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21 illustrations — Quotes from Lewis, Stott, Bonhoeffer, and other theologians
"The life I now live in the flesh I live BY FAITH in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Faith is the breath of this new life. Not by feeling, not by sight, but by faith.
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"True faith—the faith that is substance and evidence—is a living faith that works through love. It is not mere assent but active trust that transforms life. The faith defined in Hebrews 11 is the faith demonstrated in Hebrews 11: faith that acts." — John Wesley.
"To be crucified with Christ is to stand with the crucified peoples of history. Christ died on the cross of empire; His followers die to empire's logic. 'Christ lives in me' means solidarity with victims becomes my life. The crucified...
"It's not about trying harder; it's about dying. When I stop living my own life and let Christ live through me, His power flows. The exchanged life is the miracle life—not my ability but His life IN me doing what...
"We cast our cares on God—and often God catches them through community. The body of Christ bears burdens together. This isn't privatized piety but communal practice. We care for each other because God cares for us; divine care becomes incarnate...
"The soul must die to all that is not God, that Christ alone may live in it. This is the dark night—the crucifixion of ego, desire, attachment. When 'I' finally dies, Christ fills the emptied space. Union comes through death." — St.
"'I have been crucified with Christ' means my privilege, my comfort, my complicity with unjust systems dies too. The old self that benefited from oppression is crucified. Christ lives in me—the Christ who stood with the marginalized. That changes everything." — Jim Wallis.
"'I am crucified with Christ' means fear is crucified too. The fear of the oppressor, the fear of death itself—crucified. Christ lives in the one who was enslaved, and that Christ fears nothing. The crucified life is the fearless life." — Howard Thurman.
"'Christ lives in me'—this is not metaphor but mystical reality. In theosis, our humanity is so united with Christ that His life becomes ours. We do not lose ourselves but find our true selves in Him. Death to false self;...
"God's care often comes through the brother, the sister. In Christian community, we bear one another's burdens and so fulfill Christ's law. Casting cares on God includes receiving care from His body. The lonely Christian cannot cast cares alone." — Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
"'I am crucified with Christ' is positional truth—true in God's reckoning from the moment of salvation. Our position is settled: we died with Christ. Now we work out practically what is already true positionally. Position precedes practice." — J. Vernon McGee.
"Christ is so closely united with me that He lives in me. The life I now live is not mine but His. I still have my sinful flesh, but Christ's life overcomes it. This is the 'happy exchange': He takes...
"'Do not worry' is addressed to a community—we bear one another's burdens. The birds are fed; but we feed each other. Worry decreases as community increases. Together we practice trust, share resources, embody God's provision for each other. This is church." — Stanley Hauerwas.
"You cannot crucify yourself—it takes the Spirit! When you yield to the Holy Spirit, He applies Christ's death to your flesh. Your old man dies not by your effort but by Spirit-power. Then Christ LIVES in you—Spirit-empowered resurrection life!" — David Wilkerson.
"'I am crucified with Christ' is not private spirituality; it's the shape of the community. We die to individualism, violence, power-seeking. Together we embody the crucified life: vulnerable, serving, peace-making. The church IS a crucified body." — Stanley Hauerwas. Anabaptist cruciform community.
"'No longer I, but Christ'—yet this is not the annihilation of the self but its liberation. The anxious, grasping ego dies; the true self, held in Christ's love, rises. We become most ourselves when Christ becomes our life." — Rowan Williams.
"The man on the cross is facing only one direction. He is not going back. He has no further plans of his own. The cross means death to self—complete, final, irreversible. 'I am crucified with Christ' is not poetry but reality." — A.W.
"Your identity is not your performance, your reputation, or your achievements. 'It is no longer I who live.' Your truest self is now 'Christ in me.' This frees you for mission: you have nothing to prove, nothing to lose. The...
"'It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.' Our life is hidden with Christ. He is not merely our example or helper; He is our life itself. To be a Christian is to have Christ...
"I am crucified—not once but daily. The cross is both crisis and process. We die with Christ initially at conversion, but we take up the cross daily, dying continually to sin and self. Sanctification is crucifixion extended through a lifetime." — John Wesley.
"By faith we are ingrafted into Christ so that His death becomes ours. We are not merely inspired by His example; we participate in His crucifixion. His death is our death, legally and mystically. This is the heart of union with Christ." — John Calvin.