Dead To The World

Have you ever heard someone refer to another person as dead to the world? It’s usually about someone who is sleeping so soundly that nothing wakes them. They are oblivious to anything around them. The phrase originated in the 1700s and then it had a different meaning. It then had a religious sense to it. Then it was inferring that a person was so alive in Christ that he was ignoring all the worldly things that could hinder his closeness with God. Paul was such a Christian. Often in scripture, he mentions this kind of desire in His relationship to God.

In Galatians 2:19, Paul says he is dead to the law. He is speaking of the religious laws the Jewish people lived by. He proclaimed death to the old life so that he might live a new life in Christ Jesus. In Galatians 2:20, Paul gives us a picture of “dead to the world” in the phrase “crucified with Christ.”  In Paul’s time crucifixion was a means of punishment for criminals. The end result was certain death.  When Paul talks about being crucified with Christ, he is counting his desires as nothing. His only goal in life after his salvation was to live for Christ, to do his will, and not his own. He does not refer to this as a situation of being repressed, but as an act of submission with joy! In verse 21, Paul states that he does not “frustrate the grace of God.” This word means to nullify or make void the means by which salvation came by God’s unmerited favor. If we could keep the law to gain salvation, then Christs’ death was pointless. I can sense Paul’s feeling of truly living as he allows the Holy Spirit to guide him to follow the paths Christ has for him.

Galatians 2:19 “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.”

Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” 

The Jewish leaders had become so religious they had missed the gospel, the good news that Jesus, the Messiah, came to bring. In Matthew chapter 15, the Jewish leaders came to Jesus and sought to find fault with Jesus and His disciples. They accused Jesus of allowing His disciples to break the traditions of the elders. The traditions had been taken from Old Testament laws in bits and pieces and added to by the leaders. For instance, Jesus reminded them in verse 4, that the law instructed them to honor their Father and Mother. They were to take care of their parents until their death. However, because of greed, the leaders made a new law that stated the son could not use funds he had set aside for the Lord, to take care of his parents. In verse 3, Jesus said they were breaking one of the Ten Commandments by their traditions. The Jewish leaders profited by money given to the synagogue, and their greed would allow a man’s parents to become beggars rather than give up what they thought would profit them.

Matthew 15:1-4 “Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, He that cursed father or mother, let him die the death.” 

These leaders were not dead to the world, they were entrenched in the world and its traditions. They were self-serving and proud. Jesus calls them hypocrites because they come near to Him with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him. They worshiped in vain, teaching the doctrines of men. Their worship was worthless. It was about them, yet portrayed actions of honoring God.

Matthew 15:7-9 “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honored me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.   But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

Honestly, they were dead to God! Scripture teaches throughout that we are to surrender to God. He is to guide our lives, not the traditions of man. We cannot have two masters. God must not be first, He must be the only master. If God’s word says it, we are to do it. We are to study the word in context and seek with our whole hearts to obey. Will we be perfect in our quest? No, but we are to love Him so much that when we fail, it convicts our hearts. Has the world’s ideas and man’s traditions replaced God in your heart, yet you are so in the world you don’t even realize it? Take a heart check-up. Do you miss the things of God for the things of the world? What replaces your time of worship to God and fellowship with the believers? Do you make excuses for missed services? Note, there are times we have no choice but to stay at home, such as sickness, or jobs that require someone to be present such as firemen, doctors, or nurses. That is what online services are for. They are not so you can be comfortable in your pj’s and cup of coffee. Choosing activities that require you to miss is wrong. If you chose those over church attendance or your personal worship of God, you have told the world and your family what is more important to you. You have a choice that will have an eternal impact on you and those that know you. Will you be “dead to the world,” or “dead to God”? It is time we as Christians think about our lives and determine we will live by what God says not what is accepted by the world. The world will tell you it’s ok, God understands, it’s no big deal, but God says not to have any other God before Him. Anything we place in front of worshiping Him has become our idol. Are you crucified with Christ as Paul teaches us to be in Galatians 2:20?