Galatians 2:20-21

20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" – Galatians 2:20-21

My life appears to be going through a season of major change right now, though I feel like I am being forced to stay the same. This is a struggle, as I long to grow beyond where I am at, but cannot. Still, this period of change isn’t nearly as drastic as the change that Christ brings about in one’s life. I feel that change is seen right here in this pair of verses from Galatians. It is a good way to end this brief week of intense study on just a few verses.

When Christ came to earth in human form He brought about monumental change. Therefore, when we accept Him into our hearts there is monumental change inside of us. At that point, we are no longer defined by ourselves. We are instead defined by Christ living within us. We see here that He changed the law so that we may have righteousness through Him, but in reality it is so much more than that.

Part of my pessimistic nature is that I see nothing but failure in myself. I will be very open here. I am 28 years old, but I have virtually nothing in the way of a career. After a very promising upbringing with great grades and everything, I have struggled for the past three and a half years just to find work. Not only that, I have done many other things in my life that I regret. I have greatly hurt those who have cared about me because of my own selfishness. I have battled addictions that have done nothing but served as crutches to deal with internal pain. I have turned my back on Christ a number of times as I have sought my own way.

Yet because of Christ in my heart, I have righteousness. My spirit can rest in the fact that one day, the pain will end. One day my imperfections will be washed away because of the cleansing blood of Christ. I n my humanity I cannot get around that. I cannot see how this is possible, but Christ sees beyond that. His power is infinite. It is able to breakthrough that which I cannot. In going back to Monday’s writing on Roman’s 12:1, I have no choice then but to offer myself as a living sacrifice.

Here is where things get very interesting. Under Old Testament law, sacrifices had to be perfect. I am far from perfect. Not only did Christ change the law as seen here in these verses, He allows us to be the sacrifice mentioned in Romans 12 because we are perfect with Him. He alone has the power to make our spirits perfect. This cyclical nature and how parts of the Word relate to each other is simply a small part of His beauty and majesty.