http://www.unlockingthebible.org/new-life-new-battles/ Pastor Colin Smith preached this sermon on Galatians 2:20 at The Orchard Evangelical Free Church, in Barrington, IL. http://theorchardefc.org/ To download the series or order these sermons on CD, see the link at the top of the description. New Life, New Battles #2/5: The Inside Story of the Christian Life Galatians 2:20 October 22nd / 23rd 2011 by Pastor Colin S. Smith "The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God." Galatians 2:20 We are looking at "the inside story of the Christian life." How do we make sense of the Christian life? How do you make sense of your experience of it and all that the Bible says about it? The Contradiction of the Christian Life If you are a Christian you have died to sin, but sin seems very much alive in you! You feel the pull of sin in your life. Its presence is real and obvious to you. Have you noticed the contradictions of your Christian life? You love Christ and yet you are tempted to sin. You trust Christ and yet you struggle with many fears. I often find that I am a mystery to myself, and I expect that you do as well. Maybe you have struggled to hold together what the Bible says about the Christian life and your own experience of it. You read about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17), God working in you with the same power that He exercised in raising Jesus from the dead, and here you are struggling with a sickness, looking for a job, trying to raise a family and it doesn't seem quite so grand. We turn today to one of the greatest statements of the Christian life in the whole of the Bible, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). Spurgeon says about this verse... "Your life is a very strange one: 'I am crucified, nevertheless I live.' What a contradiction! The Christian's life is a matchless riddle. No worldling can comprehend it; even the believer himself cannot understand it. He knows it, but solving all its enigmas, he feels to be an impossible task." [1] Matthew Henry speaks about the "mysterious life of a believer." He has died and yet he lives. He lives and yet it is not he, but Christ. He is crucified with Christ and yet Christ lives in him. Our purpose today is to look into this mystery, as we explore the inside story of the Christian life. I hope you have your Bible open at Galatians 2:20. For all its mystery, I have found this verse to be more helpful than any other for getting a handle on the Christian life. I want to draw your attention to two statements about the Christian life that come in this verse: 1. Paul describes the Christian life as "the life I live in the body," 2. then Paul says that he lives this life in the body, "by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." The Christian life is lived "in the body," and "by faith in the Son of God." These two statements will give you a good handle on the Christian life. Your Christian life is lived "in the body" "the life I live in the body..." Galatians 2:20 You will always feel the pull of the flesh. You will find yourself lacking courage, losing heart and lamenting your failures. You will experience sickness, weakness and eventually death. Until then you may struggle with depression, anxiety, doubt, fear and loneliness. All this flows from the fact that the Christian life is lived in the body, but that's not the whole story... Your Christian life is lived "by faith in the Son of God" "the life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God." Galatians 2:20 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)
