Galatians 2:20 – Whose Am I?

"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)


Our life in the flesh, just like our spirit, is not our own.

I like these verses that give us our identity. It isn't there much in the Old Testament – even though it was acknowledged that man was made in God's image, the concept of finding your identity within God probably felt wrong. At that point, nothing bridged that gap between the Creator/Administrator of the universe and the creation that willingly turned its back on Him. Once the only one that could call Himself fully man and fully God had sacrificed Himself to save them from the sin that they brought into the world, there was One to identify with and not just a law to follow. As Christ gave up His body to take on the entirety of God's wrath, we now have the option to join Him in salvation. I'm so glad that I was born after the fact, too – living purely under the Law would have been rough. Now I can still sanctify myself under it, but I don't have to wonder who I am – or whose I am.

That's a key reminder – whose am I? Naturally I don't want to belong to anyone. I'm an adult, I should be able to live for myself. But not only is that wrong – since I didn't give myself life – but living our lives for ourselves makes us bitter, cold, and quite literally self-centered. No one can handle that kind of pressure, first of all, and no one would ever want to stick around someone who only seeks out themselves. I have a hard time letting go of things that I think should belong to me. It's so difficult remembering that I don't live my life for myself. I want that thing. It makes me feel good. Let me have it. Sounds pathetic. In reality though, that thing was never mine. It's no longer my life to live – but it's also not my death that I have to die. I'll take that trade. Everything's a rental, and we need to be okay with that. 

But more than that, what's unique about this verse compared to other passages that I found about death of self, is that it acknowledges that even after we've been crucified with Christ, we still have to live a life in our flesh. Our souls have been freed from sin, but our bodies haven't been. Just hear me out, I promise this isn't going where the cult-ish language suggests. That's the way it's meant to be – our own salvation isn't the end, because we need to witness to other people, so they can get there too. That's exactly what I'm getting at – we still have to live a life in our flesh, but we can now live it by faith in Christ.

If I have to live a life in the flesh, I may as well bring as much of the Lord into at as I can. It's incredibly difficult – trying to actually exhibit an identity in perfection is an everyday kind of battle. And although we'll never be able to do that perfectly, it's infinitely better than facing the pressure and consequences of finding our identity elsewhere. Hang in there – all you can do is stay faithful. Rest in knowing that you'll never have to sacrifice as much as He did.

"Let me be quick to remind myself who I am, and whose I am."

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