Proclamation:
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live
for God. 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.” Galatians 2:19-20 (NIV)
Explanation:
These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the
influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Galatia . Paul begins this chapter by recounting his
acceptance by the apostles. (Galatians 2:1-10)
He then recounts an episode where he confronts Peter for his
non-Christ-like behavior. (Galatians 2:11-18)
Peter would eat and fellowship with the Gentiles until some of the other
apostles arrived, then he separated himself from them and other believers,
including Barnabas, followed his lead. After
this, Paul states that he is no longer under the law because Christ died and
rose for him. Now he lives his life for
Christ and walks by faith in The Son of God.
Application:
As believers, our behavior is always under scrutiny, by
non-believers and by other believers. When
we do wrong and sin, we can cause those who follow us to stumble and fall into
sin, as Peter did. We are not to return
to our old ways and follow non-Christian customs in order to gain the favor of
man. (Galatians 2:14) We need to
recognize The Spirit of God within us and to live our life as a good example of
Christian behavior. We are justified by
our faith in Christ and not by our works or customs. Christ was crucified once for all of us and for
all of our sins. There is no need for us
to be crucified or to crucify Him again.
He died for us so that we could live with Him in the future. So, let us live for Him now.
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