Freedom’s Foundation: Living from the Cross
“I have been crucified with Christ, and I myself no longer live.” (Galatians 2:20, WMS)
At the moment of salvation, many believers experience a sense of victory, thinking that their struggles with sin and self are forever behind them. Yet, as time passes, they find the world’s pull and their own fleshly tendencies creeping back in. Instinctively, they double down on self-effort—trying harder, resolving to do better, determined to live a victorious Christian life. But this struggle, no matter how sincere, always ends in frustration. Why? Because victory is not found in effort, but in the Cross.
We were never called to improve ourselves, to manage sin, or to make the flesh behave. The Christian life is not about strengthening the self-life but about exchanging it entirely for the life of Christ. Just as salvation comes through trusting Christ’s finished work on the Cross, so does daily freedom. The Cross is not just the foundation of our forgiveness—it is the very means by which we live.
Trying to overcome sin through self-effort is like attempting to patch an old garment with new fabric—the result is worse than before. Jesus did not come to repair the old life but to crucify it. Our old self was nailed to the Cross with Christ, and it is only by faith in that reality that we experience true freedom. The world’s power over us is broken because we no longer belong to it—we are alive to God in Christ.
“Sinners are not saved until they trust the Savior, and saints are not delivered until they trust the Deliverer.” – L.S.C.
The struggle ends when we stop trying and start resting in the finished work of Christ. Freedom is not achieved—it is received. The moment we reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, the Spirit manifests His life through us. That is true victory—not by striving, but by trusting.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You for the Cross of Christ, where my old life was put to death once and for all. I trust in the finished work of Jesus, knowing that I no longer have to fight a battle that has already been won. Today, I rest in the reality that I am crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Your life is my life, and I walk in the freedom that You have already provided. May every thought and action flow from this truth, as I abide in the victory of the Cross. Amen.
Credit: Devotional insights from Abide Above.
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