In Galatians 2:20 there are four words, each of one syllable, which indicate four distinct relationships to the Lord Jesus in which believers stand. The first two of these words taken in the order noted below, have reference to our Lord in His crucifixion, and the other two regard Him as He now is, subsequent to His death on the Cross.
The four words are: for, with, in, and by, and they open up to us this great passage.
1. “He gave Himself for me,” says the apostle, and, so saying, he speaks not for himself alone, but representatively for his fellow-believers. In this clause he and the Lord are seen as two. He stands apart, looking on the Lord Jesus crucified as the dying Israelite looked at the brass serpent.
2. “I am crucified with Christ.” Here he is viewed, not as standing apart from Christ and beholding Him, but as fastened with Him on the cross. The first word shows the cross in the aspect in which it is the basis of forgiveness; the second word indicates its application to the life of him who has been forgiven. It may be asked whether, while the gospel of forgiveness is constantly preached, this second aspect of the cross is sufficiently insisted on in our teaching.
3. “Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Crucifixion is helpless death; life is the capacity of enjoyment and action. Death is for the old man (Rom. 6:6); life is the principle that actuates the new man.
4. “And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God.” This is life, not in its essence and principle, but in its conduct. It is life lived by a faith which has constant reference to the Lord Jesus. It is true that we derive life from Him, and that He lives in us; it is also true that in pursuing our Christian course we live daily by a faith which lays hold upon the Son of God–seeing and dealing with Him who is invisible.
He died for me, I am crucified with Him, He lives in me, and I live by the faith of Him. That is Christianity.