Go! And Crucify The Flesh: Living The New Life In Christ Series

Go! And Crucify the Flesh: Living the New Life in Christ

Galatians 5:24 (NLT) — “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”

Introduction: The Call to the Cross

There’s an old story of a missionary who once asked a tribal chief, “If I could show you how to have peace with God, would you listen?” The chief nodded. The missionary held up a cross and said, “Peace begins here.” The chief replied, “But I do not see anyone hanging there.” The missionary responded, “He was there — and He hung there for you.”

That, dear friends, is where our passage leads us today. To the cross.

We are continuing our “Go! And…” series — and today, God’s Word calls us to Go! And Crucify the Flesh.

In Galatians 5:24, Paul paints a vivid picture of what it truly means to belong to Jesus: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”

This is not poetic imagery — it is the reality of Christian discipleship. To belong to Christ means our old nature, our sinful desires, have been nailed to the cross — put to death so that we may live new lives through Him.

1. Belonging to Christ: The Mark of True Discipleship

Paul begins: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus…”

The Greek word used here for “belong” (hoi tou Christou Iesou) carries a sense of possession and relationship — not ownership by force, but by love. It speaks of being united to Christ, identified with Him.

This echoes what Paul said in Romans 8:9:

“But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.”

To belong to Christ means the Holy Spirit now directs your life. It is no longer about self-rule, but Spirit-rule.

The Galatian believers were being influenced by false teachers who taught that salvation required adherence to Jewish law. Paul was reminding them that true belonging is not about keeping religious customs — it is about being crucified with Christ.

Paul already declared this earlier in Galatians 2:20 (NLT): “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

To belong to Christ means our identity is no longer shaped by the flesh but by faith.

We live in a world obsessed with self-identity — people define themselves by career, politics, sexuality, possessions, or popularity. But Paul reminds us: the only identity that truly matters is belonging to Jesus.

Max Lucado once said, “You were bought by Christ, so you belong to Christ. No one else has the right to tell you who you are.”

What a freeing truth that is! The world says, “Be true to yourself.” The Gospel says, “Be true to Christ — for you belong to Him.”

2. Nailing the Passions and Desires: The Act of Crucifixion

Paul continues: “...have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”

This is the language of execution. Crucifixion was not a quick death — it was painful, public, and purposeful.

The Greek word for “crucified” (stauroo) literally means to affix to a cross with nails. It signifies a decisive act — a one-time surrender of the old self to Christ’s Lordship.

When Paul says believers “have nailed” their sinful nature, he uses the aorist tense, indicating a completed action in the past.

In other words, when you came to Christ, your old self was nailed there with Him — the power of sin was broken.

Romans 6:6 (NLT) confirms this: “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.”

This is not about sinless perfection — it’s about sin having lost its dominion.

John Piper puts it this way: “When you are united to Christ, His death becomes your death. The old you dies — not because you killed it, but because you were crucified with Him.”

Imagine a man carrying a heavy backpack full of rocks — guilt, lust, pride, anger, shame. Then he comes to the cross, kneels down, and leaves it there. But the next day, he goes back and picks it up again.

How many of us do that?

The Gospel calls us not just to visit the cross, but to live there. The cross is not a decoration — it’s a declaration that the old life is finished.

3. Living by the Spirit: The Evidence of a Crucified Life

Paul continues this thought in Galatians 5:25: “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”