In contrast to the false teachers whose agenda included boasting in converted Gentiles who were circumcised (according to the Law of Moses, Acts 15:1, 5), Paul refused to boast in anything except the cross of Christ. Christ had crucified the world’s lustful allurements in his life through the power of the gospel (which included selfish, arrogant boastings). He had been crucified to the world, no longer driven to fulfill its enticements. Paul’s declarative statement in Galatians 2:20 stands as a rebuke and a call to repentance to the false teachers who sought personal advantages over others: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” The new creation is undoubtedly the new person converted to Christ, “created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:23-24; 2 Cor. 5:17). With similar language, Paul had previously said spiritual profit in Christ is “faith working through love” (not in circumcision and keeping the Law of Moses, Gal. 5:6, 1-5). Living by faith actively obeys Christ. Glorying in position, power, preeminence, and prestige over others is not like Christ. If these things matter to us, we must put off the old person “with his deeds” of sin and put on the new person created in the image of Christ (Col. 3:9-10).
Sword Tips 