I Am Crucified With Christ

Baptized Into Death

"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 2:17-20)

Friend, Paul made a very bold statement here in verse 20, he said "I am crucified with Christ." The word crucify in the English dictionary means to execute a person by nailing to a cross. So Paul was saying that he had been nailed to the cross with Jesus, nevertheless, he was alive. How can one be dead and yet alive? How could he have been crucified with Christ? What exactly did he mean by that statement? Romans 6:3 says:

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"

So he is saying that we as born again believers have been baptized into the death of Christ. That is, we and Christ died together. Paul goes on to say in verse 4 of Romans 6: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death...." and in verse 5 "if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death....". You see, he said the same thing three times. We have been planted together and buried with him by baptism into his death. Paul explains further in verse 6:

"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin."

Now you see what Paul meant when he said "I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live". He points out that it is the old man that is crucified with Christ, not the mortal man—the body. At redemption, our old man (the spirit that is not alive unto God) was crucified with Christ, and we have a new spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:17 proves this truth:

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

‘Passed away’ is a phrase we use when someone dies, our old man passed away. Now I would like you to notice that Paul said, "Our old man is crucified with him" (Rom 6:6), 'our' there being in the plural. So that includes me and you, not just Paul alone.

Therefore, it is safe to say that you are crucified with Christ, why? Because the word of God said you are. James likens the word of God to a mirror, he made an alarming statement in his illustration in (James 1:23-24). By saying, one hearing the word is as one beholding his natural face in a mirror for "he beholdeth himself." Therefore, the word of God is a picture of our true nature. So it is safe to say like Paul did "I am crucified with Christ".

Reason For Crucifixion

"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." (Romans 6:6)

From this, we see that the main aim of the crucifixion was to destroy the "body of sin" which is our old man. The old man is the body of sin, the sinful nature of man. We see a picture of this nature in Romans 7:18-24:

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

You see the body of sin in action, the sinful nature in a person totally rendering you helpless and enslaving you to sin because when you start doing things against your will, that is slavery. But the problem was inside man "for I know that in me". Then the reason we are crucified with Christ is so "that the body of sin might be destroyed". Our old man is executed so that we would stop being servants or slaves to sin.

Have you seen a dead man exercising authority over somebody? No wonder in Romans 6:7, Paul said "he that is dead is freed from sin", another translation (NLT) puts it this way "from the power of sin".

"That nature has been crucified! That is not who you are anymore, your very nature has been changed! For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God." (Col 3:3 Eph 2:1-3, 1 Pet 1:23).

Significance Of The Crucifixion

Friend, here is another picture of the old man and his attributes in Galatians 5:19-21:

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

I always thought that witchcraft was primarily demonic until I saw it was part of the nature of the old man. The word "flesh" here means the old man, man's sinful nature, the body of sin. You see Paul goes on to list the characteristics of the Spirit which is in the new man in verses 22-23. Then he ends his discussion about the old man with a marvelous statement in verse 24:

"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."

They that are Christ's, that is born again people baptized into the death of Christ, have crucified the old man (flesh) and his affections and lusts. A dead man does not have affections, his affections died with him. The lust and affection for adultery, fornication, idolatry, witchcraft, and all of them have been crucified on the cross with Christ.

I would like you to notice that the word "crucified" is in the past tense. This happened over 2000 years ago, "he that is dead is freed from the power of sin". Sin occurs when one is drawn away into his lust and affections. The crucifixion resulted in the death of the lust and affection for sin, which is the power of sin.

Lust is a feeling of strong desire, it can't be helped. This strong desire for sin is what we call the power of sin. That strong desire for the works of the old man is dead. "He that is dead is freed from the power of sin" and "they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts".

A lot of people talk about crucifying the flesh but you won't find that in the New Testament. Instead, you will see "crucified", a past tense. The day they were crying out and shouting "Crucify him, crucify him" (John 19:15), that was the day that strong desire for sin died, that was the day sin lost its power over you, that was the day you got free from the slavery of sin as we saw in Romans 7:19-24.

Consider Yourselves To Be Dead

Friend, you might be wondering "Well, brother Robert, if that is true then why do I seem to be having these strong desires and why am I enslaved to sin?"

First of all, that is because you didn't know any better that you had been freed from slavery. Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..." and it is the truth that you know that sets you free (John 8:32). So the truth you do not know keeps you in bondage. Now you know the truth so you are free.

Secondly, it is because you still think that you need to crucify the flesh. Your mindset is that the old man and his affections and lusts are still alive. Proverbs 23:7 says, "as he thinketh in his heart, so is he". You need to align your thoughts to the word of God, do not be like the man James illustrated "for he beholdeth himself" (James 1:23-24). You are beholding yourself.

Hear what Paul said in Romans 6:11, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin..." Another translation said consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin (NLT). We are to think so of ourselves, your mindset should be I am crucified with Christ, the old man and its lust and affection have no power over me. Peter also said, "Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind; for he that suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin" (1 Peter 4:2). Paul said we should reckon or consider ourselves dead indeed unto sin. Peter said arm yourselves with the mindset. Align your thoughts to the Word of God. We are transformed as we renew or change our mindset (Rom. 12:2).

Finally, most people don’t believe they’ve been crucified with Christ, it is like healing, “himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases,” Matthew 8:17. Until you start believing that, you will not see your healing manifest. So also, you have to believe that you have been crucified with Christ. Faith is released in words (2 Corinthians 4:13) 'We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have I spoken.'

You have to release your faith by speaking the word. Mark 11:23 says 'You shall have whatsoever you say' and Jesus is the High Priest of our profession or confession (Hebrews 3:1). That is, He is anointed to see that our words come to pass. So, we have to put the word of God in our mouth, 'The word is near, even in thy mouth' which word 'that is, the word of faith' (Romans 10:8). All He is saying is that the word we believe is the word that is in our mouth. Believe it and express it by speaking it, 'I am crucified with Christ.'

Until you dare to say it, you cannot see it. So let go of that depression. What the word says is who you are! You are crucified with Christ Jesus. Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be crucified with Christ. You can as well say "I am crucified with Christ". Glory to God, the old man is crucified!

You Have a Responsibility

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace."                                                            

 - Romans 6:12-14

Let's point out some outstanding facts from this scripture:

• Although you are crucified with Christ, sin can still reign in your mortal body.

• Sin cannot reign in your mortal body without your permission. That means you, who was formerly a slave, now have the power to say no to sin.

• Affections and lusts still come.

• The affections and lusts have lost the strong desire they had over you, enabling you to overcome them. That is why he said "sin shall not have dominion over you," because it cannot exercise its power over you, no more slavery.

Therefore, this leaves you with a responsibility to either walk out of sin and say no, or yield to sin and become a willing servant. This choice is ours to make. To continue in sin or say no, Romans 6:2 says, "God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?" In our war against sin, victory is already assured (Romans 12:4).

Sin has no power over you; you have been crucified with Christ. That strong desire for sin is dead in you. You cannot remain a slave. Believe this and release your faith by saying it. Do not stop thinking about it. Arm yourselves with this mindset. Take responsibility. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body. Friend, you have been crucified with Christ Jesus! Walk out of that slavery; you are free!

Jesus is Lord!

Min. Roi