Surrender. We hear this word a lot in Christian circles. What does it mean to surrender? We sing the hymn “I surrender all”, but do we really grasp it’s meaning? Galatians 2:20 sheds some light on the concept of surrender. It reads: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

The first thing we see in this verse is that we are ‘crucified with Christ.’ This occurs at the moment of salvation. When accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you are crucifying yourself with Christ. You are dying to yourself. You are ‘mortifying the deeds of the body.’ In order to be saved, there must be a complete surrender of ones will. In other words, you cannot be saved unless you give up everything that is about you and give your whole life to Jesus.

This brings us to the next phrase, ‘it is no longer I who live.’ Now, if someone is not living then how can that person do anything? A dead person cannot make decisions, a dead person cannot spend or save money, a dead person cannot speak, a dead person cannot reason, a dead person cannot argue, a dead person cannot do anything! Do you get the picture? Notice what 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” Notice how it says, ‘you are not your own’. Why are you not your own? Because you are dead! To be crucified with Christ is to surrender your life. It is to give up everything. It is to die to yourself.

Galatians 2:20 continues by saying, “but Christ lives in me.” In other words, I am dead. My thoughts, my desires, my money, my talents, my dreams, they are all dead. But, Christ is living in me. In my body. So, now that I have been crucified with Christ, it is His life that is living through my body. Therefore, it is His thoughts, His desires, His money, His talents, His dreams, it all belongs to Christ!

This new life I live, ‘I live by faith in the Son of God.’ 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” My entire life is to be for Him. Everything I say and do is to be for the glory of God! As Christians, you and I have no right to do what we want to do or what we think is best. We have no right to hold on to anything in our lives. We are not to be fixed to ourselves, our families, our jobs, our bank accounts, our location, we are to be fixed to Jesus. We have no business deciding what we will do or not do. We have no business doing what seems best for us. It is not our life to live. Until we grasp this truth. Until we understand what it means to surrender, then we will never be able to experience the complete joy in knowing Him. There are so many blessings that we miss out on, simply because of our stubborn pride. If we would learn to let go. If we would learn to surrender, there is nothing that God could not do through us and for us. When you surrender, there is no mountain to high. When you surrender, there is no valley to low. When you surrender, there is no giant that is too strong. When you surrender, there is no task that is too hard. When you surrender, there is no vision that is impossible. When you surrender, you are handing your life over to the giver of life. You are handing your life over to the one who has the power to speak the world into existence. When you surrender, anything is possible!

What about you? Have you surrendered? Have you been crucified with Christ? Have you given Him everything? If there is anything in your life that you are holding on to, then you have not surrendered. If there is anything that you are ‘fixed’ to, then you have not surrender. If you have not surrender, then how can you be crucified with Christ? If you have not been crucified to Christ, then how can you be truly saved?