Galatians 2:20  “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.”

This is a verse I memorized during my early days as a Christian and I have been reflecting on it now for over fifty years. I think it summarizes my philosophy of the Christian life better than any other verse I know.  It speaks of Christian living in three dimensions.

The Relinquished Life

Galatians 2:20 tells us that the Christian life is a relinquished life:  I am crucified with Christ.  That means that I have come to the old rugged cross; and, deeply moved, I turn aside from the kind of life I once lived and take my stand beneath the cross of Jesus.  I die to my old self, to my sin, and to the world; and I now identify with Him.

The Exchanged Life

“I no longer live, but Christ lives in me …”  It was Hudson Taylor who first called this the Exchanged Life.  The idea is this:  None of us can ever live the Christian life in our own strength and power.  None of us can resist temptation by our own willpower and determination.  None of us can love as we should just by our own efforts.  Only Jesus Christ can successfully live the genuine victorious Christian life within us – it is, after all, His life – but when we come to Him in full surrender, He invades us by His Holy Spirit and He begins living His life through us.

The Trusting Life

“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.” The Bible says:  “This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.”  Romans 1:17 tells us that the Christian Life is one of faith from first to last, for it is written the just shall live by faith.

So this is the formula for the victorious Christian life: Relinquished, Exchanged, Trusting.