The Crucified Life

The idea that God delivers us from sin by making us stronger and more capable is appealing, but it’s a complete misunderstanding of Christianity. That’s not how grace works. God doesn’t set us free by improving the old man, but by removing him. He doesn’t teach the flesh to behave; He crucifies it. Victory doesn’t come through human strength, but through surrender. God’s way is not to reform us. It is to replace us with Christ in us.

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is not a side note in our faith; it is the foundation. All of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, centers on the cross. The Old Testament leads us to Calvary, and the New Testament flows from it. When Paul wrote that Christ’s death was our death and His life is now our life, he was declaring the core of Christian identity. “I have been crucified with Christ,” he says in Galatians 2:20, “and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” This isn’t poetic language; it’s a spiritual reality we are called to live in daily.

And yet, so many still cling to the illusion of personal goodness. People say, “I’m a good person,” unaware that by nature we are incapable of producing anything pleasing to God. The fallen nature we inherited from Adam cannot be patched up or presented before God as acceptable. It has to die. That’s why even our best efforts outside of Christ fall short. This truth becomes clearer when we examine the life of King Saul.

At the start of his reign, Saul showed remarkable restraint and humility. He didn’t retaliate when mocked, and after leading Israel to victory over the Ammonites, he chose mercy over vengeance. “No one shall be put to death today,” he said, “for the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.” His heart, in that moment, reflected the grace of God. But only a few chapters later, we find a different Saul.

Paranoid and consumed with fear, he accuses the priests of Nob of conspiring with David and orders their massacre. When his guards refuse to carry out the command, Doeg the Edomite steps in, slaughtering the priests and wiping out the entire city. This shift in Saul wasn’t random. It was the flesh, uncrucified and fully alive, exposing itself.

This same pattern plays out across Scripture. David, Samson, and the Israelites at Sinai. Each had encounters with God, moments of great faith, but also moments where the flesh surfaced in destructive ways. Why? Because the old man, if not put to death, will always reappear. It doesn’t matter how much you love God. If you don’t understand the crucified life, you’ll live in contradiction.

When someone outside of Christ lives in sin, we’re not surprised. It’s consistent with their nature. But when a believer falls into pride, fear, lust, or anger, we must ask: is the old man still trying to live? Paul writes in Romans 6:6 that our old self was crucified with Christ so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless. That truth must move from theology to lived experience. You can’t negotiate with the flesh. It has to be nailed to the cross.

Many have spent years trying to manage themselves into holiness: working harder, praying longer, trying to fix what God has already judged unfixable. But once you see the cross for what it really is, you stop trying to improve what died. You realise God’s plan was never self-help. It was self-denial. It was death. And in that death, you discover real freedom. You come to the end of striving, and the beginning of living by grace.

John Piper describes the crucified life as union with Christ in both His death and resurrection. It’s not just dying to sin; it’s also rising into newness of life. You’re no longer driven by the flesh, the world, or your own agenda, but by Christ who lives in you. This requires a daily reckoning, a conscious choice to reject the values of this world and embrace the joy that only comes from the cross. The power that raised Christ from the dead now lives in us, not to make the old man better, but to raise a new man altogether.

Of course, the battle with sin doesn’t disappear. Even when you think you’ve overcome, something can still rise up. But that’s when you remember: this thing is supposed to be dead. It no longer has the right to rule me. You’ve been born again through the living and enduring Word of God. That new seed produces a new kind of fruit, the life of Christ reproduced in you.

To live the crucified life is to walk daily in this spiritual reality: your old self no longer controls you. You surrender to Christ, and in that surrender, find freedom. You are no longer defined by your past, your impulses, or your flaws. You still face temptation, but you’re not a slave. The power of sin has been broken. And now, Christ lives in you, not just conceptually, but actively. His love, His holiness, His righteousness flows through your yielded life. The crucified life doesn’t mean you stop living; it means your life is hidden in His.

In practical terms, this means learning to surrender daily, trusting Jesus over your own understanding, and laying down your preferences to walk in love. It means resisting the urge to feed the flesh and choosing instead to walk in the Spirit. You learn to embrace holiness, not as a heavy burden, but as the fruit of a new life. You follow Christ, not out of obligation, but from joy. And even when suffering comes, you lean into it, recognising that to share in His death is to also share in His resurrection power.

To the natural mind, this life looks like weakness. It looks like losing. But Jesus taught us that real fruit only comes through death (John 12:24). The crucified life is the path to true freedom and lasting impact. It isn’t about becoming a better version of your old self. It’s about dying to what hinders Christ’s life in you so that His resurrection power can define you.

When you surrendered to Christ, your old self was buried with Him. Colossians 2:12 says you were buried with Him in baptism and raised through faith. The you that used to be enslaved to sin no longer has dominion. And when that old nature tries to show up, you remind it: you've already died. Your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

The crucified life is not a higher level of Christianity; it is Christianity. It’s the daily reality of death and resurrection. You no longer live, but Christ lives in you. And in losing your life for His sake, you finally discover what life was meant to be all along.