The Enemies of Faith Part 2

The Enemies of Faith Part 2

By Apostle Felix

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.

Galatians 2: 20

One of the enemies of faith is a life that is not crucified with Christ. Crucifixion suggests death. So when apostle Paul said that he has been crucified with crucified, he referred to his surrendered life to God. He meant that his life was fully submitted to God and His will. In normal circumstances, we are torn between following God’s will and following our own wills. It is not so easy to follow obediently the Lord’s will unless you have been crucified with Christ. A person that has been crucified with Christ easily live by faith. Faith is of the Spirit and does not even make sense. The crucifixion is foolishness to those who rely solely on intellectual wisdom, like the Greeks.

22  For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 

23  But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 

24  But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 

1 Corinthians 1: 22 – 24

Apostle Paul was a man who was well educated in the law of Moses. But yet he regarded all he knew as dung for the sake of knowing Christ. Christ is known when one is crucified with Him. This simply means that Christ cannot be known in the flesh but by the Spirit.

16  So then, from now on, we have a new perspective that refuses to evaluate people merely by their outward appearances. For that’s how we once viewed the Anointed One, but no longer do we see him with limited human insight. 

2 Corinthians 5: 16

Apostle Paul was a man whose past was marked with violence and hatred towards believers in Christ. He persecuted the church in the name of protecting the law of Moses. He was a Pharisee, who had surpassed his peers in zeal for the law and violence against the church. This was the same Paul who began to preach the same faith he had wanted to silence.

23  The only thing they heard about me was this: “Our former enemy, who once brutally persecuted us, is now preaching the good news of the faith that he was once obsessed with destroying!” 

Galatians 1: 23

Paul was an enemy of the faith of Christ. But when he got saved by the grace of God through faith, this same preached the faith he once wanted to destroy. The reason why he became useful in the hands of God was because he was crucified with Christ. He died to the old nature and he partook the nature of Christ. The enemy of faith can be the old nature. The nature that once resisted God can be a menace when not crucified. Paul once said that he died daily. Dying to the old nature is a decision one should make everyday of one’s life.

20  “My old identity has been co-crucified with Messiah and no longer lives; for the nails of his cross crucified me with him. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that he gave himself for me, and dispenses his life into mine! 

Galatians 2: 20

It is this kind of life in Christ that makes all things possible. A life that is aligned and surrendered to God’s will