Crucified With Christ

An image based in Scripture gets very little attention these days.  In Galatians 2:19-20 the Apostle Paul wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who lives, but it is Christ who lives in me."  This verse is not acceptable for those who preach a comfortable gospel.  It is not for those who will sacrifice anything to make people feel accepted.  It is word which is often watered down to make it more palatable.  It is a word which leaves no margin for compromise.   

The image of crucifixion is, of course, not something people of our generation can visualize through their own experience.  We can read about it.  It is something so horrible and something so incompatible with our understanding of God as a God of love, that it is hardly mentioned in the church today.  Going through any kind of spiritual experience which resembles crucifixion is inconceivable.  Yet, here is Paul speaking of his witness by saying, "I have been crucified with Christ..."  

To be crucified with Christ as Paul speaks of it is an intentional decision.  It is not something to which we come by rambling.  It is a moment of choosing a letting go of what is past so that we can enter fully into what is ahead.  To be crucified with Christ speaks of finality.  There is no going back.  It involves a commitment to go forward into whatever it is that is ahead of us that we cannot see so long as it is according to the will of God.  It is about choosing His will over our will.  It is not an easy way and few really choose it.  To be crucified with Christ is about abandoning all rights to self  and choosing Jesus with no conditions and no reservations.