the grace given converts the soul only as it arouses the person to cooperate with divine agencies, putting on the Christian armor and entering the Lord's service as an active soldier. Hiding in Jesus means that in missionary work not self but Christ appears in all labors, and the life now lived by faith of the Son of God holds firm when the work goes hard and brings discouragement and temptation to abandon it, by taking the Bible, kneeling before God, pleading His pledged word and throwing weight upon His promises, every one of which will be fulfilled. Dying to self with the life hid with Christ in God makes believers human instruments chosen by the Lord Jesus to carry out His purposes, and only those crucified with Christ in this way can have any conception of the completeness of the offering made to save the fallen race, whose climax of humiliation was Christ's death on the cross of Calvary as Redeemer beyond finite conception.

Being crucified with Christ is shown in a life that represents Christ through practical obedience and service to the sick, needy and poor, where Christ lives in the believer and shapes the life lived in the body through faith in the Son of God who loved and gave Himself. Christ's presence produces a transformed character and works of kindness, patience, generosity, industry and honesty, and confessing Christ is seen in a life where self is surrendered and Christ lives within with that love and self-sacrifice as foundation made visible through caring for the sick, needy and poor. This living faith is shown by works of zeal for Christ, readiness to do His will and compassionate service for people lost in sin, shaped by faith in the Son of God who loved and gave Himself for that person. Self must be crucified so Christ can live and work in the believer, and His presence and Spirit give spiritual power for a daily life free from selfishness, shaped by Jesus' example and expressed in words and actions that lead others to the cross. Christ's love expressed in giving His life draws Christians into communion with Him and moves them to serve others, so that as they help the helpless and encourage the desponding His love is revealed in their words and actions, selfishness and unchristlike conduct are displaced and God works through them. Selfishness must die and Christ live in the believer, making Christians in perfect contrast to the selfish world and making the church His instrumentality to save the world by continuing His infinite sacrifice to draw the world to Himself through patient earnest persevering labor against worldliness, selfishness and corruption.

Serving Christ involves being crucified with Him with self-interest, comfort and personal desires set aside and suffering for Christ accepted, and those who work to save others share in His self-sacrificing work and know the fellowship of His sufferings. Those who serve Christ must surrender self and share in His self-sacrificing work, for to be crucified with Christ means accepting suffering and self-denial for His sake. Christ's followers must be crucified with Him and accept the suffering involved in sharing His work of saving souls, and ministers especially are to give up ease, comfort, pleasure and selfish desires and rejoice in sharing His sufferings. Following Christ means sharing in His self-denying life rather than living for personal ease or gratification, for His sacrifice and suffering for sinners call those who receive salvation through Him to endure trials without murmuring and to answer His love with gratitude. Professing the truth while refusing to be crucified with Christ is inconsistent with following Him, for He denied Himself, endured toil and suffering and gave Himself to save others. Christians in contrast to the selfish world continue that infinite sacrifice through patient persevering labor, benevolence and good works by the principle of give, give.

The verse describes the daily experience of allowing Christ to do a special work in the heart by revealing God within, meaning beholding Jesus and receiving a fresh revealing of His presence every day rather than dwelling on theory alone. It is living by the living power of the Saviour's example as the humble self-denying worker and following Him closely in self-renunciation and sacrifice, with Christ Himself living in the person. The true Christian's life is one of fellowship with Christ in which self is surrendered and Christ lives within, and the believer's highest desire is to become increasingly like Christ, living by faith in the Son of God who loved and gave Himself. Putting away all doubt and fear through total surrender to Christ, where self is crucified and Christ lives in the believer and the present life in the flesh is lived by faith in the Son of God who loved and gave Himself, with life hid with Christ in God, makes workers a power for good in preparing a people to stand in the great day of God at the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven. The life lived in human weakness is shaped by faith in the Son of God who loved the believer and gave Himself for them, calling for daily beholding Jesus and following His example of self-renunciation and sacrifice.

Daily Practical Application

To learn meekness and lowliness is to be emptied of self, pride and love of supremacy, with self dethroned and no longer holding supremacy of the soul. It is silence in the soul, with self yielded to the disposal of the Holy Spirit, carrying and displaying self no more and cleansed from all taint of self-sufficiency by humbling and beholding Christ in His self-denial and lowliness of heart. There is no anxiety to have the highest place and no ambition to crowd and elbow into notice, for independence and self-supremacy in which men glory are seen as vile servitude, and the highest place is felt to be at the feet of the Saviour. The life is lived by looking to Jesus, waiting for His hand to lead and listening for His voice to guide, receiving Him as an abiding Guest within. This lowliness of mind removes fear of not being noticed, enables love for brethren and making room for them to connect and supply deficiencies, and fits a person in humility to represent the Lamb who takes away sin. It refuses to exalt self and idolize human instrumentalities and mere human talent even of superficial character, refuses to praise and flatter any man, to trust too fully to finite erring man instead of God who never errs, and to urge men eagerly into public notice. It keeps self continually guarded and out of sight, forgotten and hidden behind Jesus with the Saviour magnified, and forbids making self, family difficulties, poor health and personal trials the theme of conversation and the preliminaries of preaching, since such self-talk comes between the soul and the Saviour, wearies and disgusts hearers, lowers the speaker in their estimation and suggests he is not all right, whereas when weakness is truly seen and felt nothing in self will appear worthy of notice or remark. Refusal to die thus is backsliding and friendship with the world, producing spiritual blindness and poverty of soul, looking to a merely human standard without consciousness of personal littleness and with undue estimate of capabilities, leaving God's people weak and faint, while the opposite is having the mind of Jesus, making God the strength and cherishing humble childlike faith in simplicity.

Living by faith is abiding in Christ day by day, a daily continual learning in which His power is joined with human effort to make fruitful service possible. It is trusting Jesus as a close and caring Friend, depending on Him with childlike confidence, placing burdens in His hands and letting Him lead through weakness and hardship, joined to obedient cheerful action that God approves and that blesses others. It requires humbling the heart and purifying the soul every day, depending on God for wisdom and counsel, seeking knowledge of His will with a willing spirit to walk in all the light He sends, going to the Word for instruction while preparing for the coming of the Lord, and learning continually to walk by faith. He gave His life for each person individually and lives now as a present helper in very great temptation, so worry and anxiety are to be told to the Lord, the burden laid upon Him, and deliverance believed for. Placing the hand in the hand of Christ and holding fast brings His holding and sustaining power to endure bruises of suspicion and jealousy and to preserve life, peace and healthful influence when Satan works through others to spoil them.

Setting the affections on God and losing sight of self in Christ brings success and keeps worldly attractions from having power to break allegiance to Him. Strength and a correct representation of God's chosen work do not come from outward display, ostentation or outward show, but from being adorned with the grace of Christ, and this gives the greatest influence for good, especially for those connected with sanitarium work. Losing sight of self in Christ makes efforts valuable to His cause, for His teachings then shape the life and guide plans into harmony with His plan of love, banishing selfishness from the work. Life in Christ requires dying to self by losing self-consciousness in contemplating His character and living in Him rather than following personal will, humbling self, remaining in God's love and obeying His counsel, since the Holy Spirit alone can transform and shape character into His likeness, and He gave His life for those who need restoration.

Hiding in Jesus holds firm when work goes hard with discouragement and temptation to abandon it, by taking the Bible, kneeling before God, pleading His pledged word and throwing weight upon His promises, every one of which will be fulfilled, so that not self but Christ appears in all labors. Living by faith is firm trust that resigns all into God's hands with confidence that He can keep what is committed to Him, trusting in a power out of and above ourselves and in unseen support waiting for the demand of the needy and dependent, trusting amid clouds as well as sunshine. It is childlike leaning upon His tender care, abiding in His love, ceasing anxious forecasting and settling of matters beyond control, enjoying the present, taking in day by day the goodness laid before us, singing of present deliverance and present enjoyment of His love, resting in the Lord instead of becoming anxious, unloading burdens and perplexities, keeping the spirit free and taking time to consider eternal interests. Those who so live do not rely on the wisdom and help of man but are wise and powerful according to reliance on His wisdom and power and are strong and happy according to separation from human wisdom and help, with love to God and neighbor, calm peace, and Christ as a present all-sufficient Saviour and never-failing source of strength in trouble, and the peace of Christ comes into the soul so that wear and friction almost entirely cease. Where this faith is lacking there is selfishness, loss of healthful calm peace, lack of love to God and neighbor, fearfulness and fear that evil is designed, leading to self-defense and warfare in one's own favor, an unsettled uneasy mind that exhausts vitality and disqualifies for duty, perplexity, distressing fears and surmisings, while afflictions to the faithful prove the Lord and make Him precious, God working through every experience for the good of those who love Him so they may have consolation, joy and peace even amid suffering. Daily preparation for the mansions He has gone to prepare for those who love Him is living in harmony with Him with a heart emptied of all that is displeasing to God and determining to allow the enemy no advantage.

The higher standard to be reached is a life where self is sunk out of sight and Christ lives within by faith, walking with God as Enoch did and revealing Christ to the world. The church must be made up of such men and women before her light shines to the world in clear distinct rays, and this is the condition for heavenly messengers to communicate with people. Those who live this way reveal Christ, while self-seeking clouds the view of Him, and devotion, righteous works and truthful words help lead others to salvation. Keeping attention on Jesus and beholding His glory changes character into His likeness by the Spirit, so the believer shines by reflecting light received from Him, and searching Scripture and beholding Him reveal what believers are to Him and what He is to them, making them His co-laborers and representatives in life and character. This life means living as God's children, loving God supremely and neighbors as themselves, and pursuing purity and perfection for His sake because He embodies perfection. It means being dead to the world rather than a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God, the sure foundation of hope of everlasting life on which welfare of soul and eternal happiness depend, so that in the closing scenes panting after earthly enjoyments proves a false foundation while panting after assurance of God's love and crying to make calling and election sure proves the true life of faith, and only those who after faithful self-examination can truthfully say this have affections set on heaven and life secured for glory when Christ who is their life appears.

Forgetting self and hiding life in Christ is a daily experience of allowing Him to do a special work in the heart by revealing God within, beholding Jesus and receiving a fresh revealing of His presence every day rather than dwelling on theory alone. It is living by the living power of the Saviour's example as the humble self-denying worker, following Him closely in self-renunciation and sacrifice, with the old self crucified and Christ Himself living in the person. It puts away all doubt and fear through total surrender, with life hid with Christ in God, and this makes workers a power for good in preparing a people to stand in the great day at the coming of the Lord in the clouds. It is giving the terrible tyrant self to Jesus to be crucified instead of acting the martyr to keep self alive, bringing victory with mind and soul and whole being dispossessed of demon self so He abides as companion and Master. Then come hush and silence in the soul, windows opened heavenward, felt warmth of the Sun of Righteousness, chambers of the mind filled with the sweet pure untainted perfume of the heavenly atmosphere, precious communion past conception, with pitifulness and tenderness taking hold and all fierceness and disagreeable dominating spirit gone, a great change in death to self and resurrection of the living Saviour within.