Union with Jesus Christ

"For through the law I died to the law, that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me." (Galatians 2:19–20)

In this deeply personal and doctrinally rich passage, Saint Paul expresses the essence of Christian identity as a radical participation in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul contrasts the life "under the law" with the life of grace, revealing that it is only through death to the law—that is, renouncing reliance on legal observance as the means of righteousness—that he truly begins to live “for God.” His statement, “I have been crucified with Christ,” encapsulates the believer’s mystical union with the crucified Lord, a reality made present through baptism, where one dies to sin and rises to new life in Christ (cf. Romans 6:3–4).

This union with Christ is not metaphorical, but ontological and sacramental. It signifies a profound transformation of the self, in which the believer no longer lives autonomously but is indwelt by the living presence of Christ. “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,” expresses a new mode of existence in grace: the human personality remains intact, yet it is now animated, directed, and sustained by divine life. The ego is not annihilated but redeemed, reordered, and refashioned in conformity with Christ. This transformation is not self-willed but the result of divine love: the love of Christ, who “has loved me and given himself up for me,” is the motive force and enduring foundation of the believer’s life.

This passage also reveals the deeply personal dimension of salvation. While Christ died for all, Paul emphasizes that this love is not generic but deeply individual: “who has loved me.” The universal work of redemption finds its particular application in the heart of each believer. The cross, therefore, is not only a historical event but a personal mystery into which each Christian is drawn, day by day, through faith, suffering, obedience, and self-offering. The life of the believer becomes a continual “crucifixion with Christ,” not in despair but in love—a dying to self that leads to divine indwelling and resurrectional life.

Galatians 2:19–20 challenges the faithful to renounce self-sufficiency and to embrace the cruciform pattern of discipleship. The Christian is called to live not by law or achievement but by faith in the Son of God—faith that surrenders, trusts, and allows Christ to reign within. This faith is expressed in concrete acts of charity, humility, and daily dying to pride, sin, and self-interest. The sacramental life, particularly the Eucharist, sustains this interior transformation, where the believer receives the very life of Christ and is conformed more perfectly to Him. The practice of personal prayer and silent contemplation deepens this interior indwelling, allowing the soul to be progressively reshaped by the love that gave itself on the Cross.

Galatians 2:19–20 presents the Christian life as a total identification with Christ crucified and risen. It is a life of grace, not law; of faith, not self-reliance; of love, not fear. It reveals that to live for God is to live through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ—a life no longer governed by the self, but animated by divine presence. In this mystery, the believer finds true freedom, identity, and purpose, for Christ lives within, and the life now lived is nothing less than a participation in the eternal, self-giving love of the Son of God.

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