Crucified with Christ

THE POWER OF THE CROSS

And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lust.

Galatians 5: 24

 The corruption of the flesh can only be dealt with through death. The purpose of God is never to reform the flesh but to render it impotent. We cannot deal with the flesh by will power. Strict rules and regulations; dogmas and methods will fail. We cannot repair, regulate or educate the flesh. God’s judgement on the flesh is death.

However, God has provided a solution to bringing death to the flesh through Christ’s crucifixion on the cross. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh. The deciding factor is whether one has been related to Christ in this life. The issue is not the level of religious knowledge or morality that a person has but a question of their belonging to the Lord. The flesh has already been crucified, not that it is in the process or that it will be crucified.

The crucifixion of the flesh does not depend on our experiences but rather, it is contingent upon God’s finished work. “Those who belong to Jesus Christ,” the weak as well as the strong, “have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Someone maybe asking, “If I have crucified the flesh why do I still sin?”

If you look daily into your situation instead of listening to God’s word, you will never enter into the reality of your crucifixion. You say that you still sin but God says that you have been crucified on the cross.

God pronounces your flesh crucified; indeed it has been crucified. If you act on His word instead of focusing on your experience you shall see that your flesh is indeed dead. We should realise that the Bible never tells us to crucify ourselves; it informs us that we have been crucified. We are not to be crucified individually but were jointly crucified in Christ.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me……

Galatians 2: 20

If we look at God’s truth first, then our experience will follow. In this sense, we should be able to acknowledge the fact that we have been crucified irrespective of our experiences in order to experience the reality of our crucifixion.