Bible Passage: “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.” (Galatians 2:20 NIV)
Scripture Reading: John 15:1-5; Romans 6:1-11; Colossians 3:1-4
This week is for men serious about following Christ but honest enough to admit that effort alone has not produced the abundant life Scripture describes—men who want their inner life reordered, fight with sin reoriented, and walk with God deepened.
As we start:
“Walking in the Spirit” does not begin with behavior.
It begins with identity.
Scripture doesn’t call believers to imitate Christ from a distance; it encourages us to stand renewed in His life. Union with Christ is not “a good idea.” It’s the very essence of the Christian life. He is our everything and ought to be our only thing.
The Spirit’s first work is not moral improvement but spiritual union. He joins us to Christ so that what is true of Christ becomes true of us.
His death becomes our death to sin.
His resurrection becomes our new life.
His obedience becomes the pattern of our obedience.
We literally die and are made alive in Jesus. This is the true essence of our faith.
Many struggle because they try to live for Christ without learning to live from Christ. But the Spirit never empowers detached effort; there’s no “self-help” in the Gospels. In fact, Paul teaches us the very opposite. We “were dead in (our) transgressions and sins” and needed to be “made alive” (Ephesians 2:1-4) into a brand-new life.
When Paul says, “Christ lives in me,” in today’s passage, he is describing the Spirit’s ongoing ministry of making the life of Jesus active within the believer. John Calvin said, “As long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from Him, all that He has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us.”
This means walking in the Spirit looks less like striving to “act Christian” and more like learning to trust what God has already declared to be true.
We fight sin, not to become united to Christ, but because we already are united to Him. We do not fight for victory, we fight from victory. We obey not to earn favor but because favor has already been given…Christ’s life is now ours.
Union changes the direction of the heart. The Spirit trains us to ask not, “What should I do?” but, “Who am I in Christ?”
From that place, obedience becomes response, not performance.
Walking in the Spirit begins here—realizing that you are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ. Everything else flows downstream from this.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, teach me to live from union, not my own effort. Let Your life shape mine by the Spirit who dwells within me. Amen.
Reflection: Where have you been trying to live for Christ without first resting in your union with Him?
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