Wait – that can’t be right.
NOV 09, 2025
“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
Did you know, Christian, that you are dead?
That may sound strange, but it’s exactly what Scripture teaches. A part of us — often called our flesh or sin nature — was crucified on the cross with Jesus. That’s what Paul declares in Galatians 2:20. But what does that actually mean?
How can part of me be dead, and yet I still live?
For many believers, this verse is difficult to grasp. We often read it quickly, assume it’s metaphorical, or quietly move past it because it’s hard to understand. But Paul meant something deeply real and liberating.
“It is no longer I who live…”
What can that mean? We’re clearly alive — breathing, thinking, reasoning. And yet, in a very real sense, Scripture says we have died.
Paul explains this further in Colossians:
“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Colossians 3:3–4
So what kind of death is this?
Dead to the World’s Systems
Earlier, Colossians gives us even more clarity:
“You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, ‘Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!’?… These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.”
Colossians 2:20–23
Notice what Paul says here. The “spiritual powers of this world” insist on religious performance — Don’t touch, don’t taste, don’t do this or that. Isn’t that also the main message we often hear in modern, evangelical church? “Be better. Try harder. Choose righteousness.”
But here’s the truth:
You can’t choose righteousness any more than you can choose your natural eye color. Righteousness is not something we manufacture; it’s something God imparts. It’s a gift, not a product of effort or choosing.
So in What Sense Is the Christian Dead?
Every religious system teaches that behavior determines acceptance before God. But Scripture reveals something radically different.
Our flesh — our sin nature — is hopelessly corrupt. It doesn’t improve with time or effort. Trying to make it behave is like trying to teach a corpse to dance. That’s what Paul means when he says our old self was crucified with Christ.
From God’s perspective, our sin nature has already been judged and executed — on the cross. Jesus took the punishment our sin nature deserved.
So, from the standpoint of sin and judgment, we are no longer under condemnation. The part of us that was guilty is now dead in God’s eyes. That is the heart of the gospel.
The Trap of Religion
I recently spoke with someone who struggled to accept this truth. “I’ve never met a Christian who actually lives like that,” he said.
And that’s the tragedy of religion. Religion — in the human sense — is our attempt to earn God’s favor through performance. It keeps people in bondage, always striving but never arriving.
In contrast, the gospel declares:
- Our acceptance before God has nothing to do with our behavior.
- It depends entirely on Jesus’ performance, not our own.
- Our sin nature could never please God — and God never expected it to. It was crucified with Christ and left for dead.
Dead but Free
So what does this mean for us, practically?
You still deal with your sin nature, but it no longer determines your standing with God. Your salvation isn’t threatened by your failures.
Your future sinful behavior cannot undo what Jesus has already finished. From heaven’s perspective, that old self is dead and out of the equation.
When you finally stand before Jesus, your sin nature will be left behind — like a filthy set of clothes you’ll never wear again.
Your flesh may still trouble you, but it cannot condemn you. It was crucified with Jesus, and that death is permanent.
In Summary
To be “crucified with Christ” means that the self that once stood guilty before God has already been judged and executed at the cross. The life we now live is not sustained by our striving but by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us.
Our old nature is dead.
Christ lives in us.
And that changes everything.
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