Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. That life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.
Context and meaning
The verse comes in the middle of a hard argument. Paul has just recounted confronting Peter publicly over a retreat under group pressure. The issue is whether faith in Christ is enough or whether requirements must be added.
Paul's personal answer is radical: "I have been crucified with Christ". He describes his own conversion as a death — the end of an identity built on religious performance, which he details elsewhere as an impeccable résumé.
"It is no longer I who live" does not erase the person; the next line makes clear he goes on living "in the flesh", that is, in ordinary life, in a body, in time.
The closing gives the reason for everything: "the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me". Note the singular — for me. The theological claim ends in personal experience.
It is one of the verses most memorized by people wanting to sum up their faith in a sentence.
Related verses
for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.
Scripture text: World English Bible (WEB), public domain. Prayers, introductions and reflections: original text by this site, not affiliated with any denomination. Devotional content; it does not replace medical, psychological or legal advice.
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