Thursday February 23rd, 2023
Meditate on: Galatians 2:20 NLT
« My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this flesh by trusting in Jesus, who loved me and gave Himself for me. »
Read: Romans 6:1-14 CEV
1 What should we say? Should we keep on sinning, so that God’s wonderful kindness will show up even better?
2 No, we should not! If we are dead to sin, how can we go on sinning?
3 Don’t you know that all who share in Christ Jesus by being baptized also share in his death?
4 When we were baptized, we died and were buried with Christ. We were baptized, so that we would live a new life, as Christ was raised to life by the glory of God the Father.
5 If we shared in Jesus’ death by being baptized, we will be raised to life with him.
6 We know that the persons we used to be were nailed to the cross with Jesus. This was done, so that our sinful bodies would no longer be the slaves of sin.
7 We know that sin doesn’t have power over dead people.
8 As surely as we died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him.
9 We know that death no longer has any power over Christ. He died and was raised to life, never again to die.
10 When Christ died, he died for sin once and for all. But now he is alive, and he lives only for God.
11 In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But Christ Jesus has given life to you, and you live for God.
12 Don’t let sin rule your body. After all, your body is bound to die, so don’t obey its desires
13 or let any part of it become a slave of evil. Give yourselves to God, as people who have been raised from death to life. Make every part of your body a slave that pleases God.
14 Don’t let sin keep ruling your lives. You are ruled by God’s kindness and not by the Law.
Understand:
From the onset of the early Church, different people have sort to describe the crucified life.
My understanding of the crucified life is one that is wholly given over to God in absolute humility and obedience.
It is a life of sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord, and has its roots in Christ’s atoning work on the cross of Calvary, focusing on the death of the flesh to worldliness and sin.
Living a crucified life implies being dead to sin and being alive to God in holiness and righteousness.
Children of God living this way are transformed in character into the image of God that they possess within them through Christ. Romans 6:6 NKJV
« For we know that old self was crucified with Him so that our body will not be ruled by sin, we should no longer be slaves to sin .»
« Those who belongs to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions & desires »
Galatians 5:24 NIV.
These two passages confirm that the subjection of our flesh to the power of the cross of Jesus Christ is not negotiable for us as Christians.
To be born again means to put our old way of life in the flesh to death on the cross, and to thereafter receive a new kind of life which is yielded to God in righteousness, made available through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
After you become born again, you need to ENFORCE the power of the crucified life that you possess inside of you continually by not yielding your natural body as an instrument to sin.
The crucified life destroys the power of sin over God’s children.
Galatians 5:24 says clearly that those who belong to Jesus Christ by being born again have crucified the flesh with its affection and lusts. You need to believe this and walk in its reality.
Moreover, the crucified life is absolutely committed to following the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
It wants to love like Him and be more like Him in thoughts, speech and action.
The whole essence of spiritual perfection has everything to do with mirroring the image of Jesus Christ the Author and Finisher of our faith.
We attain this level of grace by daily walking in the Holy Spirit, who lives inside us.
He continually ministers the mind of Christ to us on what to do at every point in time.
When you consistently follow His guidance, the life of the resurrected Christ will show forth in you and sin will no longer be an issue in your life.
Prayer point: Father, I receive the grace to walk in the reality of Your truth that my flesh has been crucified; help me to daily walk in the life of the resurrected Christ in Jesus’ Name.
Author : Pst E. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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