Not I But Christ in Me (Gal 2:20)

Apr 20
2 min read

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 - Galatians 2:20

When Jesus died, He did not just die for us, but in a certain sense He died as us.

His crucifixion is our crucifixion. His death is our death. And therefore, His life is now our life.

The epitome of the Christian life is contained within this one verse, and there is paradox oozing from every angle.

Paul says he has been crucified with Christ - yet we know physically this is not true. Jesus died next to two thieves, and Paul had never physically died. He then says that he no longer lives but Christ lives within him. But directly after this he seems to contradict himself saying "the life I now live..."

Is Paul dead or alive? Is it him living or Christ living in him? The answer to these questions is yes.

This reality of union with Christ stretches the boundaries of human vocabulary.

It cannot be spoken of without linguistic contradiction.

This is because union with Christ is a reality that exists beyond the limits of human language and can be known fully only in the realm of experience.

English translations gloss over one more area of tension in this verse in the phrase, "I live by faith in the Son of God." Many more literal translations render these Greek words as, "I live by the faith of the Son of God."

In the Greek, there is no preposition between the words faith and Son of God. It is somewhat ambiguous if Paul is saying that he lives by his own faith in Christ or if he is saying that he lives by the faithfulness of Christ Himself.

Modern scholars continue to debate this vigorously. But perhaps this ambiguity is intentional. Perhaps our subjective faith is supposed to be intrinsically linked to His objective faithfulness.

Maybe if we focused less on "our faith" as if it were a possession of the ego, and more on His perfect faithfulness to the Father and to us, then we would begin to find, with Paul, Christ's life becoming our own.