Good morning to you my precious friends

Galatians 2 verse 20 says, “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.”

I don't know many verses that better describe what it means to be a Christian.

The death, burial, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, are the critical elements of salvation. Nothing but faith in the Person and Work of Jesus is sufficient to reconcile us to God and save us from our sin. The key truths of the gospel are believing that Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and was raised on the third day. He was born in order to pay the penalty for our sin, which we could never pay.

When we are saved by faith, we are positioned IN Christ. We are taken from being in Adam's fallen race and transferred into Christ's Body – we are a new creation in HIM. We are identified with all that He is and all that He has done. As well as being saved by Christ's death we are also identified with His death. Paul writes "I have been crucified with Christ", My old self was crucified with Jesus when He died on the cross. My old sin nature, which the Bible calls my 'old man' was crucified with Jesus.

My death in Christ means that the old ME, the old SELF, the old SIN NATURE - the OLD MAN, died in Christ, at Calvary when Jesus died on the Cross. The old 'ME' died at the Cross and severed all the connections I had with my old, sin nature. By faith, I am part of a new creation, in Christ, which means that I am dead to sin, dead to the Law, dead to self, and dead to Satan. But while I live in this fallen body, my sinful nature fights against my new life in Christ, BUT I am no longer a slave to sin and under the curse of the Law, because Christ has set me free.

It is for this wonderful reason that we can say with Paul, "I have been crucified with Christ; and 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." I have the new, born-again, resurrected life of Christ living in me.

The moment I trusted the Son of God as Saviour, my new life in Christ was born and the old sin nature in Adam was nailed to the Cross.

The Holy Spirit of the resurrected Christ indwells my mortal body, so that although I remain in this decaying body of flesh and blood, I live by faith in the Son of God - so that it is not I that lives but Christ that lives in ME – Jesus Christ, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. Because of my faith in Him, I will one day exchange this body of flesh and blood for a body like HIS glorious body.

Every single day our life is trusting in Christ, we live by faith in the son of God. We wake up in the morning and just like we said at our conversion, "Lord I cannot do this on my own, I need You to save me." We say when we wake up in the morning, "I cannot do this on my own today, I need You to live through me. I'm trusting in You to be my wisdom, to be my strength, to be my sustenance, to be my joy. I'm living by faith in You."

The last phrase, "We live by faith in the son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us." It is good to live by faith in God who loves us, to the point where He sent His son to give Himself for us. He loves us so much. Christ in us loves us so much.

Many people claim to be Christians, and yet Jesus is only a part of their lives as opposed to Jesus being their life. This is the life of the Christian, the Lord Jesus is not on the side over here and with many other things going on in your life. No, Jesus is our life.

To live is Christ. It is not that I don’t sin anymore, but I don’t want to sin. I’ve turned from sin. I’ve repented of sin, and I’m trusting in Christ. I’ve been crucified with Christ, and Christ lives in me. This is the life of the Christian, the life of Christ in me.

So my fellow believer, know this wonderful truth that "Christ is in you Christian and He loves you so much and you can trust Him to lead you always"

Let us pray:

Thank You, Father, for Your Holy Spirit, Who was sent to lead and guide all believers, through this earthly life.  Teach us to listen to His voice and recognise His promptings. May Your will, not mine be done, until I can say with Paul, “the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

Much love from Maurice and Margaret