Title: The Benefits of Being Crucified with Christ
Life is full of big questions.
What’s the meaning of life?
What’s my purpose in life?
What are we gonna eat for supper tonight?
A huge question that the first Christians dealt with had to do with differences between Jews and Gentiles.
Were they both saved the same way - by simply trusting in the Messiah Jesus.
?- Or was different Israel, needing to continue following the Mosaic Law?
?- Or did Gentiles need to become a part of Israel before they could become Christians?
These are the questions that sparked the book of Galatians.
And you can see how these questions lead to the answer to our big question- What’s it mean to be saved?
If you’ve been with us, you know that we’re seeing that everyone who is saved comes to salvation through
trusting in Christ alone and not their personal works.
This is where last week’s verses left us in Galatians 2:15-16
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by
works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to
be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be
justified.
This week’s verses close out chapter 2 and include what I think is one of the most valuable verses of the
entire Bible.
* 17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant
of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For
through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now
live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not
nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
This morning, we’re looking at what might seem like an odd situation to wish for
I don’t know of anyone who would desire to be crucified.
But all believers should be thankful they have been.
Let me tell you about a man named Jimmy Swatkowski.
Jimmy owed money.
Not a little money.
More money than he could ever pay back.
Credit cards. Medical bills. A car loan on a car that didn’t even run anymore.
Every month, the calls came.
Every month, the letters piled up.
So Jimmy made a plan.
He took a second job.
Then a third.
He worked days, nights, and weekends.
He ate ramen noodles and slept four hours a night.
He did the math one evening.
At this rate, he’d be debt-free in about 140 years.
Then one day, the calls stopped.
The letters stopped.
His balances all read the same thing: $0.00.
Jimmy called to find out what was going on.
It turned out another man named Jimmy Swatkowski had died.
And through a clerical error, every one of his creditors had recorded him as the one who died.
The debt was written off.
Now Jimmy is an honest man.
So he called them back.
“I think there’s been a mistake. I’m still alive.”
And every one of them said the same thing.
“Sir, our records show that Jimmy Swatkowski is deceased. This account is closed.”
He tried to pay.
They wouldn’t take his money.
So Jimmy quit the third job.
Then the second.
He started sleeping at night.
He started having dinner with his family again.
For the first time in years, Jimmy was free to actually live.
Jimmy ’s story is made up.
But it’s closer to the gospel than you might think.
Because the Bible says that when you trust Christ, God’s records show that you died too.
Jesus was crucified, and all of His followers have been crucified with Him.
And it turns out that dying might be the best thing that ever happened to you.
Today we’ll find out why.
The first challenge I want to give you this morning comes from all our verses except v.20
1. LIVE FOR GOD INSTEAD OF LEGALISTIC RELIGION. (17-19, 21)
* 17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant
of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through
the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God… 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if
righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Observe a truth that
1A. TRUSTING CHRIST RESULTS IN LIVING FOR GOD. (17-19)
* 17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant
of sin? Certainly not!
Everything that’s written in these three verses is leading up to the result clause at the end -
so that we might live to God.
Leading to this clause, Paul is answering an accusation that followed the gospel wherever it went.
If God accepts us without our earning it, won’t we just live however we want?
To a law-keeping Jew, setting the law aside meant you had become one of those “sinners.”
Paul doesn’t deny that coming to Christ means admitting you’re a sinner.
Both Jew and Gentile are sinners in light of God’s perfect righteousness.
Or as the New English Bible puts it, “we no less than the Gentiles have accepted the position of sinners.”
So the charge was this: if Christ has turned you into a sinner, He’s a “servant of sin.”
Paul’s answer is as strong as he can make it: “Certainly not!”
Notice how Paul answers the charge.
He doesn’t add the rules back in to keep people in line.
He points to a death: “we who died to sin.”
That’s exactly where he’s headed in Galatians, too. “I died to the law… I have been crucified with Christ.”
People still think this way today.
Some of us quietly worry that if we really believed God’s love is free, we’d stop trying.
But God’s grace shouldn’t make us careless about sin.
God’s grace is actually the only thing that breaks sin’s hold on us.
=> Paul goes on to explain with two “For…” clauses.
18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
The first layer of explanation recognizes that there’s no going back to the Law for salvation.
He switches back to the option of trying to abide by the Law for the purpose of pleasing God.
A legalistic system of performance is NOT an option because it only points out our sinfulness, being
impossible to maintain.
And returning to such a legalistic system only points more to the person’s sinfulness because, by trusting
in Christ, they acknowledged that they can’t keep the Law.
=> The 2 nd layer of explanation has to do with the motivation/benefits of leaving the Law for grace.
19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.
?- How is it that this recognition/death to the law came through the law?
It was by Paul’s ample attempts to be righteous enough for salvation through the law.
All the law taught him was how sinful he truly was.
But the result isn’t a Christian living however they please.
No, the result (marked by so that) is that they live to God.
?- Do you see the full circle nature of the argument?
The gospel begins with our acceptance that we’re sinners and in need of God’s grace.
But it also doesn’t leave us living however our flesh desires to live.
The end result is an actual transformed life - so that I might live to God.
The second truth explains why we can’t fall back into trying to earn God’s acceptance.
1B. TRUSTING CHRIST MEANS LETTING GO OF LEGALISTIC FORMULAS.
* 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no
purpose.
The doctrine of salvation by any amount of works means that Jesus’ death just wasn’t good enough but
unnecessary.
As the NIV puts it, it means Christ died “for nothing” if we pursue a personal righteousness outside of what
God has provided us through sacrificing His son.
Imagine you’re standing at the start of the hardest obstacle course ever built.
1B. TRUSTING CHRIST MEANS LETTING GO OF LEGALISTIC FORMULAS.
Every obstacle is one of God’s commandments or expectations.
All of them are represented in this obstacle course
Here’s the rule: you have to clear every obstacle perfectly.
No slips.
No missed rungs.
No second tries.
That alone would be impossible.
And then you recall the 10th Commandment, “You shall not covet.”
That means you have to keep a perfect attitude through the whole course.
You can’t wish your life was like someone else’s.
You can’t envy the person in the next lane.
You can’t wish you had their shoes, their strength.
Not once.
God’s law doesn’t just judge what you do.
It judges what goes on inside you.
And the prize at the finish line is heaven.
Fail, and the alternative is hell.
?- How long would it take before you realized you were never going to make it?
For Paul, it took a lifetime of trying.
That’s what it means to die to the law through the law.
The course itself convinced him he could never finish it.
But acknowledging that we could never be perfect doesn’t mean that we give up.
Receiving Jesus as our Savior means that we accept God’s way of entering a relationship with Him
And we’ve been put in the position of winning because Christ won.
As result, we should run the race with freedom - not quit or loaf.
We’ve been set free from fruitless legalism so that we might live for God.
So, we don’t look at inappropriate images because we want to live the purpose we were saved for.
We pursue a Christ-honoring relationship with our spouse because we know it pleases our saving God.
We seek to let God use our time, our wealth, and our energy because we know that’s a big reason why He
entrusted these resources to us in the first place.
As those who have received Jesus as Savior, we shouldn’t be afraid of God rejecting us.
But we shouldn’t reject the intended result of God saving us either.
This brings us to what I think is one of the most monumental verses in the New Testament.
* 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I
now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
From this amazing verse, I challenge you to.
2. LEAN INTO CHRIST INSTEAD OF CLINGING TO A DEAD LIFE.
The first truth we can observe is pretty plain.
2A. MY OLD LIFE HAS BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST
Paul describes the path that took him from loving and depending on the law for salvation to rejecting
legalism.
He describes this transformation as dying and being resurrected to new life.
And this took place when he put his trust in Jesus as his Savior instead of his own efforts.
Quote - Expositor’s Bible Commentary - “Jesus died; so did Paul. Jesus rose again; so did Paul. The
resurrection life he is now living he is living through the presence of the Lord Jesus within him. By
having died and come to life in Christ the believer actually participates in Christ’s death and
resurrection.”
Of course, all of what Paul is describing of himself isn’t just for him.
All who have trusted Christ as their Savior are trusting that we are seen as having died with Christ - no
longer having our sins counted against us.
The next truth we see shows how we’ve been raised with Christ to new life - empowered by Him.
2B. MY NEW LIFE IS DISCOVERED IN CHRIST.
Paul saying that he no longer lives doesn’t mean that he’s lost his personality or became assimilated into the
Borg.
The Christian doesn’t become a part of Christ like an NPC (Non-player Character) in a video game that just
stands around acting like they’re doing something but they’re really just part of the background.
The Christian no longer living means we’re freed in Christ with all of the security, acceptance, and
significance that comes with salvation.
You don’t create this new life.
You discover what Christ has already done in you.
=> This is in perfect agreement with what Paul prays for us -
* Ephesians 1:18-19 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the
hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and
what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of
his great might
Another truth that points us to Lean Into Christ Instead of Clinging to a Dead Life.
2C. MY NEW LIFE IS LIVED BY FAITH IN CHRIST’S LOVE AND SACRIFICE.
Christ is living in Christians and empowering them to live by faith even as they continues to live on in their
fleshly body.
And this faith is in the Son of God’s love and surrender of Himself to pay the penalty of our sin.
We need to listen Paul’s statement describing Jesus Christ.
He’s the one who loved me and gave himself for me.
This is a deeply personal and individual substitution that Jesus made for all of us who have trusted Him as
Savior.
As the ESV Study Bible states, this “shows that the crucifixion was not an impersonal, mechanical
transaction, but a personal expression of Christ’s love for people as individuals.”
When thinking about Leaning into Christ instead of clinging to a dead life. picture that same obstacle
course.
Same walls.
Same ropes.
Same mud.
But this time, something has changed.
Christ has already run it.
Every obstacle, perfectly.
Every moment, with a perfect heart.
And He’s put His finish on your record.
Your outcome of heaven or hell isn’t waiting to be decided.
It’s already been settled when you put your trust in Christ and God put His Holy Spirit within you.
So now, when you step onto the course, you’re not running for your life.
You’re running with the One who gave His life for you.
You’ll still slip.
You’ll still fall into the mud sometimes.
But He’s right there to pull you up.
The course hasn’t gotten easier.
But it’s no longer a threat.
It’s become a place to grow stronger.
A place to walk with Him.
Even a place of joy.
That’s the difference between living under the law and living by faith in the Son of God.
If you only memorized one verse about the Christian life, this verse would be one of my top contenders.
It encompasses so much of what it means to follow Christ and what must be taken on faith to do so.
To receive Jesus as your Savior means that you’ve been crucified with Christ - the payment of your debt
has been applied to your account.
But it also means that the life you would’ve lived without Christ is over and a new life began.
Whenever you’re filled with fear, doubt, or fleshly temptation, it’s key to remember this truth -
Your life of being a slave to your flesh or to fear or to shame is over and Christ lives in you.
And the only way that you can fully experience your new life in Christ is by living by faith in the Son of God.
We’re reminded of one powerful truth that should encourage us and empower us to fight our flesh in faith.
God loves you.
He loved you before anyone ever imagined your existence.
And His love for you is evidenced by the fact that He sacrificed Himself for you.
Remember Jimmy Swatkowski ?
Working three jobs.
Sleeping four hours a night.
Trying to pay off a debt he could never pay.
That’s every one of us before Christ.
We owed God a debt of sin we could never pay back.
And trying harder at three jobs of religious performance was never going to dig us out.
But here’s where the gospel is even better than Jimmy ’s story.
With God, there was no clerical error.
Jesus died in your place.
And when you trusted Him as your Savior, God’s records show that you died with Him.
“I have been crucified with Christ.”
Paul tells the Colossians exactly what God did with your account:
Colossians 2:14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he
set aside, nailing it to the cross.
And just like Jimmy ’s creditors, God won’t reopen the account.
The account is closed.
To keep trying to pay would be to act like Christ died for nothing.
So quit the third job.
Stop running on the treadmill of legalistic religion.
You’re free to live for God instead of working for His approval.
You’re free to discover the new life of Christ living in you.
You’re free to walk with the One who loved you and gave Himself for you.
That’s the benefit of being crucified with Christ.
