Crucified With Christ and Yet I Live

In one paragraph

This message came from Galatians 2:20-21 and was the second in a series running from Habakkuk through Galatians 3:11. Pastor Mark walked the congregation through a close reading of the Greek text and landed on one central claim: union with Christ in his death is what makes a life of faith possible. The gospel, he argued, is not only for people who do not yet know Jesus. It is still good news for...

Read together

1. Galatians 2:20-21 the main text of the sermon, worked through word by word in translation
2. Habakkuk 2:4 referenced as the righteous shall live by faith, connected to the sermon series
3. Galatians 3:11 mentioned as the destination the series is working toward
4. Romans 6:4-6 buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life, connected to baptism
5. Colossians 2:11-14 when we were dead in our sin he raised us and made us alive
6. Romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death, paid at the cross
7. John 5:25 faith in him raised him from the death of sin and made him eternally alive
8. Ephesians 2:1-10 read aloud in full, covering being dead in trespasses, made alive by grace, and created for good works

Talk about it

1. The pastor read a translation of Galatians 2:20 that emphasizes the word 'with' in 'crucified with Christ,' describing it as being joined in tandem. What does it mean to you personally that your crucifixion with Christ happened in the past but carries effects into the future?
2. The pastor pointed out that Paul did not need to use the word 'ego' in the Greek but chose to, making a deliberate point about the self-righteous, self-motivated part of us. Where do you see your own ego getting in the way of Christ living his life through you?
3. The sermon described faith as having two sides of the same coin, our faith in Christ and Christ's own faithfulness living in us. When you have doubted or struggled to believe, how does it change your thinking to consider that it is also his faith at work in you?
4. The pastor used the 1982 Chicago Tylenol poisonings to illustrate misplaced faith, saying that for faith to work it must be placed in something that can actually hold it. What are some things people around us, or we ourselves, tend to place faith in that cannot hold the weight we put on them?
5. A.W. Tozer wrote that God offers life out of death, and that it always stands on the far side of the cross. The pastor said the gospel is not just good news for people who don't yet know Jesus but remains good news for those who do. In what area of your life right now do you need to come back to the cross rather than trying to manage things on your own?