Galatians 5

But Christ didn’t only give up His life for Paul; He gave His life for all men. That is, He died in the place of all men, because all men were condemned to die. If Christ had not died in our place, we would all have been condemned to death in hell forever¹⁷ (see Mark 10:45 and comment).

Paul says that all died. In one way, all believers have died with Christ (Romans 6:3). Our “old sinful self’ has been crucified with Christ (see Romans 6:6-7 and comment).

15  Christ died to give us life. When we put faith in Christ, our old sinful self dies with Christ and we receive new spiritual life (see Romans 6:4-5,8; Galatians 2:20 and comments). What should we do for a man who gives up His life for us? We should live no longer for ourselves but for Him who died for us. We owe Christ our lives.

In verses 14-15, we see two important steps in the Christian life. First, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6,8). Therefore, through faith we are declared righteous and receive salvation (Romans 5:9-10). Second, our “old sinful self’ dies with Christ (Romans 6:6,8; Galatians 5:24). When we put off our old sinful self, then we “put on” Christ and begin to live like Him (see Romans 13:14; Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 4:22-24 and comments; General Article: Way of Salvation).

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Paul means that we should no longer evaluate anyone according to worldly standards, according to the flesh; rather, we should evaluate people according to spiritual standards (see Romans 8:5).

The Corinthians judged each other from a worldly point of view, according to worldly standards (see 1 Corinthians 3:34). But we must not make distinctions between people according to worldly standards, according to the flesh (see Romans 2:11; Galatians 3:28).

At first Paul had regarded Christ from a worldly point of view. We, too, before we believed, regarded Christ in this way. But now we have met the risen, living Christ Himself; therefore, we now regard Him (know Him) according to a spiritual point of view, according to the truth.

It is not enough merely to obtain knowledge about Christ; we must know Him personally, spiritually. It does no good for a sick person to merely identify the right medicine; he must take it! In the same way, we must personally accept Christ through faith; we must take Him into our lives. For example, Thomas, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, did not believe at first that Jesus had risen from the dead. He said he would have to see and touch Jesus’ wounds before he would believe. That is, he insisted on regarding Jesus from a worldly or fleshly point of view. But Jesus said to Thomas, “Stop doubting and believe.” And Thomas’ spiritual eyes were opened, and he saw the risen, living Christ, and accepted Him (see John 20:2429).

17 This verse contains one of the greatest statements in the entire New Testament. In the teaching of no other religion do we find that a person can become a new creation. But when a person is in Christ, he or she does indeed become a new creation. Our “old self’ dies, and our “new self’ is born (see John3:3; Romans 6:8 and comments).

The most important words in this verse are the words in Christ. To be in Christ means to have faith in Him, to obey Him, to love Him, to know Him personally, and to make Him the Lord of one’s life. Just as a branch is “in the tree,” so we must be “in Christ” (see John 15:4-6).

If we are in Christ, Christ will be in us; and through His Holy Spirit living within us, we shall become “new creations” (Romans 8:11).

In order for our “new creation,” our new spiritual life, to arise, our “old sinful self’ must die (Romans 6:6; Galatians 5:24). We must put off our old self (Ephesians 4:22). Before we can receive a new heart, our old sinful heart must be removed (Ezekiel 11:19). Before new leaves can come, the old leaves must fall.

But to be a “new creation,” we must be in Christ. And if we are new creations in Christ, it means that all our old sinful desires and habits must be done away with; the old has gone, the new has come! If our lives are filled with old sins and habits, how can we say that we are new creations?

Looking at ourselves, can we indeed say that we are a new creation? Is our life, our behavior, like that of a new creation? If the answer is no, then the reason can only be that we are not in Christ. Let us examine ourselves.

18 All things have their origin in God; all work begins with Him. First, He reconciled us to himself, and then He gave us the ministry of calling others to be reconciled also.

Why does man need to be reconciled to God? Man needs to be reconciled to God because of man’s sin. Because of man’s sin, God’s wrath has come upon mankind (Romans 1:18).

But how, then, can a person be reconciled? The answer is: through Christ. God’s wrath fell upon Christ instead of upon us. Christ Himself took our punishment for sin (Isaiah 53:5-6). Through Christ’s sacrifice of His body on the cross—that is, through His death—He brought about our reconciliation with God. He made peace between us and God (Romans 5:1). Christ is the one and only mediator between man and God (1 Timothy 2:5). Only through Christ can we come to the heavenly Father (John 14:6).

Let us ask ourselves this: In our village, in our city, in our country, what is man’s greatest need? Is it clean water? Is it a good diet? Is it good health, or good schools? Improved agriculture? Roads and cars? No, it is none of these things. The single greatest need of every man, woman, and child is to be reconciled to God! Besides this, what else is important? And what is amazing is that God has committed to us—weak and ordinary “jars of clay”—the tremendous task of proclaiming this message of reconciliation, of proclaiming to men and women that through faith in Christ they too can be reconciled to God.

19 The message of reconciliation, in brief, is this: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ (see Colombians 1:19-20). Through Christ our sins are forgiven and our punishment taken away. Christ was the sacrificial lamb that takes away the sins of the world (see John 1:29 and comment). Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). In other words, the message of reconciliation is simply the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And God has committed to us this message; He has given us the responsibility of proclaiming this message to the world. God hasn’t given this responsibility only to Paul and the other apostles; He has given it to every Christian. What have we done with the message? Have we shared it with others, or have we kept it for ourselves? Are we remaining silent while our family, friends, and neighbors are being condemned to eternal punishment?

20 Let us not remain silent! Like Paul, we too are Christ’s ambassadors. We are God’s spokesmen, His representatives on earth. God did not reconcile us to Himself only for our own sake, but also so that others might be reconciled through our testimony.

To be the ambassador of a king is a great honor and responsibility. But to be the ambassador of the King of kings, Jesus Christ, is incomparably greater (see 1 Timothy 6:15). And every Christian—whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, high or low—every one is an ambassador of Christ.

As Christ’s ambassadors, our job is to implore men and women: Be reconciled to God. Or, in other words: Accept by faith the reconciliation that Christ has already worked out for mankind through His death on the cross (see Romans 5:1,10-11 and comment).

21 Christ never committed a sin (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5). It was because Christ was completely innocent, completely without sin, that He was able to take our punishment. If Christ had been sinful Himself, He could only have taken His own punishment, not ours. God made Christ to be sin for us; that is, God sent Christ to stand as a sinner in our place before God’s judgment seat (Isaiah 53:12).

By taking upon Himself the punishment for our sins, Christ has taken away our guilt, our unrighteousness. Therefore, we are now declared righteous in God’s sight. Paul says here that in him (Christ) we have become the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God; that is, through faith we have obtained the righteousness of God (see Romans 1:17; 3:21-22 and comments).