The Life You Now Live: Living by Faith in the Son of God
Rev. Aniekan "Mbomboyo" Okokon ·
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
There is a sentence in Galatians that contains the whole Christian life. Paul wrote it in the middle of an argument about law and grace, and it reads less like an argument than a confession. Crucified. Christ lives in me. I live by faith. He loved me. He gave Himself for me.
Most believers know the verse. Fewer have noticed that the middle of it describes not the beginning of the Christian life but its continuation. "The life I now live" - the ordinary, embodied, Tuesday-afternoon life - "I live by faith in the Son of God."
Faith is not only the door
We tend to treat faith as the way in and effort as the way on. Paul refuses the division. The same trust that received the Son at the start is the trust that draws on Him now. Faith is not a one-time transaction; it is the posture of a life that has no other source.
What does that look like? It looks like meeting each demand of the day - the patience your children need, the honesty your work requires, the forgiveness a friend has made hard - not by reaching into your own reserves but by counting on the One who lives in you. "Lord, I do not have this. You do. Live it through me." That is living by faith in the Son of God.
Who loved me and gave Himself for me
Notice how personal the end of the verse is. Not "who loved the world", though He did. Who loved me. Paul, the persecutor, the man who held the coats at Stephen's stoning, says the Son of God loved him and gave Himself for him. Living by faith is living from that fact. The Christ who lives in you is not a stern lodger. He is the One who died for you, and He is not less kind now that He is inside.
Three habits of a life lived by faith
- Begin the day by remembering whose life it is. A sentence is enough: "It is no longer I who live."
- Meet the hard moment by asking, not straining. Strain says "I must." Faith says "He can."
- End the day without a ledger. If the day went well, He lived it. If it did not, He still loves you and gave Himself for you, and tomorrow is another day to live by faith.
Crucified, indwelt, loved. That is the life you now live.