“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
When I turned to this text this evening, it surprised me that I have written as many blogs as I have over the last year and a half, and have not written anything on it. At least I don’t remember that I have. In the title I asked the question: “Have You Been Crucified?” Of course you knew that I do not mean to ask if you have been literally crucified, for that has already done by Jesus and no one else will ever have to do it. Jesus died for us “once for all” and for all the ages. What did Paul mean when he wrote: “I have been crucified with Christ”? I think that he meant that when he accepted Christ on the Damascus Road, the old mean-spirited Paul died and a new Paul emerged. Paul wrote about this in 2 Corinthians 5:17 in different words: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away; behold all things have become new.” One of the first things that we learn when Jesus comes into our lives is that He changes us from within, and the old things that we loved so much have been replaced by better things. This is amply illustrated in the life of Paul. Before Paul’s encounter with Christ, he was mean-spirited, narrow minded and filled with hatred. But after his encounter with Christ, Paul was a loving person. He became so loving that he wrote the definitive text on love in 1 Corinthians 13. He was, indeed, crucified with Christ. Everyone does not have the instant radical change that Paul had when they are converted, but there are definitely changes in their lives. Think about the changes that Christ has made in your life and you will see what I mean. Please do not understand me to be telling you that you should have become a super-righteous person when you were saved, but that there are changes and that you are growing in grace. In 1 Corinthians 13:11 Paul wrote about how his life had changed when he accepted Christ: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” Paul was not referring to growing up in age, but to growing in Christ. When Christ entered Paul’s life he put away the childish desire to destroy people with whom he disagreed, and to actually love people. I don’t think that we are really grown up in age or in Christ until we learn to love people instead of envying or hating them. Crucifixion in Christ will bring a new and lasting maturity into our lives. We need to pray that Christ will help us mature in Christian love. We probably all have some maturing to do in this matter, but we do need to think seriously about it. In Ephesians 4:22-25 Paul wrote about what this change would mean in our lives: “That ye put off concerning the former conduct of the old man, which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts; 23. And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. 24. And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members of one another.” The terms “put off” and “put on” could be used in the sense of taking off old clothes and putting on new clothes. This means that we should make conscious changes in our lives. What I mean is that Christ changes us, but we need to give thought and action to the changes that he makes in our lives. We need to make it a practice in our lives, no matter how long we have been Christians, to make conscious changes for the better. We can do this under the conviction and leadership of the Holy Spirit. I hope that you can truly say: “I have been crucified with Christ,” and that you have become a new person in Him, putting off and putting on those things that will make you a better Christian, a better witness and a better human being. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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