Galatians 2:20

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I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which 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 (NKJV)

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 2:20 (NIV)

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.

Galatians 2:20 (KJV)

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20 (NLT)

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 (ESV)

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Galatians 2:20 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Galatians 2:20 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Galatians 2:20 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not 'mine,' but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

Co-Crucifixion Is the Basis, Not a Metaphor

The Greek suzestauroomai (I have been crucified with) is a compound: sun (together with) plus stauroo (to crucify). Paul is making a theological claim about union with Christ in His death. This is not a metaphor for hard spiritual discipline. It is a statement about what happened to the believer's old self when Christ died. Romans 6:6 says "our old self was crucified with him." The crucifixion of the old nature is not something you accomplish through spiritual effort. It is something that happened to you in Christ and that you reckon to be true (Romans 6:11). Galatians 2:20 is Paul's personal appropriation of that reality.

"Not I, But Christ": The Grammar of Union

The logic of the verse moves in stages. First: the old I died with Christ (co-crucifixion). Second: nevertheless, Paul still lives, therefore the living "I" is not the old I. Third: the one now living in his body is Christ. Fourth: this life is lived by faith in the Son of God. Paul is not claiming his personality was obliterated. He is claiming that the center of his life, the engine of his existence, the source from which he operates is no longer the self-directed ego. It is Christ alive within him. The believer is the vessel. Christ is the life.

"Who loved me and gave himself for me." Paul does not write "who loved us" or "who died for sin." He makes it intensely personal: me. In a letter written against a Galatian church being drawn back into works-based religion, Paul grounds the entire argument in the personal love of the Son of God for him specifically. The gospel is not only a cosmic transaction. It is a personal act of love. The Son of God loved you individually and gave Himself specifically for you.

Application for Your Life

The Christian Life Is Not Imitation. It Is Participation.

Many believers think of the Christian life as imitating Jesus: trying to do what He would do, act as He would act, feel what He would feel. Galatians 2:20 describes something entirely different. Christ is not the external model you are trying to copy. He is the internal life you are living from. The life you now live in the body is not your attempt to replicate someone else. It is Christ's life expressed through a willing human instrument. The question is not "what would Jesus do?" but "what does Christ who lives in me want to do through me?"

Faith Is Not Effort. It Is Reliance on Who He Is.

Paul says the life he lives in the flesh he lives by faith in the Son of God. Faith here is not white-knuckled belief in the face of doubt. It is reliance on the reliability of a person: the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. The basis of the faith is not the strength of Paul's conviction. It is the love and self-giving of the Son. You live by faith in Him, which means you live by trusting that He is who He said He is, that He did what He did, and that what He did for you was personal.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Jesus, I receive what You say about my union with You in Your death and resurrection. I have been crucified with You. The old me, the self-directed version that lived independently of You, that does not describe who I am anymore. You live in me. The life I am living right now in this body is not my own performance. It is Your life expressed through me as I trust in You. I live today by faith in You, the Son of God who loved me and gave Yourself for me personally, specifically, completely. Not just for the world but for me. That is the ground I stand on. That is the life I live. In Your name. Amen.