No Longer I Who Live
Having the Mind of Christ — Devotion 9 of 10
Galatians 2:20 — “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.”
Opening Reflection
This is one of the most personal verses Paul ever wrote, and it takes the mind of Christ a step further than mere imitation. Paul does not simply say he tries to think like Christ. He says his old self has been crucified, and that Christ now lives in him - the very life he lives is animated by another.
This is a striking claim to sit with. Christian transformation reaches deeper than behavior modification. Paul describes his old self as crucified with Christ and his present life as one in which Christ now lives in him. The believer remains a real person with a real will and personality, but the controlling center of life has been decisively changed.
And yet Paul does not float off into abstraction. He grounds this mystical union in something concrete: faith in the Son of God, who loved him and gave Himself for him. The mind of Christ is not simply adopted through effort - it grows out of a settled trust in the One who died in love.
Taking a Devotional View
“I have been crucified with Christ” uses a perfect tense in the Greek, describing a completed action with ongoing results - not something Paul is still working toward, but something already accomplished at the cross and still bearing fruit in his present life. The old self’s claim to run the show has been decisively broken.
Notice the personal weight of the verse’s final phrase: “who loved me and gave himself for me.” Paul receives Christ’s love personally, and that love becomes the atmosphere in which faith is lived. The Christlike mind we already possess by the Spirit and continually learn to practice is sustained by returning again and again to the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us.
Key Thoughts & Takeaways
Key Thoughts
- Paul describes his old self as already crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20).
- The life he now lives is animated by Christ living in him, not his own effort.
- This union is lived out through ongoing faith, not a one-time decision.
- Paul roots the whole reality in Christ’s personal love and self-giving for him.
Ask Yourself
- Do I live more from my old self’s instincts, or from Christ’s life at work in me?
- How personal does Christ’s love feel to me - do I hear it as “for me” specifically?
- What would change today if I truly believed my old self was already crucified?
- Where do I need to return to faith rather than relying on my own strength?
Jesus, thank You that You loved me and gave Yourself for me personally, not just for humanity in general. Help me live today from the truth that my old self was crucified with You, and that it is Your life at work in me now. I trust You by faith. In Your name, amen.