Paul's Revelation (Part 3)

"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.
I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."
--Galatians 2:20-21 NKJV

With those words, as recorded in the letter to the Galatians, Paul summarized his message to Peter, and thus, drove home the central point of the fullness of the gospel message.
As Paul wrapped up his encounter with Peter, the apostle Peter must have begun to realize like never before, the true mystery of the gospel, as revealed by the Holy Spirit--that Jesus Christ did not die alone on Calvary's cross... We died there with Him.
We could not have been 'just forgiven'... Our 'slates' were not merely 'wiped clean'.
We were beyond repair... We had to die. And there, on Golgotha's hill, divine judgment took place, as we were drawn into 'union with Christ'--and died.
For the first time, Peter may have understood the words Jesus spoke just before going to the cross...

"Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth [on the cross] will draw all men unto me.
This he said, signifying what death he should die."
--John 11:31-33

Peter would come to understand the revelation that when Jesus was lifted up on the cross, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself" ['drawing all men unto Him] (2 Corinthians 5:19), and it was this 'union' of the crucified Lord, with the sinfulness of humanity, that brought us into His death, and therefore into His resurrection and righteousness as well...

"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."
--2 Corinthians 5:21

We died with Christ, and we were raised with Him. We were united with Him in His death and in His resurrection--and in union with Christ we (who believe) shall remain, throughout eternity. This is why the term "in Christ" ('in union with Christ') is so prevalent in Paul's letters. We are 'in Him' and He is in us.
Any success in our Christian life, including our obedience to His commandments, can only be attributed to our 'union with Christ'. We stand before our Heavenly Father, 'in Christ' completely righteous, and pleasing in His sight.
This is why Paul said that to attribute righteousness to our works, or to our obedience to the law, does nothing but frustrate the grace of God. As he also pointed out, "... If righteousness comes by the law, Christ died in vain" (Gal. 2:21).

The Fruit of Holiness...

As previously mentioned, Peter acknowledged Paul's teaching of this truth, calling 'all' of Paul's letters, "scriptures" (2 Pet. 3:16). But, it is also important, that the reason Peter referred us to Paul's letters; and to this revelation of the gospel, is to aid us in reaching our goal of holy living. Essentially, Peter is reminding us that God expects us to be victorious over temptation and walk holy before Him. And the way to do that, is to lay hold of the truth found primarily in Paul's Epistles.
The revelation of our union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, becomes a 'system of truth' which, when received fully, yields the fruit of obedience and a life pleasing to God.
As Peter indicated, this marvelous truth is found in 'all' of Paul's letters, but for an example; and to assist me in bringing this message to the conclusion--may I draw your attention to Paul's letter to the Romans...

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?"
--Romans 6:1

"Shall we continue in sin," he asks?
If you were raised in a very typical church of just about any Denomination today; your response might be... "How can we help it?" Many are taught that due to our 'old nature', we cannot avoid sinning. Yet Paul goes on to say...

"God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
--Romans 6:1-4

May I say, first of all, that I know of no person living on earth who could honestly say, "I never sin". And if there were such a person, it would certainly not be me. But error prevails in much preaching today, when Christians are told they 'have to' sin--that they are still under the control of the old nature. This error is directly related to a shallow understanding of the message of the cross.
How shall we (now here is the key) THAT ARE DEAD to sin, live any longer therein?... Dead men don't sin!
One may say, "Well, I didn't know I was 'dead' to sin... I sure don't feel like it".
Exactly! And this is the reason for Paul's next question...

"Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?"
--Romans 6:3 NKJV

The word 'baptized' here, does not refer to water baptism. It simply means 'immersed' or 'united with'. There are basically three types of 'baptisms'... There is water baptism, where one is 'immersed' in water as a testimony to having died to sin and been 'born again' to new life in Christ. There is also the 'baptism' in (or with) the Holy Spirit, which happens to a Christian when he or she yields fully to Jesus and allows Him to fill them with, or 'immerse' them in, the Holy Spirit; for power to effectively give witness to the resurrection of Christ. And there is the 'baptism' into Christ, which actually happens first in the believer's life, when that person first becomes a Christian, and by the Holy Spirit is 'baptized' into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13).
I listed those 'baptisms' backwards in the order of when they take place because the last one listed is what Paul is referring to in Romans 6:3--"as many of us as were 'baptized' into Christ..."
The reason so many Christians struggle beneath the thumb of sin and temptation is because they 'do not know' that to be 'in Christ' means to 'have died (in all our weaknesses) with Him'. It also means that to be 'in Christ' means to 'have been raised with Him (in all of His power and glory)'--to walk in 'newness of [His] life'.
And as far as the 'old man' still having control--this also needs to be 'known'....

"...that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin."
--Romans 6:6-7 NKJV

The "Amplified Bible" says it more clearly...

"We know that our old unrenewed self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin. For when a man dies, he is freed (loosed, delivered) from [the power of] sin..."

When the message of the cross is revealed to us--that is, the fact that not only was Jesus crucified for us, but in that He was crucified 'for' us (as our substitute), then we, in the mind of God, and in a very real sense, were 'crucified with Him'. By coming to an understanding of that, we are brought into the explosive reality that we are truly free from sin's tyranny, and free to walk in holiness. To one who has desired that freedom--it is most definitely, 'good news'.