Two Deaths And A Life
Two Deaths and a Life
A Weekly Devotional from Rock of Ages Bible Holiness Church
"For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 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. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."
— Galatians 2:19–21 (KJV)
In Antioch, the Apostle Peter was eating with Gentile believers until some visitors arrived who insisted that Christians must keep the Jewish law. Peter quietly picked up his plate and moved to another table. Paul confronted him, because that simple move preached a false message: Jesus is enough to save you, but to truly belong, you need our rules too.
Paul's response is one of the richest passages in Scripture. It begins with a death, "I… am dead to the law," and ends with a death, "Christ is dead in vain." In between, Paul uses the word live five times. Two deaths, and a life.
The death I died. The law of God is holy, but it pronounces a sentence on sin, and that sentence is death. At the cross, Jesus bore the curse of the law, and everyone joined to Him by faith died with Him. Just as a court has no more claim on a man who has died, the law no longer stands over the believer as a way to earn God's favor. Yet Paul didn't die to the law so he could live for himself. He died "that I might live unto God." Our good works and holy standards are beautiful fruit, but they make a poor foundation. Christ alone is where we stand.
The life I live. "Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." The gospel doesn't erase who you are. It rescues you. The old self that tried to earn its way went to the cross, and now Christ Himself lives in you by His Spirit. Like a dry field brought to life by water flowing through an acequia, we don't produce this life. We receive it. God isn't after a slightly better version of you. He wants a heart where Christ reigns without rival, and He is faithful to do that work (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24).
This life is lived in the ordinary days of work, family, bills, and weariness, "by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Notice the word me. The man who once persecuted the church could say, He loved me. So can you.
The death that was not for nothing. If we could make ourselves right with God by keeping rules, then Christ died for nothing. Trying to add our performance to His sacrifice is like reaching for your wallet when someone hands you a gift. But Christ's death was not in vain. It paid everything. The best way to honor it is to lean on it completely.
For Reflection
Where are you tempted to stand on your own record instead of on Christ?
Is there any area of your life you haven't opened to Christ's rule?
Read Galatians 2:20 aloud this week and put your own name in it: "the Son of God, who loved ___, and gave himself for ___."
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank You for dying the death we deserved, and thank You that we died with You. Live Your life in us. Open every part of our hearts to You, and teach us to live each day by faith in the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. Amen.
— Pastor Jordan Sankey
