Christ Lives in Me

​Galatians 2: 11 – 21.
 
Amidst a glaringly candid narrative of an earlier reprehensible encounter at Antioch between the apostles, Peter and Paul, and by implication, James (Gal 2:11-12), Paul interjected one of Scriptures’ most profound dictum (viz., Gal 2:20). What was the underlying factor which initiated this rather remarkable declaration? Some clarification to the Antioch incident may be necessary. The arrival of Jewish believers sent by James from Jerusalem, on a fact-finding mission, altered Peter’s behavior towards dining with Gentile believers. Barnabas, Paul’s co-worker, and other Jewish members likewise withdrew from eating with non-Jews. The controversy was over kosher meal preparation and dining arrangement that were exclusive to the Jews. Peter, despite his earlier visions with respect to Cornelius, which categorically included Gentiles into the faith community (Acts 10), seemed to vacillate in the presence of representatives from the mother church. His apparent chauvinism launched Paul into a confrontation with racial and theological overtones (Gal 2:15-21), propounding that Jewish believers are not made righteous with God by them observing the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So, if they no longer observed the detailed tenets of the law, they are not sinning against the law because they have died to the law through Christ. Christ bore their punishment at the cross and paid the price for their sins – He fulfilled the law on their behalf and set them free from the curse of the law (c.f., Gal 3:11-14; Gal 3:22-29). In reality, Christ by His Spirit lives in us and in living our lives, we therefore, only express Him exclusively (Gal 2:20; John 14;15-17). 
 
The importance of a true representation of the gospel was a priority over any apostolic harmony, as misrepresenting it, totally undercuts the basis of our salvation, of sins forgiven, and reconciliation with God, irrespective of Jew or Gentile (c.f., Gal 1:8-9). James and Peter did not anticipate how the Gentiles’ coming into the faith would complicate Jewish practices at the time. But Paul had thought through its repercussions, having experienced the interactions between the Christian Jewish diaspora with Gentile believers during his first missionary journey in Asia Minor. Nevertheless, the controversies persisted, until the Council at Jerusalem finally settled them. In humility and with the wise guidance of the Holy Spirit, the plurality of Christian leaders in the mother church decided to chart a new course in matters of practice with respect to the law for all believers (Acts 15:1-21). Even today, in matters concerning the law and the practice of faith, quite apart from the theological elements which undergird them, it has not always been clear-cut to delineate and accommodate the perplexities of the modern life. What we are certain about is that the practice of Biblical truth cannot be devoid of the presence of ‘agape.’ To be more like Jesus is to learn to walk in step with His Holy Spirit on the basis of His substitutionary atonement, with the unswerving love of Christ. That was how the Apostle Paul saw himself when he declared that “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal 2:20). The gospel is the commencement of a discipleship process that leads us towards spiritual maturation in community with other believers (c.f., Eph 3:16-19); a transformation that would make us more Christ-like (Gal 4:19). That is the consequence of Jesus’ death and resurrection (viz., our justification and sanctification) - the fruit of the Cross of Christ.