Living by faith

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20a) How? Galatians 2:20b: “the life which I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:21: Righteousness comes not by the law, but by the grace of God.
Faith: to act based upon what is believed. In v.20-21, faith in the Son of God is based on the belief that both salvation and sanctification is the work of Jesus Christ, made available to us by the grace of God. Living in Christ, abiding in Him is only possible by God’s grace. To die to self and live for and in Him requires total dependence on God’s grace. It is to act believing that He makes and will make it possible.
“I live by faith in the Son of God” (v.20) Our confidence is not in ourselves or in the law, but in Jesus Christ. We do not believe in ourselves, in what we can do, plan, or accomplish. To live by faith in the Son of God is to believe in Him and in what He can and will do in and through us when we abandon our will and way for His.
“Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life”. (John 14:6) “If you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13) We have a choice: life (Christ) or death (self).
How is this applied? How do we stop trying to get this accomplished ourselves? When we hear we need to die to self, we think, OK, what do I do? How do I die to self and live for Christ? We strategize, plan, or make systems to follow to achieve this goal. But we fail. This approach always will fail because dying to self cannot be achieved by focusing on self-effort! (How can we die to self if we are continually focused on it?)
The only way dying to self takes place is in a positive approach: putting our focus, priority, attention on God instead of ourselves. Instead of focusing on dying, it is focusing on who we are living for.
Changing our focus does not mean that our emotions, wants, or desires are going to fall right in line or not conflict with our new priority (God). Living for and in Christ is a choice of our will, made possible by God’s grace. It is choosing to do what honors and pleases God despite how we feel, depending on His enablement through prayer to do it.
One of the ways in which God makes living for Him and in Christ possible is with the truth of His Word. Our emotions, wants, and desires can be so intense that they can over-power our will with rationalizations like “it won’t hurt me or anyone else”, “I need this to function/cope”, or “God is still honored as long as we keep the ‘important’ rules”; all these and others to convince us that living for Christ is not necessary every moment of the day. When this happens, it is the truth of God that will keep us from pursuing death instead of life. It reminds us that only God’s way is life (John 14:6); no matter how needful or desirable a selfish want may appear to be, it will not bring life, but death. It will not bring peace, but strife; sorrow, not joy; restlessness, anxiety, and irritability, not contentment or satisfaction. When we depend on God in prayer and are supported and encouraged by His Word, living in and for Christ can and will happen.
All praise to God for His great grace that made our salvation and sanctification possible, and who continues to do the work of sanctification in us. “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” (Hebrews 2:10-11)