What kind of life do you live? If you have to describe it to someone, what would you say? Complete the following sentence in your own words: 'The life I now live I live by …'
Paul reached a stage in his life where he could actually complete that sentence. In his epistle to the Galatians he explained how he actually lived.
Some people live by fear…what is going to happen to our country in the future? I hear Cape Town is going to sink into the sea! Some people live by violence, they believe the strongest must survive. Some live by crime, they sell drugs to kids. Some live by chasing after success – even in the church – and they will use people to accomplish their goals to make them appear successful. What kind of life do you live – Monday to Sunday!This life I now live
2004/09/18
Galatians 2:20,21
20 I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I am not one of those who treats the grace of God as meaningless. For if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there was no need for Christ to die.

There is a certain kind of life Christians are called to live: it is a life of faith in the Son of God. Although we still live in a fleshly body, we put our trust in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us.

By trusting in Christ He supplies the Spirit to us and works miracles among us. This takes place not by rituals or tricks but by the hearing of faith.

Galatians 3:5
5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law of Moses? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

We are also justified by faith, not by our good deeds.

Galatians 2:16
16 And yet we Jewish Christians know that we become right with God, not by doing what the law commands, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be accepted by God because of our faith in Christ—and not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be saved by obeying the law.”

By faith in Christ we become sons of Abraham and enter into the special promises God made to him:

Galatians 3:7-9
7 The real children of Abraham, then, are all those who put their faith in God.
8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would accept the Gentiles, too, on the basis of their faith. God promised this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 And so it is: All who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

By faith in Christ we are redeemed from the curse of the law

Galatians 3:13,14
13 But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” 14 Through the work of Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, and we Christians receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.

The special promises of God were given to Abraham and his seed, meaning Christ, so by placing our faith and trust in Christ we are in line to receive all the promises:

Galatians 3:16
16 God gave the promise to Abraham and his child. And notice that it doesn’t say the promise was to his children, as if it meant many descendants. But the promise was to his child—and that, of course, means Christ.

The Law of Moses came 400 years after Abraham. So the promise God made to Abraham did not depend on how well he kept the law. The law could not disannul or break off the promise God made to Abraham. All Abraham had to do was to believe what God promised to be true. The life Abraham then lived was by faith and the life we are called to live is by faith in the Son of God who proved his love when he was crucified for us.

The fact that Jesus was crucifed for us in order to bring us into the promises made to Abraham if we believe in him like Abraham did, inspires us to say: ‘I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God!’

The Gospel of Grace is the key: by accepting the grace of God on behalf of all who believe in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us we begin to live the new kind of life: the life of Christ that affords all the blessings and privileges given to us in Him.