“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 delivered Himself up for me.” NAS Galatians 2:20
How do I experience all of these consequences of the cross? I do so by faith, not by warm fuzzy feelings. Every believer has to choose by faith in God’s Word to believe the cross truths. Most of the time, it does not feel like I have died or like Jesus lives in me. In fact, most of the time there is a real battle raging between my selfish flesh and the Spirit. In Galatians 5, Paul goes on to describe this battle as a war between the flesh and the Spirit. So, how do we win this war? Daily, we have to choose to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus. This means that we actively choose to set our minds on and believe by faith in the finished work of the cross not only to redeem our souls but also to defeat the lusts of our selfish flesh. Jesus is the only human being to walk the face of this earth who was completely submitted to doing the will of God the Father. Jesus desires for us to yield ourselves to Him to let Him live His life through us and thereby empower us to submit our wills to God the Father. Every morning we need to start our day setting our minds on these truths and choosing by faith to believe them even when we don’t feel like they are true. Like Paul says in Romans 8:6, “the mind set on the flesh is death; the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” Lord Jesus, teach me to be diligent to set my mind by faith on You living Your life through me!