“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
Living by faith means placing more weight on Christ than on oneself in the relationship between Christ and oneself. It means focusing more on who God is and how He deals with oneself, rather than on how well one performs any action (including religious ones).
Therefore, the pinnacle of faith is to completely set aside self-confidence or self-conceit and focus solely on Christ within oneself. The Pauline version of this is “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Of course, this does not mean self-torture or the Buddhist notion of one’s personality being submerged into the personality of Christ. This is evident in the subsequent phrase “the life I now live in the flesh”, indicating that one is still alive. However, the living self is only living “by faith in the Son of God”.
Ultimately, living by faith means making the wise decision of no longer being the master of one’s own life by making an honest self-assessment, and instead relying entirely on Christ to live through oneself.
Therefore, faith is judged by how much one’s focus has shifted from ‘self’ to ‘Christ’. Seen in this light, the pinnacle of faith is to say, “I have died and only Christ lives.” Is there any reason to focus on the dead self? There is no definition of faith greater than acknowledging one’s own death.
When we look at it this way, the great figures of the Bible, who were used by God as His instruments, all possessed this kind of faith. Whether it was Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, David’s character shaped while being pursued by mad King Saul, or Moses spending 40 years in the wilderness of Midian, these were periods built on such faith.
Those who live by faith no longer pay attention to themselves. Rather, they confess that they have died and that’s why they cling to Christ.
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1)
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” (Colossians 3:23)
