The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God… Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
Notice these two statements about the Christian life. Paul describes the Christian life as “the life I live in the body.” Then he says that he lives this life “by faith in the Son of God.”
The Christian life is lived “in the body” and “by faith in the Son of God.” These two statements will give you a good handle on the Christian life.
Your Christian life is lived “in the body”
That means you will always feel the pull of the flesh. You will find yourself lacking courage, losing heart, lamenting your failures. You will experience sickness, weakness, and eventually death. You may struggle with depression, anxiety, doubt, fear, or loneliness. All this flows from the fact that the Christian life is lived in the body. But that’s not the whole story…
Your Christian life is lived “by faith in the Son of God”
Christ is for you and Christ is with you. That means you can look to Him and count on Him in every circumstance of life. Christ’s presence is what makes it possible for you to live this life in the body. And His power is appropriated as you exercise faith.
Think about the Metra train going into Chicago. It runs on twin tracks. Here are the twin realities of the Christian life: You are “in Christ” and you are “in the body.” Just as the train needs two rails to get to Chicago, you need to grasp these two realities to make sense of the Christian life.
You are always up against the world, the flesh, and the devil. And the reason that you are able to engage in this struggle is that Christ lives in you.
Do you find these twin truths encouraging or discouraging? Why?
