Session 33 · Galatians 2:19-21
The New Men
The next step God is forming, and the false self to leave behind
Book reading: Book Four, Chapter 11 (The New Men)
Read Book Four, Chapter 11 (The New Men) first, the final chapter of the book. Then read Galatians 2:19-21. This is the last session of the guide, so take your time.
Lewis closes Mere Christianity with a picture of change. He uses the analogy of evolution to describe what God does through faith in a person. In his argument, the next step differs from earlier ones, and he names the illusions about the self that we must escape to become a true person. The big idea is that God is not just tidying us up. He is making something new.
Paul states the same thing in his own way: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." That sounds like erasing a person. But notice that Paul keeps saying "I." He says, "the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God." Paul is still Paul. What has died is the old claim that he is the center, that his record before God depends on his own performance, and that he must keep up a good image. Christ does not delete who you are. He frees you from the tiring story that you have to hold yourself together.
That is where the false self shows up. It is the version of you that depends on being admired, being right, or being in control. Early in the guide, we saw that people feel the moral law and fail it. Later we saw that Christ steps in. Now we see where it leads: being united with him so completely that his life becomes the source of yours.
Verse 21 gives the reason. "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose." Trying to earn your way would make the cross unnecessary. So the new life is not a harder self-improvement project. It is received by faith in the one "who loved me and gave himself for me." Notice how personal that is.
If you tend to be hard on yourself about whether you are changing fast enough, please speak with a pastor or trusted friend. Anxious self-checking is not the same as faith.
Look back across this whole guide. You began with a sense of right and wrong that you could not keep, and you end with an invitation to be made new. The invitation is the same one Jesus gave the crowds: come, give up the false self, and let him live in you. Take one honest step today.
Key idea
God is forming a new kind of person united with Christ, which means letting go of the false self that lives by performance and control.
Questions to consider
- Lewis describes the self we must escape to become a true person. What is one illusion about yourself (image, control, performance) that you tend to protect?
- Paul says Christ loved him and gave himself for him. How would it change your daily choices to take 'for me' personally?
Journal prompt
Write a short letter to your false self, the one that wants to be admired or in control, thanking it for how it tried to protect you and telling it you are choosing to trust Christ instead. Then name one thing you have learned in this guide that you want to keep practicing.
Practice
Take 15 minutes today: (1) Read Galatians 2:19-21 aloud twice. (2) Underline every 'I' and every 'Christ' in the passage. (3) Write one sentence naming a way you have been living from the false self this month. (4) Pray one sentence of handing it over to Christ, then choose one small action that matches.