Son of man, can these bones live?

Ezekiel 37:3
And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”

Can something that is decayed ever have life again? This question is well put to our spiritual lives as well. In fact, we are born sinners but can be saved. Indeed it is God Himself who is able to save us and turn our lives around. There is nothing that we can do ourselves to change or improve us. It is only up to God who can save us and lead us to a better place.

I have been crucified with Christ

Galatians 2:20
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.

When Paul made the statement that he has been crucified with Christ, he was not physically crucified yet at that point in time, though he would faced a similar fate later. Yet what Paul said was for than just identifying with Christ in suffering. It was a reality to him, that he lived a life of persecution by others, as well as crucifying his own sinful nature.

It is perhaps more of the second point of crucifying oneself that we can take for ourselves. There is a battle between our old selves which is carnal in nature, aiming to satisfy our own needs with no regards to God. On the opposite, there is the will to surrender ourselves with God. Only by deliberately crucifying our sinful nature can we fully surrender to the will of God.