Galatians 5:24

"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." - Galatians 5:24

I came upon this verse while doing my quiet time at 5.15am yesterday morning. Somehow God spoke to me through this verse, asking me deep into my heart, "Before you go into your habitual sins again, think about My Words, 'Do you belong to Me?' " I heard Him and immediately I knew that one fact which is never false - I belong to Christ Jesus.

From that very moment when He hung there and bled for me, He has redeemed me. He has given me the right to come into His courts. He is my big brother in front of our Heavenly Father. Let me always remember that I belong to Him and not only that, I have also crucified my sinful nature with its passions and desires to the Cross together with Him.

What does it mean to crucify? It means, at least to me, that my sinful nature with its passions and desires is dead. What is dead? Dead means the following:
• adjective 1 no longer alive. 2 (of a part of the body) numb. 3 displaying no emotion. 4 no longer relevant or important. 5 lacking activity or excitement. 6 devoid of living things. 7 (of equipment) not functioning. 8 complete; absolute: dead silence. (quoted from AskOxford)

My sinful nature is no longer alive! It is numb, displaying no emotion, no longer relevant or important, lacking activity or excitement, devoid of living things, not functioning, absolute non existence.

I struggled as a matter of fact starting from last night till this morning... Almost went back to my old sinful ways again but God's Word has spoken. A big confronting question from Him came upon me before I succumb back to my old ways - Do you belong to Christ Jesus? If you do, your sinful nature is already dead! Why are you going back to a dead state again?

Yes, I belong to Christ and I am certain that I am His child. To be His child means that I must have crucified my sinful nature with its passions and desires and pronounced it dead. This is the prerequisite. I must have done this before I can belong to Christ. It is required as a prior condition.

Thank You for the Cross and may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 谢谢主！