“The School of the Cross” Galatians 2:20

Dr. George Ragsdale, Pastor
West Marion Baptist Church, Morriston/Ocala, Florida
Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Intro: According to John Bunyan, the wise interpreter of the inner life, “the school of the cross is the school of light.” The Christian life begins at the cross of Christ. Christian experience and life develops by association with the cross.

I. Christ Crucified FOR Us
Galatians 3:13
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
A. The Truth of SUBSTITUTION is Revealed
1. Here Christ takes the PLACE of the sinner in the experience of the cross
Romans 3:25
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
1 John 2:2
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world
1 John 4:10
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
B. This is the beginning of a new LIFE (2 Corinthians 5:17)
C. This is the beginning of FELLOWSHIP with Christ (1 John 1:7)
II. Christ Crucified AMONG Us
Galatians 3:1
O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
A. The Doctrine of PROCLAMATION is Revealed
1. The fact that right before your very eyes, Jesus was OPENLY and GRAPHICALLY crucified
2. As a result, nothing should ROB us of the glory of that cross
III. The CHRISTIAN Crucified with Christ
Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
A. The Message of IDENTIFICATION is Stressed
1. When He died, I DIED with Him
2. Union brings COMMUNION (2 Corinthians 13:14 ; 1 John 1:7)
IV. The FLESH Crucified In Us
Galatians 5:24
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
A. The word “flesh” is meant the SELF-LIFE
1. That is, the godless human nature
B. The CHRISTLY life must hold sway over the self-life
1. That is, with its passions and appetites and desires
C. DEAD to the old, he is Alive to the new
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Romans 6:2
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
V. The Christian Crucified to the WORLD and the WORLD to the Christian
Galatians 6:14
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Romans 6:1-22

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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West Marion Baptist Church
6001 NW 135th Avenue
Morriston, Fl 32668
(352) 245-8900

Service Times:
Sunday School 9:45 am
Sunday Morning Service @ 10:45 am
Sunday Evening Service @ 6:00 pm
Wednesday Evening Bible Study @ 7:00 pm

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