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.

What a wonderful verse Galatians 2:20 is. Really, all of Galatians is wonderful and i can understand much of the book from a very personal standpoint. i have all of chapter 3 underlined in my bible. "O foolish Galatians!", Paul writes. I know many people who have taken God's word and impersonalized it to the point that it is just a book of rules. Such a tragedy! What Galatians says to me is, "Troy, you are to live free from the bondage of the law." I know that in me no good thing dwells (Rom 7:18) but that by faith in the Son of God, Christ lives in and through me. What an amazing thing! Praise the Lord! Now i can stop striving and pursueing some kind of a higher plain of conciousness with my vain works for God. I know people that are striving right now to out-do the wrongs they have committed in their life so that, just in case there is a God, they can appeal to His good nature. As if to say, "I at least lived 51% of my life good...right?" Scripture makes it clear that it is not about what good we do but what God does in us.

"Ah ha!", you say. "So are you saying that there is no right or wrong then, only what we do in the eyes of God?" No because both grace and works exist in scripture. On one hand you have Jesus saying, "No man comes to the father but by me." (Jn 14:6), but on the other hand Jesus cried out against the religious leaders of the day, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Matt 23:27-28). Jesus believed in right (people believing in Him) and cried out against wrong (too many rules that had nothing to do with the spirit of God).

i could continue but i will close with this; i choose not to get bogged down with rules of the faith. Far be it from me to add a yoke of bondage to a new believer that even i could not deal with. Therefore i dish out a portion of the grace i was given. At the same time, if i see a believer who is not walking according to the spirit and i have an opportunity to give council i do so. Case in point, in the college age bible study that i have lead for some time now we have have a very "open floor" philosophy that allows people to speak their mind about what a partiticular scripture might say. In the past six years there have been many opportunities for me to say, "Hey that is great!" but there are some things that people bring up that are not ok. My goal is to keep directing people to scripture for in there they will find the words of life. The pastor won't change your life. I won't change your life. A new boyfriend/girlfriend won't change your life. Only having the true living God "tabernacle" in your life with change your life. It is not you who lives, but Christ who lives in you.