Crucified with Christ

We have all read about the life of the apostle Paul, and we know that he was a great persecutor of the church before he met Jesus. But after the Lord appeared in the life of Paul, he was totally changed, and became the greatest preacher of the early church, and we give glory to God for his writings, that the Lord inspired him so us to have today these glorious letters from apostle Paul.

The apostle was a man who cared very much for the work of the Lord, he was very jealous of the house of God, besides this, Paul had to suffer a lot for the cause of the gospel, but he had this as a privilege to be able to suffer for the name of Jesus. Paul did not have a superficial gospel, he had a gospel full of power, which is the gospel of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote to the Galatians:

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Galatians 2:20-21

Paul was well aware that his life now belonged to Christ, that he could no longer walk by himself, but was crucified together with Christ, being a participant in pain, persecution, being stoned and hated by the world. And he gave glory to God for this, knowing that God loved him in such a way that he gave His only Son out of love to save us from hell and sin.

We have been saved by grace, and we can not add anything else, we can not live by adding rules invented by men. The gospel is enough brothers, and Paul always maintained that struggle with judaizing brothers who wanted to live a gospel between law and grace. We are saved by grace, by the love of Christ poured out to us.

When we study Paul’s letters, we discover a man fully surrendered to the will of God. He did not negotiate his convictions nor allow the pressures of society to distort the message he had received directly from Christ. His radical transformation serves as a testimony that no one is beyond the reach of the grace of God. If someone who once persecuted the church could become its greatest defender, then there is hope for anyone who encounters the true gospel.

Paul understood that living for Christ meant dying to everything that previously defined him—his reputation, his achievements, his training under Gamaliel, and even his Roman citizenship. None of those things held eternal value compared to knowing Christ. This is why he could say with such conviction that he no longer lived for himself. His new identity rested entirely on the redemptive work of Jesus, and this truth sustained him in every trial and affliction.

In addition, Paul constantly encouraged the churches not to deviate from the simplicity of the gospel. He knew how easy it was for believers to be influenced by traditions, philosophies or cultural pressures. For this reason, his letters are filled with admonitions to remain firm in grace, to stand strong in the faith, and to reject teachings that placed burdens God never intended for His children to carry. Grace was not merely a doctrine for Paul—it was the foundation of his entire life and ministry.

Today we need that same conviction. The gospel does not need additives, nor human traditions, nor new philosophies to make it relevant. Its power lies in the message of Christ crucified and risen. Like Paul, we must embrace the truth that our lives are hidden in Christ and that everything we are and do must flow from that union. Only then can we experience the fullness of the Christian life.