Also Crucified

 

Several times I’ve heard that we need to crucify our flesh and every time I’ve heard this it gave me pause. Because if we have to crucify our flesh daily then what did Jesus do for us on the cross?

Apostle Paul in Galatians 2:20 (AMP) said,

I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Paul explained that he had been crucified with Christ and in Him, the life he was living in the body thereafter was a life of faith in Jesus. 

Like the Apostle, our flesh was also crucified with Christ on that cross. When Jesus cried out “It is finished!” He was declaring that everything He had come to do was completely done including putting to death of the “corrupt ways of the flesh” (ref. Romans 8:13).

As God’s children we became co-heirs with Christ and everything that was never intended for us to be, was crucified with Him.

Just as we must work out our salvation (Philippians 2:12), we have to work out our crucifixion by the renewing of our minds, in effect our souls (Romans 12:2) and appropriate the finished work in our lives.

So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but not to our flesh [our human nature, our worldliness, our sinful capacity], to live according to the [impulses of the] flesh [our nature without the Holy Spirit]— for if you are living according to the [impulses of the] flesh, you are going to die. But if [you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever. – Romans 8:12-13 (AMP)

It is those fleshly impulses that we habitually do that undermine our efforts. Habits of the flesh – the sinful deeds of the body – are stored in the soul so a renewal or reprogramming is necessary. Remember, it is the soul that dictates the actions of the body or flesh.

Understand that living according to those impulses includes inclinations to religious legalism, and slowness in understanding the amazing power that was wrought at Calvary to remove all sin.

Yes, even followers of Christ create barriers that hamper proper communion with God. We confess to belief in Jesus Christ but then that confession remains in our mouths and is not effectuated in our deeds. The reality that our souls carry must be aligned with and governed by our confession.

As our flesh was also crucified, we need to leave the old habits on the cross for bringing what was into what is will only ruin the new.

No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the wineskins. But new wine must be put into new wineskins. – Mark 2:22 (AMP)

Beloved, it’s so important for you to grasp that Jesus completed everything and now you can participate in His triumph; you are His co-heir. You have access to all that He had access to while He lived on earth and can do all that He did and even more (ref. John 14:12) because He has given you His own Spirit who dwells in you, effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] (Philippians 2:13 AMP).

Amen †

 

Shelley Johnson “Also Crucified” ©2026 February 8, 2026