SHARING IN THE CRUCIFIXION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

“So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”

Galatians 2:17-21 NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the earliest years of the Christian church, the years following Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, we find the emergence of competing factions.

On one side, we had Jewish Christians who were unwilling to accept that compliance with the Old Testament law was no longer required for salvation under the new covenant that God had established with His people, all His people whether Jew or Gentile.

This new covenant was anchored in the truth that God had offered salvation to all people and to be saved, all they needed to do was believe in Jesus, God’s Son, as Savior. The Apostle Paul and his fellow missionaries fully prescribed to this new way to salvation, salvation through Christ who had proclaimed Himself as the Way and the Truth and the Life.

In accepting Jesus as Savior, Paul, who identified as a Jew, died to the Law and was no longer bound by its requirements so he was free to live for God. He surrendered his old self and its sinful nature, exchanging it for a new life where he lived in and through Jesus. As a result, Christ abided in the heart and mind of Paul and in return, the Apostle placed his trust in Jesus, the Son of God, who loved him and laid down His life to save him. It was a selfless sacrifice that Paul wanted others to know about as he refused to “treat the grace of God as meaningless”.

Today, we get to share in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus when we choose to accept God’s salvation offer through His Son. And when we receive Christ as Savior, He still comes to live and abide inside us, ever leading and guiding us toward living righteously as He did.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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