Galatians 2:20
²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (NIV)

I have been crucified with Christ.

A few days ago, I spoke of our Age of Authenticity. It is the secular pursuit of one’s ‘true self.’ The ‘true self’ is defined according to one’s own thoughts and feelings. This seems right on one level. Of course, we need to be who we are, not someone else. Nor do we need to allow others to force us to be what we are not. Yet, in Paul’s statement, he is teaching us that our true self is not what we think.

The Bible reminds us that there are spiritual parts of us attached to us because death has entered us. The true self we believe ourselves to be is not purely who we are. The purity of our self was corrupted in the Garden of Eden. Now, death has attached itself to us like unnecessary foreskin that needs circumcision. This is why God chose physical circumcision to symbolize His covenant with man. What feels like our true self has corrupted the purity of our creation. What feels true to us about us may not be true at all. It needs to be circumcised away. The impure self must be crucified with Christ.

Only when God cuts away the flesh of our sinful nature are we able to discern our true identity, which can only exist in Christ. Outside of Christ, what I feel myself to be may seem right, but it will only destroy my life and soul.

Yes, in this age of authenticity, we need to be our true self. However, it is imperative we remember that my instinctual feelings of who I am is not my true self. This can only be found as God restores to us the purity we had before sin entered the soul of humanity.

If you want to know your true self, seek the Lord Jesus Christ, and let His Holy Spirit cut away from you anything that is not of Him. We have been made in His image; anything that corrupts His image in us is not who we truly are. My true self is found in the person He created us to be, not in the sinful nature working to destroy what He made us to be.

Prayer: Lord, let the sinful nature in me be crucified with You that I might truly live. Amen.